Mykola Lysenko, whose biography is described in this article, is a Ukrainian composer and conductor, pianist, public figure, and a talented teacher. All his life he collected song folklore. He did a lot for the social and cultural life of Ukraine.
A family
Lysenko Nikolay Vitalyevich - comes from an old Cossack family. His father, Vitaly Romanovich, was a colonel in the cuirassier regiment. Mother, Olga Yeremeyevna, ancestry from landowners Lutsenko.
Childhood
From early childhood, the primary education of Nicholas, who was born in 1842, the mother was engaged in herself, together with the poet Fet. She taught Nicholas French, dancing and the right manners. And Fet taught Russian. When Nikolai was 5 years old, Olga Yeremeyevna discovered in her son a penchant for music. To develop talent, a music teacher was invited. From early childhood, Nikolai was fond of poetry. His love for Ukrainian folk songs was instilled in him by cousins of his grandfather.
Education
After home schooling was over, Nikolai began to prepare for admission to the gymnasium. At first he studied at Weil's hostel, and then he studied at Geduen. Nikolai Lysenko entered the 2nd Kharkov Grammar School in 1855. He graduated with a silver medal in 1859.
Then he entered Kharkov University. At the Faculty of Natural Sciences. A year later, his parents went to live in Kiev, and Nikolai moved to the Kiev University, to the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, to the Department of Natural Sciences. He graduated from the university in 1864 and a year later became a candidate of natural sciences.
After some time, in 1867, Nikolai Vitalyevich continued his studies at the Leipzig Conservatory, which was the best in all of Europe. He was taught to play the piano by C. Reinecke, E. Wenzel, and I. Mosheles, compositions by E. Richter, theories by Paperitts. Further, Nikolai Lysenko improved in symphonic instrumentation at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory of Petersburg.
Beginning of the creative path
At the gymnasium, he took private music lessons. And gradually he became a famous pianist. He was often invited to balls and evening parties, at which he performed works by Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven. He played dance compositions and improvised with Ukrainian melodies.
When Nicholas studied at Kiev University, he sought to acquire as much knowledge as possible in music. Therefore, he carefully studied the operas of such famous composers as Glinka, Wagner, etc. It was from this time that Nikolai began to collect and harmonize Ukrainian folk songs.
At the same time Nikolay Lysenko organized student choirs, which he directed, and performed with them in public. Studying at the Leipzig Conservatory, he realized that it was more important to create, collect and develop Ukrainian folk music, rather than copying foreign classics.
Creative career
Since 1878, Nikolai became a piano teacher, working at the Institute of Noble Maidens. In the 1890s He taught youth in the music schools of Tutkovsky and Blumenfeld. In 1904, Nikolai Vitalyevich founded his school in Kiev (since 1913 - named after Lysenko). She became the first institution providing higher education at the conservatory level.
To create a school, he used the money donated by friends, which were intended to purchase a summer residence and publish his works. The school was constantly under close police control. In 1907, Nikolai Vitalyevich was even arrested, but he was released the next morning.
From 1908 to 1912 He chaired the board of the Ukrainian Club. This society conducted educational activities. Organized music and literary evenings and continuing education courses for teachers. In 1911, Nikolai Vitalyevich was the head of the committee that facilitated the installation of the T. Shevchenko monument. It was Lysenko who subsequently improved the music for the operetta Natalka Poltavka.
Creativity Lysenko
Lysenko wrote his first work in 1868, when he studied at the Leipzig Conservatory. It was a collection of Ukrainian songs for piano with a voice. This work has great scientific and ethnographic value. In the same year, the second work was released - “Retire,” written on the anniversary of the death of Shevchenko.
This was followed by a whole cycle called "Music to Kobzar." It included over 80 individual works. Their genres were different. All works were published in seven series. The latter was released in 1901.
Nikolay Lysenko has always been at the center of Kiev's cultural life. Being in the leadership of the Russian Musical Society, he took an active part in many concerts that were held throughout Ukraine.
He was engaged in music circles. And he even got permission to stage plays performed in Ukrainian. In 1872, Nikolai Vitalyevich wrote two operettas: "Christmas Night" and "Black Sea". Subsequently, they became the basis of national Ukrainian art, forever entering the theater repertoire.
In 1873, Lysenko published his first musicological work on Ukrainian folklore. At the same time, Nikolai Vitalyevich wrote piano works and symphonic fantasy.
In St. Petersburg, he, along with V. Paskhalov, organized choral concerts. Their program included works by Lysenko, as well as Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian and Polish songs. It was in Petersburg that he wrote his first rhapsody on a Ukrainian theme, the 1st and 2nd polonaises, and a piano sonata.
Returning to Kiev in 1876, Lysenko focused on performing activities. He organized concerts, played the piano, created new choirs. He gave the money raised from events for public purposes. It was at this time that he wrote most of his largest works.
In 1880, Nikolai Vitalyevich began working on one of the best operas Taras Bulba. Then many more pieces of music came out. Separately, it is worth noting the improvement of music in the operetta "Natalka Poltavka" in 1889. This work has undergone numerous processing more than once. But only as amended by Lysenko did it turn out to be artistically complete.
Nikolai Vitalyevich created a separate direction - children's opera. From 1892 to 1902 he arranged choral tours in Ukraine. In 1904, Lysenko opened a drama school, which for many years became an important Ukrainian institution for special education.
In 1905, he, together with A. Kosits, founded the Boyan choir society. The creators themselves conducted it. But soon “Boyan” broke up due to political conditions and lack of material resources. Society lasted only a year.
In the last years of his life, Lysenko wrote the work "Aeneid." The opera mercilessly criticized the autocratic order and became the only example of satire in the Ukrainian musical theater.
Social work
All his life, Nikolai was engaged not only in creativity, but also in social activities. He is one of the organizers of a peasant Sunday school. He was engaged in the preparation of the Ukrainian dictionary. Participated in the census of the Kiev population. He worked in the South-West branch of the Russian Geographical Society.
Personal life
In 1868, Lysenko was married to his second cousin, Olga Alexandrovna O´Connor. She was 8 years younger than him. They had been married for 12 years, but then separated because they had no children. Official divorce did not begin to issue.
Lysenko’s second marriage was civil. At one of the concerts in Chernigov, he met Lipskaya Olga Antonovna. She later became his common-law wife. They had five children. Olga died after the birth of another child in 1900.
The death of the composer
Lysenko Nikolay, composer, died on November 6, 1912 from a sudden heart attack. In parting with him came thousands of people from all Ukrainian regions. The funeral service was held in Vladimir Cathedral. Ahead of the funeral procession was the choir. It consisted of 1200 people, and their singing was heard even in Kiev. Lysenko was buried in the Kiev Baikov cemetery.