Liatoshynsky’s Life Story
..I have always been deeply interested in the past of humankind. Whole eras, once full of movement and life, filled with events and human thought, have receded into the past, leaving only the traces of their life and work. Centuries... Millennia...
From a letter by Borys Liatoshynsky to Valeriy Polyovyi, 23 January 1965
Borys Liatoshynsky with cats at his dacha in Vorzel. 1960s
Borys Liatoshynsky is one of the leading Ukrainian composers of the 20th century. The majority of his works have already attained the status of classics. The compositional school formed by Liatoshynsky is the most influential in Ukraine in the second half of the last century and in our own.
*This life story has been compiled on the basis of documents preserved in the private archive of the Borys Liatoshynsky Memorial Studio-Museum; the personal file of Borys Liatoshynsky kept at the Kyiv Conservatory from 28 February 1945 to 25 April 1968 (DAMK. Collection R-810, inventory 2, no. 184); and the Central State Archive of Supreme Bodies of Power and Government of Ukraine (TsDAVO). Collection 166, inventory 12 os, file 4539.
3 January 1895 (22 December 1894 in the Old Style) — Borys Liatoshynsky was born in Zhytomyr.
1904–06 — studies at the First Kyiv Gymnasium.
1906–08 — studies at the Nemyriv Boys’ Gymnasium.
1908–11 — studies at the Zlatopil Boys’ Gymnasium.
1910
1910 — composition of his first piano works (Mazurka and Waltz).
Letter by Borys Liatoshynsky, 21 January 1959, Kyiv
It was precisely during my years at the Zlatopil Gymnasium that I truly began to take an interest in music. At first I began to learn to play the violin with the local gymnasium teacher, Bentsion Symonovych Khaimovsky, and later I played in the student orchestra conducted by the same B. Khaimovsky. Then, at the beginning of 1910, while I was in the fifth form of the gymnasium, I began to try my hand at composing. Thus my first, naturally very immature attempts as a composer date precisely from the Zlatopil period.
1911–13 — studies at the Second Zhytomyr Gymnasium.
1913–18 — studies at the St Volodymyr Imperial University in Kyiv, Faculty of Law.
Letter by Borys Liatoshynsky to Marharyta Tsarevych, 5 May 1916, Saratov
I have already told you that I have registered for two more examinations. I have already bought both books. They are very large and horribly disgusting books. Roman law in particular. Never in my life have I seen such filth! Oh, these Romans!
Borys Liatoshynsky. Photograph by Borys Tsarevych (his wife’s brother). Around 1914
Borys Liatoshynsky. 1910s
1914 — private studies in composition with Reinhold Glière.
1914–19 — studies at the Kyiv Conservatory, majoring in composition in the class of Reinhold Glière.
Borys Liatoshynsky, reminiscences about Glière, 1965
In the autumn of 1914 I entered the Kyiv Conservatory, in the composition class of R. M. Glière. <…> With us, his students at the Kyiv Conservatory, Reinhold Morytsevych worked on all the music-theoretical disciplines, that is, harmony, polyphony, orchestration, form and composition. There were not many students of Reinhold Morytsevych, only nine or ten in all. <…> We met with Reinhold Morytsevych twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays in the evening, regardless of who was in which year of study. As a rule, we all sat in the classroom from the beginning to the end of the lessons, until the last of us had finished working with Reinhold Morytsevych and left.
1917 — wedding with Marharyta Tsarevych.
Letter by Borys Liatoshynsky to Marharyta Tsarevych, 4 May 1916, Saratov
Ah, my dear, my dear little cat, when will that time finally come when we shall be together, in the drawing room where it is so beautiful, with a grand piano standing there and many scores.
Tetiana Homon and the team of the Liatoshynsky Foundation. 1910s
1917–19 — teaching: A. Talnovsky’s Music and Drama Courses, the private music school of Yakobi-Pavlovych, and the summer courses of the Kyiv Conservatory.
1920
from 1920 — member of the professional union of art workers.
1920–1941 and 1944–1968 — teaching a cycle of music-theoretical disciplines and leading the class in composition and orchestration at the Kyiv State Conservatory (now the National Music Academy of Ukraine). From 1924 to 1934 the Conservatory changed its status to a Music Technicum, became part of the Mykola Lysenko Music and Drama Institute, and eventually returned to its original status and name.
Letter by Borys Liatoshynsky to Reinhold Glière, November–December 1922, Kyiv
By the way, I would like to tell you some very pleasant news: from this year I have been given my own special theory class at the Conservatory (harmony and counterpoint). I already have about fifteen students. I am, of course, very glad about this: in any case, this is nothing like those unfortunate obligatory subjects.
Borys Liatoshynsky. 1920s
1926 — Liatoshynsky becomes a member of the Association for Contemporary Music, founded at the Kyiv branch of the “Mykola D. Leontovych Music Society”.
1913–18 — studies at the St Volodymyr Imperial University in Kyiv, Faculty of Law.
Letter by Borys Liatoshynsky to Marharyta Tsarevych, 24 January 1929, Kyiv
Recently I have heard a great deal of new music on the radio: Schoenberg, Schreker, Korngold and other, apparently younger, composers. In Germany such performances take place quite often, and they are evidently given great importance. Not long ago Schreker himself conducted his latest work — a Suite for chamber orchestra, written specially for the Breslau Radio and dedicated to it.
1928 — member of the “All-Ukrainian Association of Proletarian Musicians”.
1930
1931 — begins working at the Kyiv Film Studio (now the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Film Studio), composing the music for the film “Karmeliuk”, directed by Favst Lopatyinsky.
1932 — begins cooperation with the Theatre of Russian Drama (now the Lesia Ukrainka National Academic Drama Theatre). Composes the music for the production of Vsevolod Vishnevsky’s play “Optimistic Tragedy”, directed by Volodymyr Nelli (the score has not survived).
1935 — awarded the academic title of Professor in the specialty “Music Theory and Composition”.
1935–38 — concurrently Professor of Composition and Orchestration at the Moscow State Conservatory (RSFSR).
1936–37 — a period of fierce criticism of Liatoshynsky’s works and accusations of formalism, against the background of an all-Soviet campaign launched in Moscow with attacks on Dmitri Shostakovich’s ballet “The Bright Stream” and opera “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District”, published in editorial articles in the newspaper “Pravda” and reprinted in the Ukrainian press. Liatoshynsky’s works from the 1920s and the opera “The Golden Ring” (op. 23, 1929) were subjected to criticism.
Paper cut-out profile of Borys Liatoshynsky. Artist Mykhailo Medvedovsky. 1953
Borys Liatoshynsky. 1930s
Oleksandr Bilokopytov. “Overcoming Formalism and Trickery” // Literaturna hazeta. 29 February 1936. No. 10
Formalism is quite widespread among certain Ukrainian composers. Let us take, for example, the work of Liatoshynsky. Until 1926 his work proceeded under the slogan of the neutrality and apolitical nature of art. The dominant moods of his work are decadence, pessimism and mysticism. In the works of this period even musically highly qualified listeners find the musical language incomprehensible.
1938 — awarded the Order of the Badge of Honour.
1939–41 — Chairman of the Board of the Union of Soviet Composers of Ukraine. Removed from this position due to criticism of the Second Symphony (op. 26, first version 1936, second version 1940).
1940
1941–43 — evacuated to the city of Saratov (RSFSR), works as Professor of Composition and Orchestration at the evacuated Moscow Conservatory, and simultaneously is a staff member of the music department of the “Taras Shevchenko Radio Station”.
Letter by Borys Liatoshynsky to Reinhold Glière, 24 November 1942, Saratov
We keep waiting and waiting for this exile to end so that we can return at least to a plundered and devastated — but our own — nest. <…> Life is very hard. The whole first half of the day I am occupied either at the Conservatory or, even more, with all kinds of everyday household tasks…<…> As a holder of an order I receive bread and other things without queuing, but I still have to catch the moment when this bread and other goods are delivered to the shop. I have to run there several times a day and try to catch the right moment. <…> By the end of the day one is exhausted, and there is no light. A poor little oil lamp is burning(paraffin is also almost impossible to get). <…> My eyes hurt. And yet I still have to work, straining my eyesight.
Borys Liatoshynsky. 1940s
Borys Liatoshynsky and Lev Revutsky with students of the Kyiv Conservatory. 1940s
1943–44 — evacuated to the city of Moscow (RSFSR), works as Professor at the re-evacuated Moscow Conservatory.
1944 — returns from evacuation to Kyiv.
1944 — Artistic Director of the Kyiv Philharmonic (the fact and length of tenure still require documentary confirmation).
1944 — Artistic Director of music broadcasting of Ukrainian Radio (the fact and length of tenure still require documentary confirmation).
1945 — awarded the title Merited Artist of the Ukrainian SSR and the medal “For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–45”.
1945 — awarded the Stalin Prize of the second degree for the “Ukrainian Quintet” (op. 42, 1942).
1947–56 — deputy of the Kyiv City Council (four consecutive convocations).
1948 — within the ideological campaign against formalism launched by the decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) “On the Opera ‘The Great Friendship’ by Vano Muradeli”, Liatoshynsky was accused of formalism, his works were banned from performance, and the scores of his compositions were withdrawn from sale. The Second Symphony and works of the 1940s, including the “Ukrainian Quintet”, were subjected to criticism.
Andrii Shtoharenko, from a speech at the Plenum of the Union of Soviet Composers of Ukraine, 1948
Composer Liatoshynsky, who has long wandered down the paths of formalism, has still not found the courage to admit the erroneousness of his misguided artistic stance.<…> The issue here is not at all about individual mistakes, about isolated exceptions <…> but about the fact that the general direction of his work lies within the orbit of formalism. <…> When we turn to his Second Symphony, we do not find in it any substantial changes that would lead his art onto the path of accessibility and comprehensibility for the people. Its chief fault lies in the violation of the normal logic of musical thinking, in the fact that it cannot bring enjoyment to the listener, and in the fact that the symphony is written for a narrow circle of aesthetes who have lost their sense of the beautiful.
1950
1951 — awarded the Order of the Badge of Honour for his participation in the Decade of Ukrainian Art in Moscow (RSFSR).
25 October 1951 — during the Sixth Plenum of the Board of the Union of Soviet Composers of Ukraine, the premiere of Liatoshynsky’s Third Symphony (op. 50, first version) took place. The work was subjected to devastating criticism both in Ukraine and at the all-Union level. In 1954 the composer created a second version of the Third Symphony, which subsequently received official approval.
Valerian Dovzhenko, speech at the Sixth Plenum of the Union of Soviet Composers of Ukraine, 1948, Kyiv
The symphony does not express the depth of ideas that all Soviet people and progressive humanity invest in this theme.<…> Peace and war must be viewed from the standpoint of Soviet patriotism. <…> There is neither melodiousness nor national character in this symphony. It is cosmopolitan. Comrades have spoken of confusion. Yes, the confusion is simply overwhelming; overwhelming are the wild sonorities and other such things. This music, which is in essence formalist and cosmopolitan, is being presented to us under the banner of the struggle for peace.
Borys Liatoshynsky with Ihor Belza at a dacha in Vorzel. 1950s
1952 — awarded the Stalin Prize of the first degree for the music to the film “Taras Shevchenko” (1951), directed by Ihor Savchenko.
1954, 55 — treatment at a sanatorium in Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic).
1956 — member of the jury representing the USSR at the International Competition for String Quartet Works in Liège (Belgium).
Letter by Borys Liatoshynsky to Marharyta Tsarevych, 16 September 1956, Moscow
It is, of course, very interesting and there is no need to worry, for thousands of people fly back and forth and very rarely does anything happen, but still, perhaps fate will play such a joke on me that on my very first flight to such distant lands I shall not arrive. Thinking of this, I kiss you very, very tenderly, my dearest, and ask you to remember only all the good that there has been about me and never to recall the bad. I embrace you very, very tightly, yet I believe that everything will be all right.
Borys Liatoshynsky. 1950s
1957 — delegate representing the USSR at the celebrations of the jubilee of Mikhail Glinka (Sofia, Bulgaria). Member of the Presidium of the Union of Soviet Composers of Ukraine. Member of the delegation to the Festival of Arts in Berlin (Germany).
Letter by Borys Liatoshynsky to Marharyta Tsarevych, 29 September 1957, Berlin
There will, of course, be a great many interesting things, but you will not hear everything, because on a single evening in different theatres and halls there will be two concerts or operas taking place. The entire “Ring of the Nibelung” (!) will be performed (four evenings), Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” and “Così fan tutte”, R. Strauss’s “Elektra”, I. Stravinsky’s “Les Noces”, a Handel oratorio, and many very interesting symphonic works, both old and new, but mostly from the classical repertoire.
1958 — Prize of the Polish–Soviet Friendship Society for the strengthening and development of ties in the sphere of musical culture between the Polish People’s Republic and the USSR. Visit to the “Warsaw Autumn” festival. Member of the jury in the piano category at the First International Tchaikovsky Piano and Violin Competition (Moscow, Russian Federation).
Letter by Borys Liatoshynsky to Marharyta Tsarevych, 4 April 1958, Moscow
I sit at the long table of the jury “in capitalist surroundings”. On my right sit a Portuguese and a Brazilian, and on my left a Frenchman, Marquis de Gontenu-Byron, and Fernand Quinet, an old acquaintance of mine. I speak French with all of them, both during the intervals and during the performances. I translate for them the information about the competitors written in Russian, and so on. In the evenings I speak German with the Czechs and French, Russian and Polish with the Poles.
Borys Liatoshynsky (seated on the bench) in Prague. 1950s
1959 — visit to Warsaw (Poland) at the invitation of the Polish–Soviet Friendship Society. Member of the jury representing the USSR at the International Competition for String Quartet Works in Liège (Belgium). Tourist trip to Italy with stops in Zurich (Switzerland) and Prague (Czech Republic).
Letter by Borys Liatoshynsky to Marharyta Tsarevych, 15 October 1959
It is terribly upsetting that nothing will come of Naples and therefore of Pompeii! To be in Italy and see neither the one nor the other! It is simply absurd. This is what a tourist package means — somewhere someone has decided that four cities are enough for us, so that we cost less in foreign currency, and nothing can be done about it. This is not like my trip to Belgium, when I was my own master and went wherever I wanted.
1960
1960 — tourist trip along the Danube with visits to the capitals of the Danubian countries.
1961 — tourist trip to Italy. Trip to Great Britain (together with Russian composer Kirill Molchanov) at the invitation of the Society of British Composers. Tourist trip to France.
1962 — member of the jury in the piano category at the Second International Tchaikovsky Competition (Moscow, Russian Federation). Trip to Belgium.
Letter by Borys Liatoshynsky to Anatolii Dmytriiev, 25 December 1965, Kyiv
I have been to Bruges three times, and the third time, in 1962, I really did sit on the square in front of the tower, barely visible in the mist, and the chimes could be heard in the distance even when I had already reached the station to return to Brussels for the night.
At the dacha in Vorzel. Valentyn Silvestrov, Borys Liatoshynsky, Ihor Blazhkov, Vitalii Hodziatskyi. 1967
1963 — tourist trip to Austria.
1965 — transferred to the position of Professor-Consultant with a half-time teaching load at the Kyiv Conservatory in connection with his transition to an academic pension. Tourist trip to Austria and Switzerland.
1967 — trip to the “Warsaw Autumn” festival (Poland).
Yevhen Stankovych, reminiscences about Borys Liatoshynsky, 2014
B. Liatoshynsky was unique. For example, every year he went to the “Warsaw Autumn” festival in Poland and brought back countless recordings. Sometimes we, his students, would listen to these recordings together with him — works by Krzysztof Penderecki, Witold Lutosławski — sharing our impressions of the music of these composers. In this way he broadened our world views. It is therefore no coincidence that those who came out of his class — V. Silvestrov, L. Hrabovsky, V. Hodziatsky — were more inclined to innovation, that is, to music of a new type.
Borys Liatoshynsky at home in his study. 1960s
12 February 1968 — awarded the title People’s Artist of the Ukrainian SSR.
15 April 1968, on the night from Palm Sunday to Holy Monday, Borys Liatoshynsky died.
Silence has settled over my room.
Letter from Borys Liatoshynsky to Reinhold Glier. 26 March 1939. Kyiv
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