Back

Newly uncovered materials presented in this dissertation have made it possible to fully reappraise the creative and performing activities of Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912); Ukrainian composer, musical folklorist, pianist, and conductor in the wider context of contemporary European culture. As composer, scholar, and patriot, Lysenko built the foundation of a national musical education, nationally distinctive art music, and an intellectual platform for the further development of Ukrainian culture. In Lysenko's time, government ideology viewed the question of national culture exclusively in the context of a united and indivisible Imperial culture. Such ideological pressure was especially intense in provinces which had once been independent countries, but which had been re-conquered and absorbed by the Russian Empire. The psychology of a colonial society, being socially, culturally, and politically oppressed, is often an obscure theme to research. In such case, the role of the individual, the leader in the field, who pursues the development of the national awakening, has a significant effect on its evolution. Lysenko is inarguably such an individual. Even though musicians are conventionally placed by most scholars beyond political discourse, this composer had a decisive role to play in the process of establishing national culture. Lysenko's view of music as a vehicle for the promotion of a populist agenda permeated his writings and activities, for he perceived traditional music first and foremost as a socio-cultural phenomenon. Lysenko viewed Ukrainian traditional music as a device for sustaining ethnic identity and preserving the true history of the country by oral means, bypassing official interference and interpretation. Through his influence as folklorist, composer, and activist, he buttressed the notion that music must be perceived as a compelling form of attention-getting; a means of commanding public spaces, and a potent tool for the narration and re-narration of history. While he advocated the dominance of artistic quality over any explicit ideology in his compositions, Lysenko's artistic vision was nevertheless grounded in the conviction that music has the potential to voice a political as well as an aesthetic message.

The dissertation citations and abstracts contained here are published with permission of UMI® Dissertation Services. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Web-page: wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations.

A copy of this dissertation is available at the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies in hard copy and pdf format. Its purchase was made possible through the Sowsun (Solsun) Endowment Fund.