Vasyl' Kostovych Yemetz ( uk, Василь Костьович Ємець; 15 December or 27 December 1891 – 6 January 1982) (2 August 1890 – 4 January 1982) (also went by Wassyl, Vassyl) was born in the village of Sharivka, 40 km from

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. He was the son of Kost' and Yevdokia (Kurakhovych).Мішалов В. і М. — Українські кобзарі-бандуристи — Сідней, Австралія, 1986 He was married to Maria Hotra-Doroshenko. He was a virtuoso

bandurist A banduryst ( uk, бандури́ст) is a person who plays the Ukrainian plucked string instrument known as the bandura. Types of performers There are a number of different types of bandurist who differ in their particular choice of instrumen ...

. He was founder and initial director of the Kobzar Choir in 1918 - the direct protégé of the

Kiev Bandurist Capella The Kyiv Bandurist Capella ( uk, Київська капeла бандуристiв, translit=Kyivs’ka kapela banduristiv) is a male vocal-instrumental ensemble that accompanies its singing with the playing of the multi-stringed Ukrainian fo ...

and the

Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus The Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus ( uk, Українська Капеля Бандуристів Північної Америки ім. Т. Г. Шевченка; full name: ''The Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America'') is a s ...

.Горлиця Л. — Василь Ємець — кобзар віртуоз, композитор // Вісті, № 34, 1970.Василь Ємець — творець першої української капели бандуристів, співак, бандурист, письменник http://www.ukrainians-world.org.ua/142/133/145/

Biography

Yemetz was born to a Cossack family. His father was interested in Ukrainian ethnography and his family was one of the first to have a phonograph (1899) with which they recorded and collected folk songs. It is from one of the local kobzari, Ivan Kucherenko, that Yemetz became drawn to the culture of the

kobzari A ''kobzar'' ( ua, кобзар, plural, pl. kobzari ua, кобзарі) was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment, played on a multistringed bandura or kobza. Tradition Kobzars were often blind and became predominantly ...

and learned to play the

bandura A bandura ( uk, банду́ра) is a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often referred to by the term kobza. Early instruments (c. 1700) had 5 to 12 strings ...

in 1908. His first performance as a

took place in 1911, and it became very controversial because of the text of the song that he chose to sing. He studied at

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Moscow University because of his political activities. In Moscow, he became the first bandurist to perform solo in the Bolshoi Theatre in 1916. After this performance, he was hailed as a virtuoso in the Russian press. In the summer of 1913, he was invited by

Mykola Bohuslavsky Nikolai Alekseevich Boguslavsky ( ua, Микола Олексієвич Богуславський) (1850–1933) was an organiser and sponsor of the kobzar renaissance in the Kuban, a community leader, publisher. Bohuslavsky organized the first ...

Yekaterinodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...

in the Kuban to teach bandura. He was instrumental in establishing the modern bandura playing tradition amongst the

Kuban Cossacks Kuban Cossacks (russian: кубанские казаки, ''kubanskiye kаzaki''; uk, кубанські козаки, ''kubanski kozaky''), or Kubanians (russian: кубанцы, ; uk, кубанці, ), are Cossacks who live in the Kuban ...

. After completing his studies at Moscow University, he received a teaching position in 1917 in

Sosnytsia Sosnytsia ( uk, Сocниця) is an urban-type settlement in Koriukivka Raion (district) of Chernihiv Oblast (province) in north-central Ukraine. It is located on the west bank of the Ubid River, a tributary of the Desna river, some from Chern ...

Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...

province in Ukraine. There, he was chosen as a delegate at the All-Ukr. National Congress held in Kyiv in 1917. In 1918, he moved to

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

where he organized the first professional Bandurist Capella known as the Kobzar Choir. The first concert of the group took place in the Bergone Theatre in Kyiv on November 3, 1918. The ensemble's last concert was a

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukrainian poet, wr ...

concert in March 1919. From 1918-20, he served with the Ukrainian National Army.

Emigration in Europe

In 1921, he moved to Berlin where he continued his studies at the Berlin Conservatory. In Berlin, he published a number of articles about the Kobzari, which included materials about his interactions with them. This led to the publication of his first book on the Kobzari. In 1923, he moved to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, which had become a major Ukrainian emigre centre. Here, he set up a school for the teaching of the bandura in Prague and Podebrady in 1923 which had over 60 students. A workshop for the manufacturing of instruments was established which made over 100 instruments. In 1926, the first collection of works for the bandura was published in Prague. On the basis of the many bandura students, Yemetz established a second Bandurist Capella in Prague and also a number of smaller bandura ensembles in the Ukrainian Gymnasium, the

Ukrainian Free University The Ukrainian Free University ( ua, Український Вільний Університет, german: Ukrainische Freie Universität, la, Universitas Libera Ukrainensis) is a private graduate university located in Munich, Germany. History ...

, the Drahomanov Pedagogical Institute in Prague and the

Forestry Institute Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

in Podebrady. Yemetz's highly publicized activities stimulated the re-establishment of the Kiev Bandurist Capella, the formation of the

Poltava Bandurist Capella The Poltava Bandurist Capella was vocal-instrumental ensemble who accompanied themselves on the multi-stringed Ukrainian bandura. It was initially established in February 1925, based on a male church choir who sang in the Ukrainian Autocephalous O ...

and the establishment of formal bandura classes in Kharkiv in 1926. The students of the Czech bandura schools established a culture of bandura playing in Western Ukraine and Poland when many students returned there after completing their studies.Литвин М. — Струни золотії — «Веселка», К.:1994 Yemetz's brother-in-law

Hryhory Kopan Hryhoriy ( uk, Григо́рій, Hryhórij ), sometimes Hryhory, may refer to: *Hryhory Alchevsky (1866–1920), prominent Ukrainian and minor Russian composer *Hryhoriy Baranets (born 1986), professional Ukrainian football midfielder *Hryhory B ...

wrote to him inviting him back to Kiev to re-establish the Kiev Bandurist Capella in the early 1920s, however he declined to return. In 1926, Yemetz continued touring Eastern Europe with solo recitals. In 1927, he first performed in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. In early 1929 he toured

Carpathian region The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

s in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, before returning to France and setting off for North America.

North America

In 1929, Yemetz toured North America for the first time to great success recording his first record there in 1932. In 1934, Yemetz returned to France. He returned to North America in 1937 touring all the major cities of Canada and the United States. He married and in 1941 became an American citizen. Yemetz settles in Hollywood and starts work in 1945 on constructing a chromatic concert bandura. He develops a new repertoire for the instrument and tours the United States in 1946 with classical transcriptions played on the new chromatic concert bandura. This is the first time that works such as

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

's "Moonlight sonata" and

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

's "Arabian dance" were performed on the bandura. In 1952, he recorded an LP record, however it was not commercially released. After 1956, he retired from performing and spent most of his time collecting materials and writing memoirs many of which remain unpublished. Much of his personal archives including music, photographs and concert programs were stored in a trunk he had left with a musicologist in Winnipeg. These were destroyed during the Great Winnipeg Flood. He died in Hollywood January 4, 1982.

Publications

He published over 40 articles on various aspects of the bandura.

Sources

*Kudrytsky, A. V. - Mystetsvo Ukrainy - Biohrafichnyj dovidnyk - Kyiv 1997 *Ukrainians in North America, USA *Кіндзерявий-Пастухів, С. - Думки вголос – Кобзарський листок Рік 5 ч. 39, Січень 1978, (Про записи з грою В. Ємця) *Литвин, М. – Струни золотії – “Веселка”, К.:1994 (117с.) *Самчук, У. - Живі струни - Детройт, США, 1976 (468с.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yemetz, Vasyl 1890 births 1982 deaths People from Kharkiv Oblast Bandurists Kobzarstvo Bandura makers Composers for bandura Ukrainian musicians Moscow State University alumni 20th-century composers Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)