Oleksandr Kalishchuk (born December 9, 1931 in the village of Perevaly, now Turia district, Volyn region) is a Ukrainian composer, conductor, songwriter, folklore collector, conductor, public figure, member of the Union of Political Prisoners and Repressed People of Ukraine, member of the National League of Composers of Ukraine. Honored Worker of Culture of Ukraine[1], honorary citizen of Novovolynsk, honorary citizen of Volyn.
Oleksandr Pylypovych was born into a peasant family, and loved listening to his mother's stories and melodic Ukrainian songs. At the age of five, he already knew three languages: Ukrainian, Russian and Polish. He went to first grade in his native village, where he studied for seven years. He continued his education in the town of Maciejów, now Luków. He read a lot. In the house there were books by Taras Shevchenko, Alexander Pushkin, A. Mickiewicz, and the Bible. With great pleasure, I read the original novel "By Fire and Sword" by Heinrich Senkiewicz, "History of Ukraine" by Mykhailo Hrushevsky. by Mykhailo Hrushevsky. The first seed of the desire for freedom was sown in his mother's soul by his brother Sydir Sakydon, a translator and poet, educator and fighter for the freedom of Ukraine who knew 12 languages, served exile with the poet Maksym Rylsky, and returned to Ukraine only at the end of his life.
In the 10th grade, Oleksandr Pylypovych was arrested for participating in the Youth Organization of Nationalists, which was established in Lukiv in 1951. The memo to the first secretary of the Central Committee of the CP(b) read: "All the members of this organization were high school students of the Lukiv secondary school. The members of the organization systematically organized meetings where they read nationalist literature, wrote anti-Soviet poems and leaflets, which they distributed among the population."
The young man went through a hundred days of interrogation, beatings, and abuse in Lutsk prison. Together with 15 of his peers, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison, which he served in the Serdukh labor camp in the Solikamsk district (now the Perm region of the Russian Federation). Taiga. Swamps. Logging. He had to endure three years, eleven months and twenty-two days of hard labor.
Oleksandr Pylypovych recalls: "There, at the logging site, in the dense taiga of the then Molotov region, in a strict regime colony, I went through the "universities" of life's wisdom. I was the youngest in the brigade, I passed endurance tests every day and learned to overcome fear." Later, he received a certificate stating that he was a victim of political repression. He was rehabilitated only 41 years after his arrest. In 1955, he was released under an amnesty. He returned to his parents in the village of Okhotnyky, Turia district.
He worked as an accordionist in a club in Ivanychi, and as a director of amateur performances at a secondary school in the village of Pavlivka, Ivanychi district. At the same time, he was finishing his ten-year schooling. Here he met his future wife, Halyna Kornysiuk. He planned to study at the vocal department of the Lviv Music College, but after reading his autobiography, he was ordered to leave the city in 24 hours.
In 1959, he and his wife, who had been sent to Novovolynsk after graduating from a dental prosthetics school, came to the young mining town. That year, he began working as the director of amateur performances at the city's Palace of Culture. For the song "Volynianochka" [Archived 5 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine] he was transferred to the position of accompanist and banned from writing. He continued to create under false names. He worked in this institution for more than 50 years. In 1961, he entered the Lutsk Music College, conducting department, graduating with honors in 1966. He studied part-time at the Lviv Conservatory, where he graduated in 1976, and at amateur art courses in Kharkiv.
In the 1970s, he directed the miners' choir (later the folk men's chapel), with which he won 2 gold medals at the All-Union Amateur Art Competition (Kyiv). He initiated the creation of the choir of war and labor veterans in Novovolynsk, in which more than 40 veterans of the city sang, the Prosvita choir (since 1989 - artistic director), and the Rainbow folk ensemble, which successfully performed in Ukraine and toured Poland and Bulgaria[2]. For ten years, he selflessly worked as a director of amateur performances at the local Osnastka plant.
Oleksandr Kalishchuk continues to write songs based on the words of Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, Dmytro Pavlychko, and Viktor Kryshchenko, as well as his own poems. Creative tandems were formed with local poets, namely: Halyna Prystupa, Ivan Kurchenko, Viktor Savchuk, and Yevhen Shevchuk. There are songs based on poems by Oleksandr Lel (Bobak), Ananii Riabcheniuk, and Tetiana Aistra.
There are also many songs based on the poems of Volyn poets: Oleksandr Bohachuk, Petro Makh, Vasyl Gay, Yosyp Strutsiuk, Ivan Chernetskyi, and Nadiia Humeniuk.
The first song collection "Volynyanochka" was released in 1998. Later, two collections of spiritual hymns were published, "The Bells Ring in the Church" and "The Gift of the Soul." Yaroslav Hytz called the book Priceless Treasure the "Gospel of Kalishchuk." The second and third volumes of this book are ready for publication.
He collected and recorded more than a thousand folk songs. A special place in the composer's work is occupied by songs of historical themes ("Cossack Song," "Pereyaslav Rada," "St. Sophia Square," "Streletska Mohyla," "Kruty Station," "Ataman," "Song about Zahoriv," "Rebels," etc. ) and religious hymns ("We love God with our hearts", "In the days of Lent", "Lord, have mercy on us", "God is love", "Lullaby to Jesus", etc.).With the famous local historian Mykola Korzoniuk, more than five hundred songs were recorded from the mouths of old-timers in the Pryzhok villages.
After his retirement in 1991, he directed the Prosvita Choir and led an active social and cultural life.
In October 2021, Oleksandr Kalishchuk was awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of Volyn" for his significant personal contribution to the development of spirituality and song culture.
The Kalishchuks raised a daughter and son, have four grandchildren, and a great-grandson. His daughter Nataliia and granddaughter Khrystyna graduated from the Lviv Conservatory, where he studied.
10 tips from Oleksandr Kalishchuk:
Search, don't stop.
Go forward, don't look back.
Doubt and correct yourself.
Make mistakes, but repent.
Improve yourself, learn.
Do not rush and do not waste time.
Say goodbye to the past.
Try to love people.
Always turn away from evil.
Worship only good and God.
Titles and awards
Honored Worker of Culture of Ukraine (1992).
Honorary Citizen of Novovolynsk (1999).
Member of the National League of Composers of Ukraine.
Order of Merit, 3rd class (2009).
President of Ukraine's award - Jubilee Medal "20 Years of Independence of Ukraine" (2011).
Order of the Apostle John the Theologian, first class, Ukrainian Orthodox Church (2015).
Certificate of Honor of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (2017).
Honorary Citizen of Volyn (2021)[4].
Albums
2015. I see a bright day in Ukraine
2016. Life is beautiful
Bibliography
Works by O. Kalishchuk
Kalishchuk O. P. "Church bells ring". Spiritual hymns. - Volodymyr-Volynskyi, Publishing House of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese, 2000. - Edition of 1000. - No ISBN.
Kalishchuk O. P. The Gift of the Soul. Spiritual hymns. Book 2. - Volodymyr-Volynskyi, Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese Publishing House, 2001. - No edition. - No ISBN.
Kalishchuk O. Embroider, mother, my fate. Songs by Oleksandr Kalishchuk based on poems by Petro Hots: Ukrainian Technologies, 2005. 30 p. - No edition. - ISBN 966-345-065-7.
In Rainbow Memory. Songs by Oleksandr Kalishchuk based on poems by Viktor Savchuk - Novovolynsk: "Minotaur, 2006. 28 p. - Edition of 100. - ISBN is not specified.
Kalishchuk O. P. Our song will not die. Novovolynsk: Minotaur Publishing House, 2008. - 232 p. - ISBN 966-8811-210.
"Born to Live for Ukraine" - songs by Oleksandr Kalishchuk with lyrics by Ananii Riabcheniuk. Compiled by Maria Ryabchenyuk. - Novovolynsk: Minotaur Publishing House, 2010. 40 p. - ISBN 966-8811-27-2. - Edition 300.
Kalishchuk O. P. Priceless treasure: Volyn Regional Printing House, 2011. 312 p. - ISBN 978-966-361-632-2. - Edition 1000.
Hytz Y. H., Kalishchuk O. P. Song Pectoral of Prybuzhzhya. Songs by Oleksandr Kalishchuk with lyrics by Yaroslav Hytz - sheet music edition - Novovolynsk: Format Publishing Group, 2011. 20 p.: illus. - 500 copies - ISBN 966-2557-02-2.
