Role

:

Composer

Birth

:

January 3, 1895 in Zhitomir, Russia

Death

:

April 15, 1968 in Kiev, Ukraine

Period

:

Modern

Genre

:

Keyboard

 

 

Orchestral

 

 

Symphony

 

Boris Mikolayovich Lyatoshyns'ky was a Ukrainian composer who was born on January 3, 1895, in Zhytomyr, Ukraine. He was born into a family of musicians, and his father was a choir conductor and music teacher. Lyatoshyns'ky showed an early interest in music and began studying piano and composition at a young age. In 1913, Lyatoshyns'ky enrolled at the Kiev Conservatory, where he studied composition with Reinhold Glière and piano with Felix Blumenfeld. He graduated in 1918 and began working as a music teacher and conductor in various cities in Ukraine. Lyatoshyns'ky's early works were influenced by Ukrainian folk music and the music of his contemporaries, such as Stravinsky and Prokofiev. His first major work, the opera "Taras Bulba," was completed in 1922 and premiered in Kiev in 1924. The opera was based on the novel by Nikolai Gogol and was a critical and popular success. In the 1920s and 1930s, Lyatoshyns'ky continued to compose operas, ballets, and orchestral works. His music was often praised for its use of Ukrainian folk melodies and rhythms, as well as its modernist harmonies and textures. Some of his most notable works from this period include the ballet "The Golden Spike" (1928), the opera "The Blacksmith's Wife" (1933), and the Symphony No. 2 (1937). During World War II, Lyatoshyns'ky was evacuated to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where he continued to compose and teach. He returned to Kiev in 1944 and became a professor at the Kiev Conservatory. In the post-war years, Lyatoshyns'ky's music became more conservative and focused on traditional Ukrainian themes and forms. Some of Lyatoshyns'ky's most famous works from this period include the Symphony No. 3 "To the Heroes of the Soviet Union" (1948), the cantata "The Sun Rises" (1951), and the opera "The Forest Song" (1954). "The Forest Song" is considered to be Lyatoshyns'ky's masterpiece and is still performed frequently in Ukraine and Russia. Lyatoshyns'ky continued to compose and teach until his death on April 28, 1968, in Kiev. He was a prolific composer who wrote over 200 works in a variety of genres, including opera, ballet, symphony, chamber music, and choral music. His music is known for its use of Ukrainian folk melodies and rhythms, as well as its modernist harmonies and textures. Lyatoshyns'ky's legacy is still felt in Ukraine today, where he is considered to be one of the country's greatest composers. His music has been performed and recorded by many of the world's leading orchestras and conductors, and his influence can be heard in the works of many contemporary Ukrainian composers.

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