Mykola Teryentiyovych Koliada (b. April 4, 1907, Berezivka village, Pryluky district, Poltava province, Russian Empire - †30 July 1935, died in the Caucasus mountains, buried in Kharkiv) was a Soviet and Ukrainian composer, musician and public figure.
He spent his childhood in Moscow. He took lessons from O. Goldenweiser. He spent his youth in the village of Berezivka, Poltava region.
He graduated from the Kharkiv Music and Drama Institute (1931, class of S. Bohatyrev). During his studies, he stood out for his abilities, naturalness and originality of compositional thinking. His music combined elements of folklore and socialist realism. The main source of the musical language of Koliada was the Ukrainian folk song element, and a large part of his creative work is made up of arrangements of folk songs. Later he became interested in French musical impressionism.
He is the author of the music for the film The Great Game (1934, directed by H. Tasin, Ukrainfilm).
He was active in public life and was aware of contemporary artistic trends in other fields of art. He took part in the theater life of Kharkiv (1920-1930), collaborated with the Theater of Working Youth and Les Kurbas. He was one of the founders of the APMU, a member of the SUPROM organizational bureau, head of its creative department, and a member of the music section of the Higher Repertory Committee of the Ukrainian SSR.
He was fond of mountaineering, participated in numerous expeditions, including scientific ones. He tragically died while climbing the Ushba Mountains (Caucasus).
His memory
The Children's Music School No. 13 in Kharkiv is named after Mykola Koliada.
