Volodymyr Mikhailovich Ivasyuk is a Ukrainian composer-performer, musician, multi-instrumentalist, poet.
Place of Birth, Education
Ivasyuk was born on March 4, 1949 in the city of Kitsman, Chernivtsi region, in a family of teachers.
In the period from 1955 to 1963 he was educated at the local children’s music school, and from 1956 to 1966 he studied at the Kitsman secondary school.
In 1963, he entered the Kyiv Musical Decade named after Mykola Lysenko, choosing the specialty of viola. Due to health problems from the second quarter, he was forced to return to Kitsman. In his hometown, he continued his education in high school and at the same time attended a music school, where he studied piano.
In 1966, the Ivasyuk family moved to Chernivtsi. In the same year, Volodymyr became a student at the Lviv Medical Institute, but later he was expelled due to his participation in a “political incident”. During 1967 – 1972 he continued his studies and in 1973 entered graduate school.
In September 1974, he became a student of the composition department of the Lviv Conservatory, where he studied in the class of Anatoliy Kos-Anatolsky, but was expelled two years later.
Creative activity
In 1964, Ivasyuk wrote the first song called “Lullaby”, using poetic lines written by his father for it.
Under the name Vesnyanyi, he submitted two songs to the regional competition: “The Cranes Flew Away” and “Lullaby for Oksanochka”. For “The Cranes Flew Away” he won the first prize.
In 1970, Ivasyuk wrote the songs “Chervona Ruta” and “Vodohrai”. For the first time, they were performed by the author himself together with Elena Kuznetsova. The impetus for the popularity of the compositions was the performance by the ensemble “Smerichka” under the direction of Levko Dutkovsky.
In particular, “Chervona Ruta” won the first all-Union festival “Song-71”. During the final concert in the Ostankino studio, it was performed by the soloists of the ensemble “Smerichka” Nazariy Yaremchuk, Vasyl Zinkevych and the author himself – Ivasyuk, accompanied by a pop symphony orchestra, the conductor of which was Yuri Silantiev.
During 1974 – 1975 he worked on writing musical accompaniment to the theatrical production “Flag Bearers”, based on the novel of the same name by Oles Honchar. The premiere of the play took place on March 19, 1975. The music written by Ivasyuk received rave reviews from critics.
In August and September 1975, in the Bukovynian village of Roztoky, the filming of the film “The Song Is Always With Us” took place, where Sofia Rotaru performed six songs by Volodymyr Ivasyuk. Two years later, Rotaru won with his song “Fate Has Its Own Spring” at the Solot-77 festival.
In April 1978, Ivasyuk took part in the All-Union Competition of Young Composers in Yerevan, where pianist Larisa Desyatkina performed his “Suite Variations” on the theme of the song “Dry Willow”. In October of the same year, he performed at the All-Ukrainian Gathering of Creative Youth: his “Suites-Variations for Chamber Orchestra” and premiere songs to the words of Rostyslav Bratun and Roman Kudlyk performed by Igor Kushpler were played.
In November 1978, he won the All-Union Competition of Student Composers in Moscow, receiving II degree diplomas for “Suite Variations” and “The Ballad of Viktor Khar”. In April 1979, he was a member of the jury of the first republican competition of pop artists in Khmelnytskyi.
On the night of April 23-24, 1979, Ivasyuk left for Lviv. On the morning of April 24, after a phone call, he left the apartment and never returned. Only on May 18, 1979, his body was found hanged in the Bryukhovychi forest near Lviv.
Death
The official investigation called the cause of death suicide, but this version raised doubts. According to unofficial data, Ivasyuk’s death could have been a premeditated murder organized by the State Security Committee (KGB). The farewell to the composer, which took place in Lviv on May 22, 1979, grew into protests against the Soviet government.
Interesting Facts
Here are some interesting facts from the life of Ivasyuk:
- Ivasyuk was fluent in playing the piano, guitar, cello, violin and viola;
- was a supporter of the ideas of the free Western world.
- in addition to musical talent, Ivasyuk had artistic talent – he painted landscapes, portraits, self-portraits, as well as caricatures and caricatures;
- he was one of the most famous composers of the Soviet Union, but fundamentally refused to write music for texts in Russian, considering himself a Ukrainian composer;
