Artemy Lukyanovich Vedel (russian: Артемий Лукьянович Ведель, uk, Артем Лук'янович Ведель, translit=Artem Lukianovych Vedel; ), born Artemy Lukyanovich Vedelsky, was a
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
-born
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
composer of military and
liturgical music
Liturgical music originated as a part of religious ceremony, and includes a number of traditions, both ancient and modern. Liturgical music is well known as a part of Catholic Mass, the Anglican Holy Communion service (or Eucharist) and Evensong ...
. He produced works based on
Ukrainian folk melodies, and made an important contribution to the
music of Ukraine
Ukrainian music covers diverse and multiple component elements of the music that is found in the Western and Eastern musical civilization. It also has a very strong indigenous Slavic and Christian uniqueness whose elements were used among the ...
. Together with
Maxim Berezovsky
Maxim Sozontovich Berezovsky (russian: Макси́м Созо́нтович Березо́вский , uk, Максим Созонтович Березовський, translit=Maksym Sozontovych Berezovskyi; (?) — 2 April 1777) was a compos ...
and
Dmitry Bortniansky
Dmitry Stepanovich Bortniansky ; ; alternative transcriptions of names are ''Dmitri Bortnianskii'', and ''Bortnyansky'', group=n (28 October 1751 – ) was a Russian Imperial composer of Ukrainian Cossack origin. He was a composer, harpsichord ...
, Vedel is recognised by
musicologist
Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...
s as one of the "Golden Three" composers of 18th century Ukrainian classical music, and one of Russia's greatest choral composers.
Vedel was born in Kyiv, the son of a wealthy wood carver. He studied at the
Kyiv-Mohyla Academy until 1787, after which he was appointed to conduct the academy's choir and orchestra. In 1788 he was sent to Moscow to work for the regional governor, but he returned home in 1791 and resumed his career at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The
Imperial Russian Army general
Andrei Levanidov acquired his services to lead Kyiv's regimental chapel and choir—under Levanidov's patronage, Vedel reached the peak of his creativity as a composer. He moved with Levanidov to the
Kharkov Governorate
The Kharkov Governorate ( pre-reform Russian: , tr. ''Khárkovskaya gubérniya'', IPA: xarʲkəfskəjə ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə ) was a governorate of the Russian Empire founded in 1835. It embraced the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. Fro ...
, where he organised a new choir and orchestra, and taught at the
Kharkiv Collegium.
Vedel's fortunes declined when the cultural life of Kharkiv was affected by decrees issued by Tsar
Paul I Paul I may refer to:
*Paul of Samosata (200–275), Bishop of Antioch
* Paul I of Constantinople (died c. 350), Archbishop of Constantinople
*Pope Paul I (700–767)
*Paul I Šubić of Bribir (c. 1245–1312), Ban of Croatia and Lord of Bosnia
*Pau ...
. Lacking a patron, and with his music unable to be performed, he returned to home to Kyiv in 1798, and became a
novice
A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience.
Religion Buddhism
...
monk of the
Kyiv Pechersk Lavra
Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra or Kyivo-Pechers’ka Lavra ( uk, Києво-Печерська лавра, translit=Kyievo-Pecherska lavra, russian: Киево-Печерская лавра), also known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, is a historic Ea ...
. The monastery authorities discovered handwritten threats about the Russian royal family, and accused Vedel of writing them. He was subsequently incarcerated as a mental patient, and forbidden to compose. After almost a decade, the authorities allowed him to return to his father's house to die.
Vedel's music was censored during the period that Ukraine was part of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. More than 80 of his works are known, including 31
choral concerto
The choral concerto (Russian language, Russian: , ', Ukrainian language, Ukraininan: , ', occasionally known as "vocal concerto" or "church concerto") is a genre of sacred music which arose in the Russian Empire in the middle of the seventeenth ...
s, but many of his compositions are lost. Most of his choral music uses texts taken from the
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
. The style of Vedel's compositions reflects the changes taking place in classical music during his lifetime; he was influenced by the
Ukrainian baroque
Ukrainian Baroque, or Cossack Baroque or Mazepa Baroque ( uk, Українське бароко або Козацьке бароко), is an architectural style that was widespread in the Ukrainian lands in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was th ...
traditions, but also by new West European (in particular
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
) operatic and instrumental styles.
Background
![Dvoeznamennik 17c GIM](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Dvoeznamennik_17c_GIM.jpg)
The character of Russian and Ukrainian worship derives from performances of the
znamenny chant
Znamenny Chant (russian: знаменное пение, знаменный распев) is a singing tradition used by some in the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church. Znamenny Chant is a unison, melismatic liturgical singing that has its own spec ...
, which developed a tradition that was characterised by seamless melodies and a capacity to sustain pitch. The tradition reached its culmination during the 16th and 17th centuries, having taken on its own character in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
some three centuries earlier.
Choral music has a special significance for
Ukrainian culture
The culture of Ukraine is the composite of the material and spiritual values of the Ukrainian people that has formed throughout the history of Ukraine. It is closely intertwined with ethnic studies about ethnic Ukrainians and Ukrainian histor ...
; according to the musicologist
Yurii Chekan, "choral music embodies Ukrainian national mentality, and the soul of the people".
Ukrainian choral music changed during the
Baroque era
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including th ...
; passion and emotion, contrasting
dynamics,
timbre
In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voices and musica ...
and
musical texture
In music, texture is how the tempo, melodic, and harmonic materials are combined in a musical composition, determining the overall quality of the sound in a piece. The texture is often described in regard to the density, or thickness, and range ...
were introduced, and monody was replaced by
polyphony
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, ...
. The new polychoral culture became known as the ' ("singing in parts") style.
During the 19th century, Znamenny chants were gradually superseded by newer ones, such as the Kyiv chant, which in their turn, were replaced by music that was closer to
recitative
Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat ...
. Most Znamenny melodies gradually become lost or forgotten.
In the early 19th century, music in West-European was making the transition from
classical to predominantly
Romantic, having earlier shifted away from the Baroque style.
The tradition of Russian church music can be traced back to
Dmitry Bortniansky
Dmitry Stepanovich Bortniansky ; ; alternative transcriptions of names are ''Dmitri Bortnianskii'', and ''Bortnyansky'', group=n (28 October 1751 – ) was a Russian Imperial composer of Ukrainian Cossack origin. He was a composer, harpsichord ...
, who revered the Russian liturgical musical tradition. The early part of the 19th century was a period which marked a low ebb in the fortunes of traditional Russian music. Bortniansky studied in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
before eventually becoming the director of music at the
court chapel in St Petersburg in 1801. Composing in an era when attempts were being made to suppress the Russian Empire's cultural heritage, Bortniansky's choral concertos, set to texts in Russian, were modelled on
counterpoint, the
concerto grosso The concerto grosso (; Italian language, Italian for ''big concert(o)'', plural ''concerti grossi'' ) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the ''#Concertino, concertino'') and full orc ...
and Italian instrumental music. Under him, the Imperial Court Chapel expanded its role so it influenced, and eventually controlled, church choral singing throughout the Russian Empire.
Vedel followed Bortniansky in combining the Italian Baroque style to ancient Russian
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...
ody,
at a time when classical influences were being introduced into Ukrainian choral music, such as
four-voice polyphony, the soloist and the choir singing at different alternative times, and the employment of three or four sections in a work.
Sources
The original biographical sources for Vedel are a biography about his pupil the composer , and an article about Vedel by the historian
Viktor Askochensky, who based his information on verbal accounts by Vedel's contemporaries and a biography written by Vedel's pupil Vasyl Zubovsky. The composer 's biography of Vedel, published in 1901, used similar sources.
Documents relating to Vedel were accidentally discovered in 1967 by the Ukrainian nationalist
Vasyl Kuk
Vasyl Stepanovych Kuk ( ua, Василь Степанович Кук (pseudonym Koval); 11 January 1913 – 9 September 2007) was a Ukrainian nationalist who was the last leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, following the death of Roman Shukhe ...
when he was researching the Moscow military archives about
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
operations against the
Ukrainian Insurgent Army
The Ukrainian Insurgent Army ( uk, Українська повстанська армія, УПА, translit=Ukrayins'ka povstans'ka armiia, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary and later partisan formation. During World ...
. Today, advocates of Vedel such as
Mykola Hobdych, the director of the
Kyiv Chamber Choir, and the musicologist Tetyana Husarchuk, continue to research and popularise his music.
The task of studying Vedel is made more difficult for historians and musicologists because of the fragmentary and superficial nature of the sources—information about his methods is lacking, and his works cannot always be accurately dated.
Life
Family
Artemy Lukyanovich Vedel was born in Kyiv in the Russian Empire, probably on 13 April 1767.
He was the only son of Lukyan Vlasovych Vedelsky and his wife Elena or Olena Hryhorivna Vedelsky.
The family lived in
Podil
Podil ( uk, Поділ) or the Lower cityIvankin, H., Vortman, D. Podil (ПОДІЛ)'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. is a historic neighborhood in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It is located on a floodplain terrace over the Dnieper betwe ...
, the old trading and crafts centre of Kyiv, in the parish of the . Their house stood on what is now the corner between and Andriivska Street; Artemy lived there throughout his childhood.
Almost half of the population of Kyiv lived in Podil. which was one of the three walled settlements that formed the city, along with
Old Kyiv
Old Kyiv or Old Kiev ( uk, Старий Київ) is a historical neighborhood of Kyiv. Other names include Upper City, Old Town, and others. It is located at the far eastern portion of the Shevchenko Raion. Old Kyiv historically represents the ...
and
Pechersk.
The Vedelsky family adhered strictly to the
Orthodox faith. Lukyan Vlasovich Vedelsky was a wealthy carver of wooden
iconostases
In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed a ...
, who owned his own workshop. The name Vedel, probably an abbreviated form of ''Vedelsky'', was how the composer signed his letters, and named himself in military documents. His father signed himself "Kyiv citizen Lukyan Vedelsky".
Early years in Kyiv
Vedel was a boy chorister in the
Eparchial (bishop's) choir in Kyiv.
He studied at the
Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, where his teachers included the Italian
Giuseppe Sarti
Giuseppe Sarti (also Sardi; baptised 1 December 1729 – 28 July 1802) was an Italian opera composer.
Biography
He was born at Faenza. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 1 December 1729. Some earlier sources say he was born o ...
, who spent 18 years as an operatic composer in the Russian Empire. By the end of the 18th century, most of the students attending the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy were preparing for the priesthood. It was at that time the oldest and most influential higher education institution in the Russian Empire; most of the country's leading academics were originally graduates of the academy.
Vedel attended the academy until 1787. After that he studied philosophy and music, and began composing as a student of Potemkin's Musical Academy. Whilst studying the advanced philosophy course, he was appointed as the conductor of the academy's choir—the academy provided extensive programmes for the training of choral singers—and conducted the student orchestra. He also performed as a solo violinist.
He studied the academy's theoretical books on music, and became acquainted with the religious works (including
cantatas) composed by the academy's students, as well as the spiritual concerts of , and perhaps also those of Sarti and
Maxim Berezovsky
Maxim Sozontovich Berezovsky (russian: Макси́м Созо́нтович Березо́вский , uk, Максим Созонтович Березовський, translit=Maksym Sozontovych Berezovskyi; (?) — 2 April 1777) was a compos ...
.
Moscow
In 1788 Vedel, along with other choristers, was sent by , the
Metropolitan of Kyiv and Halych, and the
rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, to Moscow.
There he served as the assistant choir master and a violinist for , the
Governor-General of Moscow
Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire
Governorates of the Russian Empire was created by the edict (ukase) of Peter the Great on 18 December 1708 "On the establishment of the gubernias and cities assigned to them", which divided Russia into e ...
, and, after 1790, by his successor,
Alexander Prozorovsky
Prince Alexander Alexandrovich Prozorovsky (russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Прозоро́вский, tr. ; 1733 – 21 August 1809) was the only Field Marshal from the Prozorovsky family.
Biography
Prozorovsky gain ...
. The choir was at the time an artistically important part of the Imperial Court in Moscow.
Vedel's talent was recognised by other musicians in Moscow. He probably continued his musical studies at the university. During this period, he had the opportunity to become more familiar with Russian and Western European musical cultures.
He did not stay in Moscow for long and, resigning his position, he returned home to Kyiv in the early 1790s.
Patronage under Andrei Levanidov
![Kharkov's Collegium XVIII-XIX](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Kharkov%27s_Collegium_XVIII-XIX.jpg)
In Kyiv, Vedel returned to leading the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy choir. Among the famous choirs in the city at that time was one belonging to General
Andrei Levanidov at the Kyiv headquarters of the Ukrainian infantry regiment. From early 1794, Levanidov acquired Vedel's services to lead the regimental chapel and the children's choir. Levanidov, who valued and respected Vedel as a composer and a musician, was able to act as an influential patron—the years from 1794 to 1798 saw the zenith of Vedel's musical creativity.
From 1793 to 1794 he directed the choirs of both the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and his patron. He was rapidly promoted within the army; on 1 March 1794 he was appointed as a staff clerk, and on 27 April 1795 he became a junior
adjutant.
On 13 March 1796, Levanidov was appointed as Governor General of the Kharkiv Governorate.
The composer moved to Kharkiv, along with his best musicians. In
Kharkov
Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine. (now Kharkiv, Ukraine) Vedel organised a new
gubernia
A governorate, gubernia, province, or government ( rus, губе́рния, p=ɡʊˈbʲɛrnʲɪjə, also romanized ; uk, губернія, huberniia), was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. After the empire ...
(governorate) choir and orchestra, and taught singing and music at the
Kharkiv Collegium,
which was second only to the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in terms of its curriculum. The music class at the Kharkiv Collegium was first recorded in 1798, when in January that year two
canons and a choral concerto by Vedel were performed.
Vedel did much of his composing during this period.
Works included the concerts "Resurrect God" and "Hear the Lord my voice" (dated 6 October 1796) and the two-choir concerto "The Lord passes me". The composer and his works were highly valued in Kharkiv; his concerts were studied and performed at the Kharkiv Collegium, and they were sung in churches. Bortniansky, who conducted the St. Petersburg State Academic Capella, praised the quality of Vedel's teaching. In September 1796, Vedel was promoted to become a senior adjutant, with the rank of captain.
Decline in fortunes
In December 1796, on the orders of Tsar
Paul I Paul I may refer to:
*Paul of Samosata (200–275), Bishop of Antioch
* Paul I of Constantinople (died c. 350), Archbishop of Constantinople
*Pope Paul I (700–767)
*Paul I Šubić of Bribir (c. 1245–1312), Ban of Croatia and Lord of Bosnia
*Pau ...
, the Kharkiv Governorate was abolished, and was replaced by the newly created
Sloboda Ukrainian Governorate.
Levanidov was dismissed on 9 January 1797, when his corps was disbanded by Paul I, and he left Kharkiv. Paul I decreed that all regimental chapels were to be abolished, which caused Vedel to resign from the army in October 1797. He worked as a musician for the governor of the new province, . Teplov, who as a young man had received an excellent musical education, treated Vedel as well as he could.
The tsar's decrees caused the cultural and artistic life of Kharkiv to decline. The city's theatre was closed, and its choirs and orchestras were dissolved. Performances of Vedel's works in churches were banned,
as the tsar had prohibited singing in churches of any form of music except during the
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of ...
.
The loss of Levanidov's support caused Vedel to become deeply depressed. Despite the support he received from Teplov, Vedel decided to leave Kharkiv. He distributed his belongings (including all his manuscripts),
and the end of the summer of 1798 he returned to live at his parents' house in Kyiv. There he wrote two choral concertos, "God, the law-breaker of the rebellion against me" (11 November 1798) and "To the Lord we always mourn". The concertos were performed in the and
St Sophia Cathedral in the city.
Life as a novice
Early in 1799, frustrated by the lack of opportunities to compose and teach and possibly suffering from a form of mental illness, Vedel enrolled as a
novice
A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience.
Religion Buddhism
...
monk at the
Kyiv Pechersk Lavra
Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra or Kyivo-Pechers’ka Lavra ( uk, Києво-Печерська лавра, translit=Kyievo-Pecherska lavra, russian: Киево-Печерская лавра), also known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, is a historic Ea ...
.
He was an active member of the community and was respected by the monks for his
asceticism.
According to Turcaninov's biography, the Metropolitan of Kyiv commissioned Vedel to write a song of praise in honour of a royal visit to Kyiv, but Vedel instead wrote a letter to the tsar, probably of a political nature. Vedel was arrested in
Okhtyrka
Okhtyrka ( uk, Охти́рка, ) is a city located in the Sumy Oblast (province) of Ukraine. It is administratively incorporated as a city of oblast significance. The city has also served as the administrative center of the smaller Okhtyrka Ra ...
, pronounced insane, and returned to Kyiv.
Vedel returned to live with his father in an attempt to regain his mental health. Back home in Kyiv, he was able to compose, read, and play the violin, and he may have returned to teach at the Kyiv Academy. By leaving the monastery before his training was completed, Vedel may have angered Hierotheus, the
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis.
Originally, the term referred to the ...
. When the monastery authorities discovered a book containing handwritten insults about the royal family, the Metropolitan accused Vedel of writing in the book. He dismissed Vedel's servants, and personally detained him. On 25 May 1799, Hierotheus declared that Vedel was mentally ill.
Imprisonment and death
According to Kuk, the official documents relating to Vedel's case show that he was never formally arrested or charged, and that he was never questioned by the authorities or given the opportunity to defend himself. Vedel's case was referred in turn from the governor of Kyiv to the governor of Ukraine , the Attorney General of Russia, and to the tsar. While the case was being dealt with in St. Petersburg, Vedel, then seriously ill, was placed under his father's care in Kyiv.
He was found guilty, and was incarcerated at the
asylum
Asylum may refer to:
Types of asylum
* Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome
* Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute
* Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea
...
of
St. Cyril's Monastery, Kyiv, for an indefinite period. In the asylum, he was forbidden to write or compose. When the asylum was closed in 1803, the patients were moved to a new hospital in Kyiv.
After the death of Paul I in 1801, the new tsar,
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to:
* Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC
* Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus
* Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome
* Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...
, proclaimed an amnesty for unjustly imprisoned convicts, and many prisoners were released. Alexander ordered that Vedel's case should be re-examined, but Vedel was again declared insane and remained an inmate.
The tsar wrote of Vedel on 15 May 1802: "… leave in the present captivity".
In 1808, after nine years' imprisonment, and by now mortally ill, Vedel was allowed to return home to his father's house in Kyiv. Shortly before his death there on 14 July 1808, he is said to have stood and prayed in the garden.
There was uncertainty about exactly when Vedel died, until his death certificate was found in 1910. The cause of his death was never revealed by the authorities.
His friend (the
archpriest of Kyiv Cathedral and a well-known preacher) obtained permission for a decent funeral, an indication that Vedel was considered by the government "to be untrustworthy for the rest of his life". Many mourners attended Vedel's funeral, including students from the Academy.
He was buried in the Shchekavytsia cemetery. When the area was redeveloped In the 1930s, the cemetery was destroyed.
The location of Vedel's grave is now lost.
Appearance and character
No portrait of Vedel has survived, but he was described by friends as being gentle, calm, friendly, and with "beautiful radiant eyes, burning with a special fire of great spiritual nobility and inspiration".
His letters to Turchaninov reveal a care for oppressed people—reflected in his choice of themes for his concertos—as well as an opposition towards
serfdom
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which deve ...
, which had been established in Ukraine by
Catherine the Great.
Music
Compositions
![Vedel - manuscript of Concert No](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Vedel_-_manuscript_of_Concert_No._12_%28first_page%29.jpg)
Vedel was almost entirely a
liturgical
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
composer of the
a cappella choral music sung in Orthodox churches.
, more than 80 of his compositions have been identified, including 31
choral concerto
The choral concerto (Russian language, Russian: , ', Ukrainian language, Ukraininan: , ', occasionally known as "vocal concerto" or "church concerto") is a genre of sacred music which arose in the Russian Empire in the middle of the seventeenth ...
s and six
trios, two
liturgies
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
, an
all-night vigil The All-night vigil is a service of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches consisting of an aggregation of the canonical hours of Compline (in Greek usage only), Vespers (or, on a few occasions, Great Compline), Matins, and the F ...
,
and three
irmos The irmos (or heirmos from grc-x-koine, εἱρμός) in the Byzantine liturgical tradition is the initial troparion of an ode of a canon. The meter and melody of an irmos is followed by the remaining troparia of the ode; when more than one canon ...
cycles.
An edition of Vedel's works was published by Mykola Hodbych and Tetiana Husarchuk in 2007.
Many of Vedel's works have been lost.
The
V.I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine holds the only existing autograph score by the composer, the ''Score of Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom and Other Compositions''. The score consists of 12 choral concertos (composed between 1794 and 1798),
and the
Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom
The Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is the most celebrated divine liturgy in the Byzantine Rite. It is named after its core part, the anaphora attributed to Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople in the 5th century.
History
It ...
. The ink varies in colour, which suggests that Vedel worked on the compositions at different times.
It was acquired by Askochensky, who bequeathed it to the Kyiv Academy.
Musical style
The
musicologist
Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...
s
Ihor Sonevytsky and Marko Robert Stech consider Vedel to be the archetypal composer of Ukrainian music from the Baroque era.
An outstanding tenor singer, he was one of the best choral conductors of his time. He helped to raise the standard of choral singing in Ukraine to previously unknown levels.
Vedel was considered during his lifetime to be a traditional and conservative composer, in contrast to his older contemporaries Berezovsky and Bortniansky. Unlike Vedel, they composed secular, non-spiritual works. He was a famous violinist, but no music by Vedel for the violin is documented. His works, perhaps even more than those of Berezovsky or Bortnyansky, represented a development in Ukrainian musical culture.
According to Koshetz, Vedel's music was based on
Ukrainian folk melodies.
Vedel's music was written at a time when Western music had largely emerged from the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
and Baroque eras. The style of his compositions reflected two contrasting traditions. He was strongly influenced by the baroque traditions of the Ukrainian
hetman
( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders.
Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military co ...
culture, with its religious-mystical music linked with ideas about spiritual enlightenment, but was also influenced by developments in new operatic and instrumental styles emerging from Western Europe at that time.
Legacy
Censorship and revival
![Koshetz LCCN2014718848](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Koshetz_LCCN2014718848.jpg)
Performances of Vedel's music were censored and the publication of his scores was prohibited during most of the 19th century. Distributed in secret in manuscript form, they were however known and performed, despite the ban.
Hand-written variations of Vedel's music appeared, as conductors amended the scores to make them more suitable for unauthorised performances. Tempi were changed and modal textures, the level of complexity of the music, and the formal structure were all altered. The hand copying of Vedel's music led to the creation of versions that were notably different from his original scores.
Vedel's compositions were rediscovered during the early 20th century by the conductor and composer
Alexander Koshetz
Alexander Koshetz (12 September 1875 – 21 September 1944) was a Ukrainian choral conductor, arranger, composer, ethnographer, writer, musicologist, and lecturer. He helped popularize Ukrainian music around the world. His name is sometime ...
, at that time the leader of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy's student choir, and himself a student.
They were first published in 1902. Koshetz, one of the earliest conductors from Ukraine to attempt to revive performances of Vedel using the autograph scores, noted that “the great technical difficulties of solo parts... and the need for large choruses" made his works difficult to perform in public. Koshetz toured Europe and America, conducting the Ukrainian Republican Chapel in performances of Vedel.
Koshetz's revival of Vedel's music was banned by the Soviets after Ukraine was absorbed into the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
in 1922.
Unlike many of the sacred works written by Western composers, Orthodox sacred music is sung in the
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
, and its religious nature is visible and tangible to Orthodox Christians. Because of this,
Soviet anti-religious legislation
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
prohibited Russian and Ukrainian sacred music from being performed in public from 1928 until well into the 1950s, when the
Khrushchev Thaw occurred, and Vedel's works were once again heard by Soviet audiences.
The gap of nearly two centuries when Vedel's music was forgotten adversely affected the development of Ukrainian church music. Vedel made an important contribution to late 18th century music, but his accomplishments were largely undocumented and so were not realised. Early attempts to produce a narrative of Vedel's life and work based on the recollections of his contemporaries were only begun after they themselves had died, and this led to contradictory accounts of his life. The most important studies about Vedel produced in 19th and early 20th century belonged to musicologists as Askochensky, ,
Vladimir Stasov
Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov (also Stassov; rus, Влади́мир Васи́льевич Ста́сов; 14 January Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar#Adoption_in_Eastern_Europe.html" ;"title="/nowiki> O.S._2_January.html" ;"title="Adoption of ...
, and Pyotr Turchaninov. Some of these authors, such as Askochensky, were representatives of the
Russian national movement; according to and Oksana Dondyk, the historical studies of these authors were distorted to suit their particular views about Ukrainian politics and music.
Recognition
Vedel, Berezovsky and Bortniansky are recognised by modern scholars as the "Golden Three" composers of Ukrainian classical music during the end of the 18th century,
and the outstanding composers at a time when church music was reaching its peak in eastern Europe. They composed some of the greatest choral music to emerge from the Russian Empire.
Vedel made an important contribution in the
music history of Ukraine, and musicologists consider him to the archetypal composer of the
baroque style in Ukrainian music.
Koshetz stated that Vedel should be seen as "the first and greatest spokesperson of the national substance in Ukrainian church music". The musical culture that developed in Ukraine during the 19th century were founded in part on Vedel's choral compositions. According to the
ethnomusicologist Taras Filenko, "His free command of contemporary techniques of choral writing, combined with innovations in adapting the particularities of Ukrainian melody, make Artem Vedel's works a unique phenomenon in the context of world musical culture." According to Chekan, Vedel's texture is "at times monumental and at others subtly contrasted, strikingly showing the possibilities of the a cappella sound".
A memorial plaque to Vedel was made by the sculptor in 2008. The plaque is located on the wall of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
The Vedel School in
Lviv
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...
, a school of contemporary music founded in 2017 by the musician Mikhail Balog, was named in honour of the composer.
There are streets named after the composer in Kyiv and Kharkiv.
Notes
References
Sources
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Further reading
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External links
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Information about Vedel's compositionsfrom the online Orthodox Sacred Music Reference Library
Free sheet music of works by Vedelat iKliros (in Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vedel, Artem
National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy alumni
1767 births
1808 deaths
Ukrainian classical composers
Ukrainian classical musicians
18th-century composers
Choral composers
Ukrainian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Musicians from Kyiv
Monks of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra
Composers from the Russian Empire
Violinists from the Russian Empire