Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych—Ukrainian composer, choral conductor, pianist, educator, collector of musical folklore, and public figure.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on December 13, 1877, in the village of Selevyntsi, Bratslav County, Podolia Governorate, into the family of a village priest. Later, Selevyntsi merged with the neighboring village of Monastyrok, which is why many sources list this village as his place of birth.
His father, Dmytro Feofanovych, played the cello, violin, and guitar, and for a time also directed the seminary choir. It was from him that Leontovych received his first musical instruction. His mother had a beautiful voice and loved to sing, especially folk songs.
It is also interesting to note that Leontovych’s two sisters—Maria and Olena—as well as his brother Alexander, went on to become singers and musicians.
He spent his childhood in the village of Shershni in the Tyvriv District of Vinnytsia Oblast, where his father had been assigned to work. His father was also responsible for the future composer’s early education.
Following a family tradition, Leontovych was expected to pursue a career as a priest, and at the age of 10 he enrolled in the Nemyriv Gymnasium; however, just one year later, his parents transferred him to the Shargorod Primary Theological School. It was there that he mastered music notation and learned to read choral parts of church compositions.
Later, while studying at the Kamianets-Podilskyi Theological Seminary, he learned to play the violin, the piano, and several wind instruments; he became the choir director for the seminarians and began writing his first sacred compositions.
Career
After completing his studies in 1899, Leontovych renounced the priesthood and worked as a teacher of singing, arithmetic, and geography at the two-class school in Chukiv. There, he founded an amateur symphony orchestra that performed Ukrainian melodies as well as works by Ukrainian and Russian composers.
At the same time, he became interested in arranging folk songs.
In 1901, he published his first collection of Podillia songs, and two years later, his second collection was published, dedicated to the composer Mykola Lysenko.
In 1902, he moved to Vinnytsia, where he began working as a teacher at a church-run teacher training school. Two years later, he was transferred to teach at the railway school at the Hryshyne station in Bakhmut County.
The composer’s activities quickly drew the attention of the tsarist secret police. He came under particularly close surveillance during the revolutionary events of 1905, when Leontovych, together with a workers’ choir, performed at rallies against Russian autocracy and sang “La Marseillaise.”
In 1908, the composer was forced to return to Podillia. There, he took a position as a music and singing teacher at the Tulchyn Diocesan Girls’ School, where the daughters of rural priests were educated.
In 1909, he moved to Kyiv. There, he conducted choirs, taught at the Lysenko Institute of Music and Drama, worked in the music department of the Kyiv Regional Committee and the All-Ukrainian Committee of the Arts, and headed the newly formed state orchestra.
In 1916, the composer’s “Shchedrivka” was performed for the first time by the Kyiv University choir.
From 1903 to 1904, during his school vacation, he passed the exams to become a choirmaster at the St. Petersburg Court Chapel.
The events of the Ukrainian Revolution further spurred his activities. He participated in the founding of a number of state choirs, including the Republican Choir under the direction of Oleksandr Koshyts and the “Dumka” Choir led by Stetsenko. In particular, the Lysenko Music and Theater Institute began its work, and concert, publishing, and music education activities were also stepped up.
After Denikin’s forces captured Kyiv in August 1919, Leontovych returned to Tulchyn. There, he founded the city’s first music school.
From the early 1920s, when the persecution of members of the Ukrainian intelligentsia began, Leontovych focused primarily on his creative work. He frequently changed his place of residence, and in his final days, he went into hiding with acquaintances.
Death/Fatalities
On the night of January 23, 1921, Leontovych was murdered at his father’s house in the village of Markivka, Haisyn County. The crime was committed by Afanasy Gryshchenko, an agent of the Vinnytsia All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VNK), who had asked to stay the night.
Marital Status
In 1902, he married Klavdiya Zhovtkevych, the daughter of a priest.
