Art (classical) music of Ukraine

Some of the Ukrainian art classical music can be split up into ethnic sub-groups:

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·         Composers and artists of Ukrainian culture staying in Ukraine

·         Composers and artists of non-Ukrainian origin who were born or at somehow were citizen or were active in Ukraine

·         Ethnic Ukrainian composers and artist staying outside of Ukraine within the Ukrainian diaspora.

The music of the above categories varies considerably, as did the spectators for whom they provide. The first group is closely tied with the Ukrainian national school of music led by Mykola Lysenko. This comprises composers such as Mykola Leontovych, Levko Revutsky, Kyry Stetsenko and Sydir Vorobkevych. Many of their music comprise Ukrainian traditional figures and are composed to Ukrainian texts.

The second group is of special importance and international visibility, because of the huge percentage of cultural minorities in urban Ukraine. This group comprises such composers as Franz Xavier Mozart, Rheinhold Gliere, Isaac Dunayeysky, Yuliy Meitus and Sergei Prokofiev, artists such as David Oistrakh, Isaac Stern, Volodymyr Horovyts and Sviatoslav Richter. The music of these composers infrequently comprises Ukrainian traditional motives and more frequently it is written to the texts of Russian or Polish poets.

In the third group we have a series of popular individuals who are frequently not part of the normal Ukrainian culture but who have made a significant role on music in Ukraine, while staying outside of its borders. These include the historic individuals such as Titov, Berezovsky, Bortniansky, Vedel and Tuptalo. These also incorporate Soviet composers such as the Isaak Dunayeysky and Mykola Roslavets who were born in Ukraine but moved to other ethnic centers within the Soviet Union. In the North American we have the following such as Wasyl Sydorenko, Oliynyk, Mykola Fomenko, Zinoviy Lawryshyn and Yuriy.