Ukrainian composer of Jewish origin. Leader of one of the first jazz bands of Ukraine (1924). The author of the music of the popular pop revue "Hello on Wave 477". People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1973). Laureate of the Shevchenko Prize (1996).
Biography
He was born in Yelysavetgrad (now Kropyvnytskyi) in a Jewish family. Yuliy was not the only one in the family, he had a younger sister. It so happened that the children absorbed all their parents' love for music, they became involved in music from an early age, Yuliy went to a music school and learned to play the piano, and his sister - the violin. In 1919, he graduated from music school in the piano class of Heinrich Neuhaus. During the civil war, Yuliy joined the units of Budyonny's First Cavalry Army — he was a pianist at the political department, organized concerts for Red Army soldiers.
In 1924, Yuliy Meitus created one of the first jazz bands in the USSR.
He graduated from the Kharkiv Music and Drama Institute in the composition class of S.S. Bogatyrev in 1931.
Since 1926, he collaborated with the famous Berezil Theater of Les Kurbas, for which he created music for 13 plays, in particular, "Dictatorship" and "Prologue". According to the composer's recollections, the score of "Dictatorship" consisted of more than 400 pages. Sometimes Kurbas himself recorded the composer's recitative melodies, which preserved the free rhythm of the spoken language, while Maytus recorded and processed musical sketches. The destruction of the "Berezil" theater and the execution of Les Kurbas by order of the Soviet authorities threatened the young composer with reprisals. According to researchers, he had to, under pressure and threats, condemn the activities of the famous Ukrainian director in a series of articles for the magazine "Soviet Music". After such "apostasy", bypassing the Soviet repressions and agreeing to cooperate with the authorities, the composer must always create "ideologically correct" works alongside unique author's compositions, which are characterized by a subtle disclosure of psychological drama, colorism and the search for new nuances of expressiveness.
The house in which Yuliy Meitus was born
During the war, Meitus was in Ashgabad and Irkutsk - he helped create the Turkmen national opera ("Abadan", "Leili and Majnun", "Makhtumkuli"), for which he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Turkmen SSR. In Irkutsk, he staged his own opera "Haydamaki" with the people of Kyiv. In 1944, he came to the capital of Ukraine. Here he became a People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR, laureate of the USSR State Prize (for the opera "Young Guard", 1951).
In 1999, one of the streets of Kyiv was named after the composer. In 2003, in the premises of music school No. 1 named after H.G. Neuhaus of the city of Kropyvnytskyi opened a memorial room of Yuliy Meitus, and a memorial plaque was placed on the facade [9].
He died on April 2, 1997 at the age of 94 in Kyiv. Buried at Baikovo cemetery (plot No. 49b).
Art
Yuliy Meitus is considered the founder of modern Ukrainian opera, he is the author of 17 operas of various genres (4 of them co-authored): everyday ("Stolen Happiness"), historical-epic ("Yaroslav the Wise"), romantic-fairy tale ("Daughter of the Wind" , "Leyli and Majnun"), heroic ("Young Guard", "Abakan"). Vocal music occupies a significant place in his work - he is the author of about 300 romances to the words of Lesya Ukrainka, I.Frank, T. Shevchenko, V. Sosyura, A. Malyshka, P. Tychyna, D. Pavlychka, O. Pushkin, and others . Many instrumental and choral works were written for children.
Due to the time and circumstances in which the artist lived and created, his work is unequaled: next to artistically valuable works, there are many created under the influence of political and ideological restrictions of the Soviet era.
Statuses
Honored Artist of the Turkmen SSR (1944) and Ukrainian SSR (1948)
People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1973)
laureate of the Shevchenko Prize (1996)
Canon
Memorial plaque on the house where Yuliy Meitus lived in Kyiv (sculptor E. O. Karpov, architect O. K. Stukalov)
The grave of Maytus Yu. S. at Baikovo cemetery
Operas
"Perekop" (co-authored with V. Rybalchenko and M. Tyts, 1937-38),
"Haydamaki" (based on the poem by T. Shevchenko. 1940-41)
"Abadan" (co-author A. Kuliyev, 1942-43, 2nd ed. 1950),
"Leila and Majnun" (co-author D. Ovezov, 1945-46),
"Young Guard" (libr. A. Malyshka based on the novel by O. Fadeev, 1947, 2nd ed. 1950),
"Zorya nad Dvina" (based on the novel by M. Nikitin, translated by M. Rylskyi, 1951-55; 2nd ed. — "Northern Stars", 1957);
"Stolen happiness" (library by M. Rylsky based on the drama by I. Frank, 1958-59),
"Makhtumkuli" (library by A. Karlyev and B. Kerbabayev, 1962),
"Daughter of the Wind" (based on the play by V. Zubar, 1965),
"Brothers Ulyanov" (1966),
"Anna Karenina" (based on the novel by L. Tolstoy, 1970),
"Yaroslav the Wise" (based on the poem by I. Kocherga, 1972),
"Richard Sorge" (1975),
"Maryana Pineda" (based on the play by F. G. Lorka, 1978),
"Maria Volkonska" (1988),
"Ivan the Terrible" (based on the novel by O. Tolstoy, 1980-83),
"Antony and Cleopatra" (library of O.Vasilyeva, 1993);
vocal and symphonic works
5 Ukrainian folk songs in free arrangement for low voice with orch. (1934), versions for high voice with orchestra (1937) and for choir with orch. (1939),
The poem "Dorosh Molyboga" (by Dm. Kedrina, 1967-68) for baritone, choir and orchestra,
Cantata "Oath" (pl. M. Bazhana, 1941);
for symphony orchestra
5 suite (1927, 1929, 1939, 1942, 1944),
The poem "Ways of Glory" (1945),
"Turkmen Symphony" (1946),
Overture (1954);
chamber-instrumental works
Variations on a Ukrainian theme for violin and piano. (1930),
Poem, Nocturne, Allegro for violin and piano. (1965),
"In the Carpathians" for FP. (1973),
12 children's plays (1979);
choral works
"Guerrilla Suite" (from piano, 1942),
Unaccompanied choirs on sl. T. Shevchenko, O. Pushkin, P. Voronka,
5 choirs on sl. O. Tvardovskyi;
vocal works
Cycles on sl. M. Jalil ("From the Moabite Notebooks" - 1956, 1973, 1979), A. Malyshka (1962), L. Vysheslavskyi (1963), E. Mezhelaitis (1964), Dm. Kedrina (1967), E. Vynokurova (1969), Lesya Ukrainka (1971), M. Karima (1973), K. Kulieva (1976), Bulgarian poets,
Romances and ballads (24) to the words of modern poets (1983—1984), to the words of P. Brovka, L. Martynova (1985), R. Gamzatova (1987), D. Kugultinova, A. Akhmatova,
Romances to the words of T. Shevchenko, I. Frank, P. Tychyna, M. Rylskyi, V. Sosyura, L. Pervomaiskyi, A. Malyshko, M. Tsvetaeva, M. Gumilyov, etc.;
other
Music for theater performances (in particular, he collaborated with the Berezil Theater by Les Kurbas)
Music for the films: "Night Driver" (1930), "Ivan" (1932, co-authored), "Execution" (1935), "Outpost around the Devil's Ford", "Conduit" (1936), "Old Fortress" (1937) , "Seventeen-year-olds" (1939), "Makar Nechai" (1940), "In Peaceful Days" (1950), "In the Steppes of Ukraine" (1952), "The Hero Goes to Marto" (1954), "Two Fedoras" , "The End of Heart-Trump" (1958), "Heaven is Calling" (1959).
