THE MESSIAH OF UKRAINIAN MUSIC: THE WORK OF MYKOLA LYSENKO SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Abstract

The figure of Mykola Lysenko as a Messianic figure in Ukrainian music of the second half of the 19th century is considered. The multifaceted activity of the composer, which covers the collection, processing and popularization of Ukrainian folklore, the creation of nationally oriented musical genres (opera, cantata, choir, chamber and instrumental music), the organization of musical and educational work (the foundation of choirs and concert trips in Ukraine), pedagogical activity, has been substantiated. The influence of Taras Shevchenko’s work on the ideological and artistic principles of Lysenko was revealed, and his first work, the Testament, as a spiritual and musical manifesto of the composer, a kind of semantic epigraph to all his works, was characterized. A new look at the “Heruvim” as a bold experiment at the junction of tradition and innovation is established: The work is interpreted not only as spiritual, but also as modern in form and harmony. The stylistic, genre and ideological and semantic features of Lysenko’s music are analyzed, which define it as a semiotic system with codified national archetypes. The influence of Lysenko on the development of the Ukrainian musical tradition in all the territory of Ukraine, his connections with other artists of the era, participation in the creation of a single national cultural space. The role of Lysenko in establishing the Ukrainian identity through music as a form of spiritual resistance and enlightenment in the conditions of imperial oppression is emphasized. It has been proved that Mykola Lysenko’s activity constitutes an original symbol of the mesianism of the Ukrainian intelligentsia in its aspirations to increase the national culture to the European level and to create an original musical language that would speak to every Ukrainian. The attention is focused on the relevance of Lysenko’s ideas in the modern national-cultural discourse.