Bohdan Drymalyk (b. September 1, 1898, Bereziv - d. November 4, 1956, Lviv) was a Ukrainian ensemble pianist, folklorist, and amateur composer. For many years he collaborated as a concertmaster with Solomiya Krushelnytska. He created highly artistic arrangements of folk songs and a number of original vocal works based on the words of Ukrainian and Russian poets.
Bohdan Drymalyk was born on September 1, 1898, in the town of Bereziv (Syianok County). The future musician came from a well-known Galician family. He was the son of a well-known lawyer, counselor, and public figure, Yosyp Drymalyk (1866-1950), who headed the Mykola Lysenko Music Society and the Ukrainian Theater Cooperative from 1915 to 1937. These societies brought together musicians and the most authoritative members of the public and played an extremely important role in the cultural and artistic life of Galicia. Famous Ukrainian cultural figures and musicians often visited the Drymalyk household. In such an atmosphere, where social and musical affairs were an integral part of family life, Bohdan Drymalyk's personality was formed.
Drymalyk received his musical education simultaneously with his general education. From 1909 to 1918, he studied at the Mykola Lysenko Higher Music Institute, majoring in piano with the famous pianist Mariia Krynytska. After graduation, Bohdan Drymalyk worked as an accompanist at the opera school of Professor Czesław Zaremba, a well-known vocal teacher in Lviv whose school was widely recognized and respected. Obviously, financial instability, and possibly parental advice, led to the young pianist's decision to pursue another education. In 1922, he entered the Mining Academy in Leoben (Austria). In his spare time, he worked as a professional musician: he gave private piano lessons, participated in concerts, and earned his living by playing in cinemas and coffee shops. His joint performances with singers O. Yarema, S. Stadnykova, Koretska, and others are also known. During 1918-1926, he collaborated with the singer Roman Prokopovych-Orlenko, accompanying him in solo programs and at Shevchenko's concerts.
Even then B. Drymalyk became a well-known concertmaster and attracted the attention of reviewers. Various magazines ("Ukrainian Voice," "Dilo," "Vpered") published reviews by Stanislav Liudkevych of concerts where Bohdan Drymalyk was a co-performer with singers and instrumentalists. In the review by S. Liudkiewicz's review of a concert by singers R. Prokopovych-Orlenko and S. Stadnykova in Przemysl, Bohdan Drymalyk's performance was highly praised: "The piano accompaniment to all points of the concert rested in the hands of Mr. Drymalyk, a former student of our Music Institute, who has already gained a respectable reputation in that field." These last words indicate a certain reputation of Drymalyk in Lviv's musical circles. Such an assessment of the most authoritative Galician composer, who himself often performed as an ensemble pianist, testifies to the high concertmaster level of the still quite young performer.
During these years, Borys Drymalyk's concert performances were not limited to collaboration with soloists as an accompanist. He also proved himself as a chamber ensemble player, performing in duets with violinists E. Perfetsky, E. Dziuba and Rybachak; he was a member of a trio (R. Kryshtalsky - violin, L. Turkevych - cello, B. Drymalyk - piano). After receiving a diploma in engineering, Bohdan Yosypovych worked in this specialty in the oil company in the village of Hrabivnytsia (Syianok district) in 1928-1944. At the same time, he gave private lectures and was engaged in folklore activities: he collected, recorded, and harmonized Lemko folk songs. In 1945, the musician-engineer returned to Lviv. Here he devotes himself entirely to musical activity. He became a concertmaster of the class of the famous singer Solomiya Krushelnytska at the conservatory, worked part-time at the Lviv branch of the Institute of Art History, Folklore and Ethnography of the Ukrainian SSR, and collaborated with various choirs, later devoting his main attention to this activity (in 1952, after Krushelnytska's death, he left the conservatory).
Bohdan Drymalyk died on November 4, 1956, and was buried next to his father on Field 4 of the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv.
