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Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych

Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych (13 December [O.S. 1 December] 1877 – 23 January 1921; Ukrainian: Микола Дмитрович Леонтович (listen); also Leontovich) was a Ukrainian composer, conductor, ethnomusicologist and teacher. His music was inspired by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko and the Ukrainian National Music School. Leontovych specialised in a cappella choral music, ranging from original compositions, to church music, to elaborate arrangements of folk music.

Leontovych was born and raised in the Podolia province of the Russian Empire (now in Ukraine). He was educated as a priest in the Kamianets-Podilskyi Theological Seminary and later furthered his musical education at the Saint Petersburg Court Capella, and by means of private lessons with Boleslav Yavorsky. With the independence of the Ukrainian state in the 1917 revolution, Leontovych moved to Kyiv, where he worked at the Kyiv Conservatory and the Mykola Lysenko Institute of Music and Drama. He composed "Shchedryk" in 1904 (premiered in 1916), now known to the English-speaking world as "Carol of the Bells". He was murdered by a Soviet agent in 1921, and is known as a martyr in the Eastern Orthodox Ukrainian Church, where he is also remembered for his liturgy, the first liturgy composed in the vernacular, specifically in the modern Ukrainian language.

During his lifetime, Leontovych's compositions and arrangements became popular with musicians across the Ukrainian region of the Russian Empire. Performances of his works in western Europe and North America earned him the nickname "the Ukrainian Bach". Apart from "Shchedryk", Leontovych's music is performed primarily in Ukraine and by the Ukrainian diaspora.

Birth and Death Data: Born December 13, 1877 (Monastyrysche), Died January 23, 1921 (Markivka)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1922 - 1929

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, arranger

Notes: Surname sometimes listed as Leontovich.

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BVE-40675 10-in. 10/28/1927 Potchayeff Russian Symphonic Choir Mixed vocal chorus and soloist, unaccompanied composer  
Brunswick 8779-8780 10-in. approximately Sept. 1922 Shtchedryk Ukrainian National Chorus Mixed vocal chorus composer  
Brunswick 8898-8899 10-in. = Почаєвській Божій Матері Petro Ordynski ; Ukrainian National Chorus Mixed vocal chorus, with male vocal solo composer  
Gramophone BKR2703 10-in. 1/9/1928 Koliadka Russian State Choir Male vocal chorus, unaccompanied composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WL1474 10-in. February 10 or after 1929 Doudarik Choeurs de la Chapele Mixte Ukrainienne Doumka ; Nestor Horodovenko Chorus arranger  
Columbia (U.K.) WL1476 10-in. February 10 or after 1929 Nad retchkoin berezkoin Choeurs de la Chapele Mixte Ukrainienne Doumka ; Nestor Horodovenko Chorus arranger  
Columbia (U.K.) WL1477 10-in. February 10 or after 1929 Kosa Choeurs de la Chapelle Mixte Ukrainienne Doumka ; Nestor Horodovenko Vocal chorus arranger  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Leontovych, Mykola Dmytrovych," accessed April 25, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103034.

Leontovych, Mykola Dmytrovych. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103034.

"Leontovych, Mykola Dmytrovych." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 25 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103034

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