Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko 

Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko was

a Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor and ethnomusicologist. He was also the
founder of the national composer's school.
Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko was born on March 22, 1842 in the village of Hrynky
of Kremenchug district of Poltava province in the family of a landowner, army
officer, Vitaliy Romanovych Lysenko. His father was an educated man, advanced at
the time views, he came from an ancient Cossack family. Her mother, Olga
Yeremiyivna, is a pupil of the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg. She became the first
music teacher for Nikolai.

1852 p. M. Lysenko is brought to Kyiv and given to a private men's boarding house.
Then he graduated from the 2nd Kharkiv Gymnasium. While still studying at the
boarding house, Lysenko began to record folk songs. He later performed successfully
at student concerts. He studies musical works.

1859 p. M. Lysenko enters Kharkiv University. After studying for a year, he was
transferred to the Department of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Physics and
Mathematics, St. Vladimir's University. While studying at the university, M. Lysenko
studied the Ukrainian language to make it "cultural and his own." In addition, he
participated in the preparation of the "Dictionary of the Ukrainian language" by B.
Hrinchenko, conducted the student choir, was one of the organizers of Sunday schools
for workers.

1864 p. M. Lysenko graduated from the university. The following year he received
the degree of Candidate of Natural Sciences, defending his dissertation "On sexual
reproduction of filamentous algae."

After graduating from the university Lysenko worked for two years as a mediator in
the village. Tarashchi of the Kiev province. At the same time, he was attracted to
music. He collects and processes folk songs. Returning to Kyiv, he prepared for
publication two collections of songs for voice and piano, created the opera
"Andriashiada".
1867 p. M. Lysenko went to Leipzig, where he studied for two years at the
conservatory. Here he publishes a collection of Ukrainian folk songs prepared in
Kyiv. At the same time he began to write music for the lyrics of "Kobzar" T.G.
Shevchenko. In 1868 M. Lysenko wrote music for T. Shevchenko's "Testament" at
the request of young composers of Galicia.

In 1868 he married Olga Alexandrovna O'Connor, who was a good pianist. However,
they did not agree on their characters, worldviews, goals. Therefore, they divorce. In
1878 he married Olga Lybskaya, who was also a good pianist.

After graduating from the Leipzig Conservatory MV Lysenko returns to Kyiv and is
actively concerned with his musical life and public activities. He combines work at a
music school with collecting and popularizing folk songs. He wrote pieces for piano,
operettas "Chernomorets" and "Christmas Night" (later adapted for opera). He
graduated from the conservatory with honors - received the right to tour Europe.

In 1873 Lysenko traveled through Galicia and Serbia. He records Polish, Czech,
Moravian, Serbian, and Croatian songs, which he will later include in the repertoire of
choral concerts. In the same year he met the kobzar Ostap Veresay and studied his
work.

In 1874, amateur authors staged M. Lysenko's "Christmas Night" in the form of a

musical comedy at the Kyiv Opera House. The play was a great success. In 1876, the
third issue of folk songs was published, edited by M. Lysenko, but abroad - because
in the same year the notorious Ems decree was issued, aimed at suppressing national
culture. Therefore, Lysenko's collection was not allowed into Ukraine.

M. Lysenko studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the class of M. Rimsky-

Korsakov, who highly valued his abilities.
Lysenko met blind Ukrainian kobzar Ostap Veresay. The artist recorded many songs
by Ostap Veresay and also took the kobzar to his concerts.
The genius poetess Lesya Ukrainka lived next door. They were friends with families.
And when Lysenko wrote the first children's opera of its kind, they decided to play it
first at home. And Lesya Ukrainka helped with costumes.

In 1880, the ban on the theater's Ukrainian repertoire was partially lifted, and Lysenko
set about creating his best work, the opera Taras Bulba, on which he worked for 10
years. At this time he created a lyrical-fantastic opera "Drowned" based on the novel
by M. Gogol, finished the last edition of "Christmas Night", wrote a cantata in 5 parts
"Rejoice, unpolished level" on Shevchenko's themes.

M. Lysenko's choral travels in Ukraine left a big mark in the history of Ukrainian
musical culture. Folk song and choral art reached the most remote corners of our
region.

When the decree banning the Ukrainian language was issued, Lysenko was indifferent
to it. He began to be persecuted, imprisoned and arrested more than once. And there
was even a decree to destroy his special magnificent beautiful piano. Friends hid him
and he remained undestroyed. After the composer's death, his sister restored the piano
and now it is in a museum in Kyiv.

As a composer, Lysenko wrote in various genres. This is a continuation of a series of

music to "Kobzar", and songs to the lyrics of Ivan Franko, Lesya Ukrainka, Heinrich
Heine. He also publishes collections of Ukrainian folk songs for voice and piano, for
male and mixed choirs. One after another, the opera "Natalka Poltavka", children's
operas "Goat-Dereza", "Mr. Kotsky", "Winter and Spring" appear. Mykola Lysenko is
the author of the choir "God is the only one ..." - the spiritual anthem of Ukraine.

The composer's scientific activity was also fruitful. His works "Folk Musical
Instruments in Ukraine", "On the Tarban and the Music of Vidort's Songs", "Music to
the Thought of Bohdan Khmelnytsky" gained public recognition. Lysenko also
conducts performing activities, participates in choral and chamber instrumental
concerts.
The composer took an active part in the preparation for the opening in 1903 in Poltava
of a monument to the founder of new Ukrainian literature I. Kotlyarevsky. M.
Lysenko's cantata "In Eternal Memory of Kotlyarevsky" was performed at the
celebrations on the occasion of this event.

The end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century. - the peak of creative and public
activity of Nikolay Vitalievich. 1903 marked the 35th anniversary of his career.
"Christmas Night" was staged in Kyiv in honor of the anniversary, and a big concert
was held in St. Petersburg. During the celebrations, friends organized a fundraiser for
the composer. For some of them in the fall of 1904 in a house on the street. Friends
organized a charity fundraiser and made a gift to the composer - bought a house.
However, Lysenko remains living in his house and in a new one organizes and opens
a music and drama school. Subsequently, this school was rebuilt and reformed into
the Kyiv Conservatory and the Kyiv Theater Institute. For the first time in Ukraine,
the department of Ukrainian drama and classes of folk instruments, in particular
banduras, and music theory, worked here.

Pupils of the school were composers L. Revutsky, K. Stetsenko, artists O. Vatula, B.

Romanytsky, violinist M. Polyakin, folklorist V. Verkhovynets, singer M. Mykita,
choral conductor O. Koshyts and others. The composer worked at his school until the
last days of his life.

M. Lysenko constantly combined musical activity with tireless efforts in the public
field. As a young man, he collaborated with the Kyiv Hromada. Later he actively
united Ukrainian artists in the Kyiv Literary and Artistic Society, and in 1908 he
became the founder and recognized leader of the "Ukrainian Club" - an association
that played an exceptional role in the formation of nationally conscious intelligentsia.
He died shortly (November 6, 1912) after the Ukrainian Club was disbanded by
police; Mykola Lysenko's funeral turned into a powerful patriotic demonstration of
Ukrainians.