Mykhaylo Verbytsky
Encyclopedia
Mykhailo Mykhailovych Verbytsky (born March 4, 1815 in Jawornik Ruski
Jawornik Ruski
Jawornik Ruski is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bircza, within Przemyśl County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It lies approximately west of Bircza, west of Przemyśl, and south-east of the regional capital Rzeszów....
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) - died December 7, 1870 in Mlyny
Mlyny
Młyny may refer to the following places:*Młyny, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship *Młyny, Subcarpathian Voivodeship *Młyny, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship *Młyny, Opole Voivodeship...
) was a Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
Greek Catholic
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. He is considered to be one of the first professional Ukrainian composers of Halychyna. Verbystky is known for composing an alternate melody to the song Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy (Ukraine's glory has not perished), which later became the national anthem of Ukraine. His first name is sometimes translated to the English version of Michael, Polish Michal, Russian and other languages (see Michael
Michael
Michael is a given name that comes from the , derived from the Hebrew question מי כמו אלוהים? meaning "Who is like God?" In English, it is sometimes shortened to Mike, Mikey, or, especially in Ireland, Mick...
for more).
Biography
Mykhailo Verbytsky was born in the Nadsyannya. Sources often differ as to the exact location of his birth. He was however born in Jawornik RuskiJawornik Ruski
Jawornik Ruski is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bircza, within Przemyśl County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It lies approximately west of Bircza, west of Przemyśl, and south-east of the regional capital Rzeszów....
and christened 8 km away in Ulucz
Ulucz
Ulucz is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Dydnia, within Brzozów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. The village has a population of 150...
(the site of the oldest wooden church in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
where his father was the local priest. Both are now in Subcarpathian Voivodeship
Subcarpathian Voivodeship
Podkarpackie Voivodeship , or Subcarpathian Voivodeship, is a voivodeship, or province, in extreme-southeastern Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.)
Verbytsky as born into the family of a priest. He left an orphan at the age of 10, and was raised by his father's brother, bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
Ivan Snihurskiy, from then on. Snihurskiy took Mykhailo to live with him in Peremysl, where his unlce was very active: founding the city's first Ukrainian language
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
printing press, published compilations of folkore and textbooks about the Ukrainian language. In 1918, Snihurskiy even founded a dyak
Dyak
Dyak may refer to one of the following.*Dayak people, also called "Dyak", a native tribe of Borneo*Dyak a historical position of head of office in Russia...
-teaching institute in the city, and ten years later, a cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
choir and music school
Music school
The term music school refers to an educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of music.Different terms refer to this concept such as school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department or conservatory.Music instruction can be provided...
. Verbystky was therefore placed in a very active and creative environment.
In 1833, Verbytsky entered the Theological Seminary in Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
. Here he became seriously engaged in music, learning to play the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, which became his favorite musical instrument. He eventually wrote a textbook
Textbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...
teaching how to play the guitar and wrote pieces for the instrument. Because of financial problems, he twice had to leave the Seminary, but he eventually graduated and became a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
.
In 1852 Verbytsky received a parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
in the village of Mlyny
Mlyny
Młyny may refer to the following places:*Młyny, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship *Młyny, Subcarpathian Voivodeship *Młyny, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship *Młyny, Opole Voivodeship...
of the Yavorskiy County, where he would live and work for the rest of his life. As a priest he wrote may liturgical
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
compositions, which are still sund throughout the Halychyna region. Some of these include "Єдинородний Сине" (Oh Only Beggoten Son), "Святий Боже" (Oh Holy God), "Алилуя" (Alleluia), "Отче наш" (The Lord's Prayer), and "Хваліте Господа з небес" (Praise the Lord from the heavens).
Music
As a composer he helped lay the foundations for the development of modern Ukrainian music. His works are formally unsophisticated, often strophic, and usually in the minor mode; but his stage works (notably Prostachka (‘The Simpleton’), 1870) are representative of a popular folk genre that was melodically fluid, singable, pictorial and emotionally evocative. His instrumental writing does not extend far beyond the simple development of folktunes. Nevertheless, he composed 12 so-called symphonies (really overtures), the sixth of which Stanislav Lyudkevich based an orchestral piece and a piano trio. He also composed Zapovit (‘Testament’, 1868), a setting of ShevchenkoShevchenko
Shevchenko , a family name of Ukrainian origin. It is derived from the Ukrainian word shvets’, "shoemaker" and/or "tailor", and the suffix -enko, denoting descent...
’s poem for bass solo, double choir and orchestra, the operetta Podgoryane which was staged in Lemberg (now L′viv, 1864), and numerous sacred and secular choral works and songs. He is best known as the composer of the Ukrainian national anthem Shche ne vmerla Ukrayina (‘The Ukraine has not Perished’), which in 1917 was adopted by the new Ukrainian republican government.
Compositions
Musicologist Uliana Petrus' has put together a list of 133 known compositions by M. Verbytsky. These include:- Large scale secular choral works - 30
- Sacred choral works - 37
- Vocal ensembles
- Art songs -10
- Arrangements of folk songs - 10
- Orchestral works - 18 works including 9 symphonies
- Chamber works
- 15 works for various instruments
- Music to 12 stage works
Commemoration
In 2005 the chapel-pantheon over the tomb of Mykhailo Verbytsky was opened to mark the 140th anniversary of Ukrainian national anthem and 190th anniversary of its composer.Sources
- Andriy V. Szul. The New Grove Dictionary of OperaNew Grove Dictionary of OperaThe New Grove Dictionary of Opera is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes....
, edited by Stanley Sadie (1992). ISBN 0-333-73432-7 and ISBN 1-56159-228-5 - Загайкевич, Марія Михайло Вербицький - Сторінки життя і творчості - Львів, 1998 ISBN 966-02-0819-7