page_title: Viktor Kosenko
section_title: Zhytomyr
hierarchical_section_title: Viktor Kosenko / Life and career / Zhytomyr
caption_attribution_description: Українська: Житомирське музичне училище ім. В.С.Косенка
context_page_description: Viktor Stepanovych Kosenko was a Ukrainian composer, one of the best concert pianists of the 20th century, educator. He was regarded by his contemporaries as a master of lyricism. His first compositions were markedly influenced by the works of composers such as Alexander Scriabin, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and his compatriot Mykola Lysenko.
  Kosenko's life is conclusively divided into three distinct phases, in Warsaw, where he studied with renowned teachers Mikhail Sokolovsky and Iryna Miklashovskaya, in Zhytomyr, where he began teaching piano and music theory at the Music Technicum, later becoming director of the Zhytomyr Music School, and finally in Kiev, where he devoted more time to symphonic compositions such as his Heroic Overture, which brought him due recognition in the world of Soviet music. He was a leading figure among the broad-minded artistic collective of 20th-century Soviet music.
  Kosenko's music combines a post-romantic idiom with intonations of Slavic folk songs and Western-European influences. His vocal, chamber and symphonic works are among the most important pieces of that time in USSR.
context_section_description: After graduating from the conservatory in 1918 Kosenko joined his family in Zhytomyr, at that time the cultural center of the Volyn province. The following year he began teaching piano classes and music theory at the Music Technicum, later becoming director of the Zhytomyr Music School. In February 1920, Kosenko married Angelina, née Kanepp. His love and deep admiration for her was such that he used to write to her almost everyday and was disappointed if for any reason she could not reply to him as fast as he wished. The pieces created between 1919 and 1924 convey deep lyrical feelings, hence the reason he dedicated almost all of his output to her.
  In September 1922, Kosenko gave his first concert, attended by his family and close friends, traveling to Moscow the following year to meet with composers and musicians. By this time he was allowed by the Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians to have his first piano compositions published.
  This period that Kosenko spend in Zhytomyr was one of the richest in his musical career for he perfected his own artistic style in instrumental, vocal and chamber music; genres in which he was very active at that time. There, he authored a large number of piano pieces, over twenty romances, violin and cello sonatas, works for children, and music for plays. He was also heavily involved in a myriad of musical activities such as the creation of a music society, concert appearances, the organization of his piano chamber trio, vocal quartets and even a symphony orchestra, besides serving as accompanist player for different ensembles in the musical life of the city.
caption: Zhitomir Music College, today named after Viktor Kosenko.
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