Ukrainian conductor and composer. Brother of the artist Stepan Kryzhanivskyi (1907-1993), husband of the actress Nadiia Pylypenko.
Biography
He was born on August 24, 1894 in Lviv in the family of a lawyer. He spent his childhood years in Lviv. He studied at a gymnasium here, and from an early age he showed a great interest in musical instruments (violin, cello, piano). He also studied piano and cello with his mother.
After graduating from the Mykola Lysenko Higher Music Institute, in 1916 he went to Vienna to continue his studies in music theory and composition at the Kaiser Academy of Music and Performing Arts in the capital. Due to the unexpected death of his father, he returned to his hometown.
During the First World War (1916), he joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and became a member of the 1st Sich Orchestra organized by Mykhailo Haivoronsky. In the spring of 1918, during the USS training, he led the 2nd Sich Orchestra as a conductor.
In 1918, together with Lev Getz and Vasyl Bobynskyi, he compiled the Anthology of Riflemen's Creativity, the original of which was handwritten in the style of old books, decorated with a large number of screensavers and illustrations. To familiarize a wider circle of the Ukrainian public with the publication, it was photoreproduced. He took part in the activities of the new Ukrainian theater in Lviv, at which time he met Les Kurbas, Ambrosiy Buchma, Marian Krushelnytsky, and other prominent actors.
In 1920, as a result of the February Pact between the UGA and the CHA, he joined the ranks of the CHUGA. In the same year, he became one of the organizers of the Ivan Franko Ukrainian Drama Theater in Vinnytsia.
There are mentions by Y. Hirniak that in 1921-1922 Bohdan Kryzhanivsky and his friend, conductor Les Hrynishak, worked in Cherkasy at the Ivan Franko Studio Theater with a temporary (six months) move to Kherson.
Since 1926, he has worked in Kyiv at the Ivan Franko Theater. He was the head of the musical department of the Lviv Theater named after M. Zankovetska, was the head and conductor of the Berezil Theater in Kyiv. Later he worked in the drama theaters of Kharkiv.
In 1929, he became one of the founders and chief conductor of the First State Ukrainian Musical Comedy, the Production: "Orpheus in Hell, The Queen of the Unknown Island, The Geisha, The Imposter Prince, The Chocolate Soldier, or Man and Weapon. Tashkent (1931-1932, chief conductor of the local Opera House), and finally Chernivtsi (since 1945).
The early 50s were a time of severe trials for the composer. His only son Ihor was killed in World War II. After Kryzhanivsky composed music for M. Bazhan's poem Danylo Halytsky (1942), the composer was persecuted in every possible way. He was labeled a nationalist and a Petliurist (for the music to the song "Hey, Pour Full of Magic, So That It Pours Over the Top" and others). Anonymous denunciations poured in, and friends turned away. But despite the circumstances and his health condition (tuberculosis), Kryzhanivsky launched a large and fruitful activity as an organizer of various artistic groups, as a director of a music school, and as a teacher.
Bohdan Volodymyrovych died on April 20, 1955, and was buried at the central cemetery in Chernivtsi.
Works.
Author of operettas, music for plays, vocal and symphonic poems and performances, Sich songs and marching arrangements. He composed an opera, music for the operetta Mikado (co-authored with O. Vyshnia), several musical comedies (From Behind a Stone Mountain and others), symphonies, romances, a suite for piano and orchestra, and dance tunes.
Selected works
music to the works:
"The Death of the Squadron" (play by O. Korniychuk, 1933)
"Bohdan Khmelnytsky (play by O. Korniychuk - premiered on March 10, 1939 at the Kyiv Theater).
March 10, 1939 at the Franko Theater in Kyiv)
"Oleksa Dovbush" (1941)
"Danylo Halytskyi" (1942)
"Nazar Stodolya"
"Bukovinian Kolomyikas"
"In the Steppes of Ukraine" (play by O. Korniychuk, based on which the film was made in 1952)
"Lukian Kobylitsa (historical drama by H. Mizyun, 1954)
