Musical and educational activities of Mykola Lysenko as a phenomenon of self-identification of the national culture
Authors: Yastrub Olena 
Published: May 2020

Formulation of the problem. In the globalized time-space of the 21st century, the musical heritage left by M.V. Lysenko motivates to comprehend at a new level the phenomenon of the creative universalism of the artist, the multiple manifestations of his musical-social, educational, ethnographic and composing activities. Given the importance of the choral singing for nurturing the national consciousness of young musicians, the role of M. Lysenko’s opera heritage for children and adolescents should be noted. The choice of the theme was actualized by the iconic premiere of M. Lysenko’s children’s opera called “Winter and Spring” (2017) at the Great Hall of Kharkiv National University of Arts named after I.P. Kotlyarevsky,performed by young performers, which coincided with honouring the memory of the great Kobzar (the 175th anniversary since his birthday). In particular, the orchestration was performed by Yelizar Pashchenko, the stage director – Sofia Melnikova; the conductor –the author of the article. Thus, M. Lysenko’s children’s opera is still relevant for young artists in terms of their professional and national self-growth. The purpose of the article is to systematize the manifestations of artistic universalism in the activities of M.V. Lysenko in the aspect of phenomenology of the creativity of the composer on the example of the genre of children’s opera. The object of the study is the Ukrainian music tradition; the subject – music-educational activity of M. Lysenko in the aspect of its actualization in the contemporary cultural and artistic space. The analysis of recent publications on the topic. The reflection of M.V. Lysenko’s creative heritage in its aspects was performed in the studies by the classics of Ukrainian studies (K. Kvitka (1986), M. Rylsky (1927), O. Pchilka (1913a, 1913b), L. Arhimovych, M. Gordiychuk (1992)), and by the modern scholars (L. Corniy (2011), S. Grytsa (2007)). One of the fundamental editions is the book-album called “Mykola Lysenko’s World. National identity, music and politics of Ukraine of the 19th– the beginning of the 20thcenturies»(compiled by T. Bulat and T. Filenko (2009)). However, there is no phenomenological approach to the master’s creative work in these sources. The presentation of the main material. M. Lysenko was a personality gifted with many talents, at that time he was presenting the figure of a universal personality – on the one hand, an intellectual, and on the other – an educator. He read in the original language the works by Russian, Polish, German, French writers (Dumas, Eugene Sue), independently studied the works by R. Schuman and R. Wagner, Y.S. Bach, performed virtuosic compositions by F. Liszt. The manifestations of the artistic universalism of M.V. Lysenko as a criterion of the composer’s activity in the light of the problem of self-identification of Ukrainian culture at the stage of its formation have been systematized. The composer’s outlook and aspects of his creative life have been characterized. Lysenko’s music-educational activities began the process of democratization of music education in Kyiv. So, in 1904 he opened the School of Drama and Music. He focused on the programs of Moscow and St. Petersburg Conservatories. Therefore, on the stage of the educational institution the authors of the modern version of the opera “Winter and Spring” take the ideas of the founder of the national musical culture. Their purpose was to preserve the holistic concept of the development of the musical form of the opera. The ancient folk intonations, the expressive and difficult in the technical performancesub-voices, the varied and original use of the fret, reflected in the melody of children’skolyadka (carols) and vesnyanka (spring songs), helped the young performers to achieve some level of the performing skills. It should be noted that the final choir (vesnyanka) “And it’s spring already, and it’s already good”, as well as the choral scenes of carolling and spring celebrations are in low demand in the modern choral performance and need to be popularized. For example, the choral scene that begins with the kolyadka called “Herod Is Damned” can be performed as a compulsory piece at children’s choral competitions in Ukraine. The opera is quite technically difficult to perform. Children’s mass scenes “cement” the opera’s musical material. The choir of the younger age children performed the first choral song “Go, Go, Let’s Meet”, built on the invocative intonation of the big tertiary, there are jumps on octave and the fifth; by means of harmonization, the composer gives a colourful sounding to the choir’s kolyadka and shchedrivka (New Year Ukrainian song). Conclusions. In the choral scene of the children’s opera called “Winter and Spring”, the composer applied such techniques as: the combination of shchedrivka and kolyadka in the choir “New Joy Began”; the techniques of folk polyphony: unison chants (vesnyanka “Cuckoo in the Meadow”), the tertiary doubles and octave thickenings (the ancient kolyadka “Herod Is Damned”); the original means of vocal-choral writing (the final choir “And it’s spring already, and it’s already good”). Thus, M. Lysenko’s creativity is filled, on the one hand, with the love to Ukrainian folklore, and on the other, with the perception of the European spiritual values of the music world, where Ukraine should take its rightful place. This is the phenomenon of self-identification of the professional activity of the great composer and figure of musical culture, which is inherited by the modern musicians of Kharkiv