Yevhen Teodorovych Kozak (22 April 1907, Lviv - 27 December 1988, Lviv) was a Ukrainian composer, conductor, and teacher.
In 1938 he graduated from the Conservatory of the Polish Music Society in Lviv (singing class). Among his teachers was Hryhoriy Turkovsky.
1928-1939 - director and one of the performers of the male quartet. From 1939 he was a choir conductor and music editor of Lviv Radio.
From 1945 he was a teacher at the Lviv Music School, and from 1956 he was a teacher at the Pedagogical Institute. From 1959 he was a lecturer at the Lviv Conservatory, and from 1961-1971 he was its vice-rector.
He was a member of the CPSU (since 1965).
He died in Lviv and was buried on the 15th field of Lychakiv Cemetery.
Creative work
Yevhen Kozak was close in spirit to the work of Anatolii Kos-Anatolskyi, also focused on the democratic sphere of intonations, but gravitated more towards Bukovyna and Boyko regional folklore. His songs "Vivcharyk" based on lyrics by Hryhoriy Koval, "Verkhovyna, My Land" based on a folk text, and numerous arrangements of Bukovyna and Galician folk songs brought him success and recognition.
As you know, in Soviet times, every composer had to have at least one, and preferably several, songs of appropriate ideological content in his or her creative portfolio, glorifying the Party, Lenin, the Komsomol, and all other governing bodies. Yevhen Kozak did not escape this fate either (choral works "Glory to Great October" based on poems by Andriy Pashko, "Song about the Party").
Quartet with the Shukhevychs
In 1928, the student quartet "Yevhen's Revelers" ("Lviv Revelers") was organized in Lviv under the direction of Yevhen Kozak. Roman Shukhevych played the piano in this quartet, and one of the soloists was his brother Yuriy Shukhevych[2].
Works
Theatrical concert "Bukovyna Wedding" (1956).
Choirs:
"Under the sky of Ukraine",
"Bloom, Ukraine!"
"Shepherd",
"The Wind from the Polonyna",
"Bukovynian Polka" (1957) - based on the words of Ivan Kuten,
"I Trampled the Path" (1970) - based on the words of Taras Shevchenko,
"To Taras Shevchenko" (1970).
Vocal ensembles.
Arrangements of Ukrainian folk songs.
Arrangements of songs to the words of Taras Shevchenko for mixed, female and male choirs:
"My Thoughts, My Thoughts" (1961),
"If only I had shoes" (1961),
"The Dnipro roars and groans" (1964),
"The Wind Howls in the Oaks" (1964),
"Oh, I am alone, alone" (1964),
"Oh Three Wide Roads" (1964),
"A Cherry Orchard Near the House" (1964).
Music for dramatic performances.
Titles and awards
1957 - Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR.
Awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor, medals.
