Mykola Lysenko
Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko (Ukrainian: Мико́ла Віта́лійович Ли́сенко, 22 March [O.S. 10 March] 1842 – 6 November [O.S. 24 October] 1912) was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor and ethnomusicologist.
Biography
Lysenko was born in Hrynky, Kremenchuk county, Poltava Governorate, the son of Vitaliy Romanovych Lysenko (Ukrainian: Віталій Романович Лисенко). From childhood he became very interested in the folksongs of Ukrainian peasants and by the poetry of Taras Shevchenko. When Shevchenko's body was brought to Ukraine after his death in 1861, Lysenko was a pallbearer. During his time at Kiev University, Lysenko collected and arranged Ukrainian folksongs, which were published in seven volumes. One of his principal sources was the kobzar Ostap Veresai (after whom Lysenko later named his son).
Lysenko was initially a student of Biology at the Kharkiv University, studying music privately. On a scholarship which he won from the Russian Music Society he pursued further professional music studies at the Leipzig Conservatory. It is there that he understood the importance of collecting, developing and creating Ukrainian music rather than duplicating the work of Western classical composers.
