Mykola Ovsianyko-Kulykovsky (1768-1846) was a Ukrainian composer, author of two lost operas and more than 20 symphonies (Ovsianyko-Kulykovsky's Symphony No. 21 is considered a hoax by the composer and violinist Mykhailo Goldstein).
In 1948, Goldstein announced that he had discovered the manuscript of Ovsianyko-Kulykovsky's symphony in the archives of the Odesa Theater. The work, in the key of G minor, No. 21, was allegedly composed in 1809; it was inscribed "in dedication to the Odesa Theater." The discovery caused great excitement in Soviet musical circles, as it was seen as proof that Russia had been able to create a symphonist of comparable greatness to Joseph Haydn. But, among other things, the symphony contained Ukrainian folk songs and ended with a Cossack tank, which did not sit well with the Soviet leadership. In 1957, the investigative bodies of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs initiated a criminal case against Goldstein over the authorship of Symphony No. 21 and other musical works.
