Volodymyr Andryievych Kabachok (July 15, 1892 – June 15, 1957) was a well-known

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 ...

player and educator in

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 ...

Biography

Born in the village of , in the

Poltava region Poltava Oblast ( uk, Полта́вська о́бласть, translit=Poltavska oblast; also referred to as Poltavshchyna – uk, Полта́вщина, literally 'Poltava Country') is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine. The administrative ...

, Kabachok became a singer in the Archbishop's choir in

Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...

until 1907 when he entered the Poltava music college. Kabachok continued his music education at the

Moscow conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

(1913–17) studying Double Bass, (which did not require the payment of student fees). He did not complete the last year of this studies because of the outbreak of World War I. After the war he returned to Poltava where he initially conducted numerous choirs. In 1925 he was one of the main proponents in establishing 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 ...

, which he directed from its inception until January 1934. In January of that year, he was arrested and incarcerated for three months. Although he was released, he did not return to direct the Poltava Capella that he directed. On release he moved to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

where he was able to establish himself at the Gorky Drama Theatre directing a Ukrainian ethnographic choir. This ethnographic choir later was transformed by him into a bandurist capella modelled on the Poltava Bandurist Capella and playing on Kharkiv-style banduras. After a performance 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 ...

in 1937, he was arrested once again and this time was sentenced to 10 years' hard labour in the

Kolyma Kolyma (russian: Колыма́, ) is a region located in the Russian Far East. It is bounded to the north by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and by the Sea of Okhotsk to the south. The region gets its name from the Kolyma River an ...

work camps in the Far East. It was incorrectly reported that he died in Kolyma. In 1943-44 he was released, and worked for a short time as a soloist in the

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

Philharmonia. There he also became the leader of the orchestral group of the Veriovka Folk Choir. He returned to

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

in 1945 where he began to teach bandura at the Kiev music college named after

Reinhold Glière Reinhold Moritzevich Glière (born Reinhold Ernest Glier, which was later converted for standardization purposes; russian: Рейнгольд Морицевич Глиэр; 23 June 1956), was a Russian Imperial and Soviet composer of German and P ...

and later became professor of bandura at the

Kiev Conservatory Pyotr Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine ( uk, Національна музична академія України імені Петра Чайковського) or Kyiv Conservatory is a Ukrainian state institution of higher music e ...

. During his 12 years of teaching he training some 40 bandurists. His most successful students and artistic accomplishment was the establishment of the female bandura trio ensemble. Kabachok is also known for his handbook for the bandura published posthumously in 1958. This bandura textbook was co-authored with non-bandurist Yevhen Yutsevych because it would have been difficult for a convicted political prisoner to have such a publication.

Students

Tamara Polishchuk, Valentyna Tretiakova, Nina Pavlenko E. Pylypenko-Mroniuk, V. Parkhomenko, Yu. Hamova, Viktor Kukhta,

Serhiy Bashtan Serhiy Vasylievych Bashtan (12 January 1927 – 10 January 2017) was a professor of bandura at the Kiev Conservatory. Bashtan was born in the village of Novi Birochky, now Velykyj Khutir, Cherkasy Oblast. (Other sources state that he was born in ...

, A. Hrytsaj, V. Lapshyn, Bokovyj, Yulij Ivanovych Poklad, Maria Nykyforivna

Sources

*Bashtan, S. - Banduryste, orle syzyj ... - "Literaturna Ukraina" 1992, July 23 p 8 *Kabachok, Mykola - Spohady pro bat'ka - "Rodovid" #6, 1993 *Kudrytsky, A. V. - Mystetsvo Ukrainy - "Biohrafichnyj dovidnyk", Kiev, 1997 *Cheremsky, Kost' - Povernennia tradytsiyi - Kharkiv, 1999 *Kyrdan, B. - Omelchenko, A. - Narodni spivtsi-muzykanty na Ukraini - Kiev, 1980 *Zheplynsky, B. - Kobzari banduristy - Lviv 1999 1892 births 1957 deaths People from Poltava Oblast Academic staff of Kyiv Conservatory Kobzarstvo Bandurists Ukrainian music educators Soviet music educators {{Ukraine-musician-stub