Kostiantin Fedorovych Dankevych ( uk, Констянтин Фе́дорович Дaнкевич; December 24, 1905February 26, 1984) was a Soviet and Ukrainian composer, conductor, pianist and teacher. He was awarded the

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significan ...

in 1954.

Biography

Kostiantyn Dankevych was born in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

, in the Russian Empire (in present-day Ukraine). He studied at the Odessa Conservatory with

Vasily Zolotarev Vasily Andreyevich Zolotarev, also romanized as Zolotaryov (russian: Василий Андреевич Золотарёв; February 24, 1872 in Taganrog – May 25, 1964 in Moscow), was a Russian (Soviet) composer and music teacher. Biography Vas ...

and

Mykola Vilinsky Mykola Mykolayovych Vilinsky ( uk, Микола Миколайович Вілінський; 14 May 18889 September 1956) was a Soviet and Ukrainian composer who held senior chairs at the Odesa Conservatory and later the Kyiv Conservatory. He ...

and graduated in 1929. His friendship and collaboration with Vilinsky lasted many years. He was made the director of Songs and Dance of the Red Army Choir in Tbilisi. Konstantin wrote his first symphony in 1937. Two years later he wrote his most popular score, the ballet ''Lileya''. Dankevych taught composition at the Odessa Conservatory starting from 1944. In 1953, he was promoted to the staff of the Kyiv Conservatory. Dankevich used many Ukrainian and Russian Folk motifs. One of his notable works was his opera ''

Bohdan Khmelnytsky Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi ( Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern ua, Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький; 6 August 1657) was a Ukrainian military commander and ...

'' (premiered January 29, 1951). Following its June premiere in Moscow, ''Pravda'' issued some vague and insignificant criticisms of the work, namely that it had not sufficiently portrayed the Polish gentry as enemies, that it did not depict the suffering of the masses, and it lacked a battle scene.Serhy Yekelchyk, ''Stalin's empire of memory : Russian-Ukrainian relations in the Soviet historical imagination'' University of Toronto Press (2004): 147 The Ukrainian authorities took this criticism much further, attacking the libretto for “insufficiently glorifying the historical Russian-Ukraine friendship.” After several rounds of revisions, the opera was staged on September 27, 1953 to rave reviews, and was similarly well received when performed again in Moscow in May 1954. When teaching he often wore two pairs of socks due to his superstitions. In 1960, he wrote the opera ''Nazar Stodolya''. Other works include ''Poem of Ukraine'', several

overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...

s and patriotic courses. In 1959, a

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

was published on him in Kyiv. Kostiantyn Dankevych died on February 26, 1984 in Kyiv, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union (in present-day Ukraine).

References

External links

entry from Ukrainian musician directory
1905 births 1984 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century male musicians 20th-century pianists 20th-century Ukrainian musicians Musicians from Odesa Academic staff of Kyiv Conservatory Fourth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Fifth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Sixth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the title of People's Artists of Ukraine Recipients of the Shevchenko National Prize Operetta composers Soviet classical musicians Soviet conductors (music) Soviet film score composers Soviet male classical composers Soviet music educators Soviet opera composers Soviet pianists Ukrainian classical composers Ukrainian classical musicians Ukrainian conductors (music) Ukrainian film score composers Ukrainian music educators Ukrainian opera composers {{Ukraine-composer-stub Ukrainian pianists Burials at Baikove Cemetery