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Mykhailo Mykhailovych Verbytsky ( uk, Михайло Михайлович Вербицький; March 4, 1815 – December 7, 1870) was a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest and composer. He is considered to be one of the first professional
Ukrainian composers
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 ...
of Halychyna
Galicia ()"Galicia"
''
''
Verbytsky is known for composing an alternate melody to the anthem Ще не вмерла Україна (
website of the ''Den' newspaper'' and christened 8 km away in UluczМихайло Вербицький Етнографія (Mykhailo Verbytsky Ethnography)
lemky.com (the site of the oldest wooden church in
In 1852 Verbytsky received a parish in the village of Mlyny, Yavorskiy county, where he would live and work for the rest of his life. As a priest he wrote many
Shche ne vmerla Ukraina
"" ( uk, Ще не вмерла України і слава, і воля, , lit=The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished), also known by its official title of "State Anthem of Ukraine" (, ') or by its shortened form "" (, ), is the ...
), which later became the national anthem of Ukraine. His first name is sometimes translated to the English version of Michael, Polish Michal, Russian and other languages (see Michael for more).
Biography
Mykhailo Verbytsky was born in Nadsiannia. Sources often differ as to the exact location of his birth, with some claiming he was born inJawornik Ruski
Jawornik Ruski is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bircza, within Przemyśl County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It lies approximately west of Bircza, west of Przemyśl, and south-east of the regional c ...
Як «зустрілися» наддніпрянець і галичанин (How an over-Dnipro resident and a Halychian "met")website of the ''Den' newspaper'' and christened 8 km away in UluczМихайло Вербицький Етнографія (Mykhailo Verbytsky Ethnography)
lemky.com (the site of the oldest wooden church in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
where his father was the local priest. Both are now in Subcarpathian Voivodeship
Subcarpathian Voivodeship or Subcarpathia Province (in pl, Województwo podkarpackie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshall, it i ...
, Poland.)
Verbytsky as born into the family of a priest. He was left an orphan at the age of ten, and was raised from then on by his father's brother, Bishop Ivan Snihurskiy. Snihurskiy took Mykhailo to live with him in Peremysl, where his uncle was very active: founding the city's first Ukrainian language
Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state lan ...
printing press, published compilations of folklore and textbooks about the Ukrainian language. In 1818, Snihurskiy even founded a dyak-teaching institute in the city, and ten years later, a cathedral choir and music school
A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...
. Verbystky was therefore placed in a very active and creative environment.
In 1833, Verbytsky entered the Theological Seminary 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 ...
. Here he became seriously engaged in music, learning to play the guitar, which became his favourite musical instrument. He eventually wrote a textbook
A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbook ...
teaching how to play the guitar and wrote pieces for the instrument. Because of financial problems, he twice had to leave the Seminary, but he eventually graduated and became a priest.
In 1852 Verbytsky received a parish in the village of Mlyny, Yavorskiy county, where he would live and work for the rest of his life. As a priest he wrote many 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 ...
compositions, which are still sung throughout the Halychyna
Galicia ()"Galicia"
''
''
Єдинородний Сине (Only-begotten Son), Святий Боже (Holy God), Алилуя (Alleluia), Отче наш (Our Father), and Хваліте Господа з небес (Praise the Lord from the heavens).
Music
As a composer he helped lay the foundations for the development of modern Ukrainian music. His works are formally unsophisticated, often strophic, and usually in the minor mode; but his stage works (notably ''Prostachka'' (‘The Simpleton’), 1870) are representative of a popular folk genre that was melodically fluid, singable, pictorial and emotionally evocative. His instrumental writing does not extend far beyond the simple development of folktunes. Nevertheless, he composed 12 symphonies (overtures), on the sixth of which Stanislav Lyudkevich based an orchestral piece and a piano trio. He also composed ''Zapovit'' (‘Testament’, 1868), a setting ofShevchenko
Shevchenko (alternative spellings Schevchenko, Ševčenko, Shevcenko, Szewczenko, Chevchenko; ua , Шевченко), a family name of Ukrainian origin. It is derived from the Ukrainian word ''shvets'' ( uk, швець), " cobbler/shoemaker", and ...
’s poem for bass solo, double choir and orchestra, the operetta ''Podgoryane'' which was staged in Lemberg (now L′viv, 1864), and numerous sacred and secular choral works and songs. He is best known as the composer of the Ukrainian national anthem by the words of Pavel Chubinsky ''Shche ne vmerla Ukrayiny'' (‘Ukraine has not Perished’), which in 1917 was adopted by the new Ukrainian republican government.
Compositions
Musicologist Uliana Petrus' has put together a list of 133 known compositions by M. Verbytsky. These include: *Large scale secular choral works - 30 *Sacred choral works - 37 *Vocal ensembles *Art songs - 10 *Arrangements of folk songs - 10 *Orchestral works - 18 works including 9 symphonies *Chamber works *15 works for various instruments * Music to 12 stage worksCommemoration
In 2005 the chapel-pantheon over the tomb of Mykhailo Verbytsky was opened to mark the 140th anniversary of Ukrainian national anthem and 190th anniversary of its composer.References
Sources
*Andriy V. Szul. The '' New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', edited by Stanley Sadie (1992). and *Загайкевич, Марія Михайло Вербицький - Сторінки життя і творчості - Львів, 1998External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verbytsky, Mykhailo 1815 births 1870 deaths People from Przemyśl County Ukrainian classical composers Polish composers National anthem writers Polish opera composers 19th-century classical composers