Hlib Danylovych Shandrovskyi (b. 8 (20) June 1896, Baibuzivka, now Odesa region - d. 19 January 1976, Tomkins Cove near New York) was a Ukrainian singer (bass profundo), a student of Kyrylo Stetsenko, Mykola Leontovych and Oleksandr Koshytsia, and the brother of Volodymyr Shandrovskyi.
Biography.
He was born on 7 (20) June 1896 in the village of Baibuzivka, now in Odesa region, but spent his childhood in Tulchyn, where his parents soon moved.
Hlib studied at the Tulchyn Gymnasium, and in the autumn of 1910, he attended the Tyvriv Theological School of the Podil Diocese, where he attended lectures and sang in the choir under the direction of the prominent composer Kyrylo Stetsenko. After graduation, Hlib returned to Tulchyn and, together with his younger brother Volodymyr, sang in the Mykola Leontovych Choir, where he improved his skills.
Later he was invited to join the choir of the Vinnytsia Drama Theatre. There, in the spring of 1919, he was heard by Oleksandr Koshyts, who was travelling to Kamianets-Podilskyi with the Ukrainian Republican Chapel to prepare for a concert tour of Europe. Although there were plenty of basses in the choir, Hlib Shandrovsky had a beautifully colourful voice. The depth of his bottom reached the "G" of the counter-tenor, and his working range reached more than 3.5 octaves.
Hlib became a member of the Oleksandr Koshyts Choir and toured not only Europe but also the United States of America.
When the choir broke up, Hlib stayed in the United States. There he created his own quartet consisting of Petro Ordynskyi, Klym Shchyt, Yosyp (Ivan) Davydenko and Hlib Shandrovskyi. Mykhailo Hrebinetsky also performed in the quartet.
His concert activity in the United States was intense, and his voice was admired by music lovers. Thus, the American magazine Philadelphia Public Ledger noted in 1926: "Shadrovsky is a great and famous singer because in his singing, in addition to high sounds, there are such deep basses that we have never heard in solo singing."
In August 1926, he performed on the big stage of the World's Fair in Philadelphia.
In the summer of 1928, Hlib performed with the Boyan vocal sextet in Switzerland, Germany, and France.
In London, he sang at Windsor Palace. King George V, admiring his voice, offered the singer a position as a soloist at Corvent Garden, but due to previously signed contracts, Glib could not accept the offer.
On 15 March 1931, Mykola Karlash and the Ukrainian theatre in New York staged The Cossack Beyond the Danube again. Hlib played the role of the Sultan. This production was highly praised. The newspaper Svoboda of 23 March 1931 wrote: "Not only New York, but the whole of America has never seen such a selection of performers as we had this time."
Since 1928, every time the Don Cossack Choir under the direction of Serhii Zharov toured the United States, Hlib performed with them at concerts, and in 1939, when the choir emigrated to the United States, Shandrovsky became a permanent member, where he was able to perform Ukrainian songs. With this choir, he sang "Oh, the Bells Rang Early in Jerusalem," "On the Jordan River" arranged by M. Leontovych, "The Grey Cuckoo Cawed" by P. Nishchynsky, and a number of spirituals by Artem Wedel, Dmytro Bortnyansky, and Kyrylo Stetsenko.
He also performed with the Alfred Antonini Symphony Orchestra on WORRadio (New York). His voice was also heard on WBNX radio (also in New York).
During the Second World War, he performed in the USO entertainment team (an American organisation that provided concerts for American troops on military bases).
In 1951, he toured South America with this choir, and in 1956 he performed in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Hawaii.
In 1960, he released a large disc dedicated to Oleksandr Koshytsia with six photographs on the envelope and ten pieces.
In 1965, his long-playing disc (LP) dedicated to the memory of Oleksandr Koshyts was released by the Chapson Distributing Company of Tomkins Cove, N.Y.
He died on 19 January 1976 in the town of Tomkins Cove near New York.
In Ukraine, the musicologist Mykhailo Holovashchenko, whom Hlib Shandrovsky met in Kyiv when he visited his brother Volodymyr Shandrovsky, was a researcher of his work.
Repertoire
He sang French and American songs, but most of all the public liked the Ukrainian songs "I die in a foreign land", "The wind is blowing" and "The sandpiper loved a seagull", recited poems by Taras Shevchenko (in particular, the poem "The Monk").
He sang parts of the opera repertoire. On 15 February 1925, in the hall of the Ukrainian People's House, he successfully performed the role of Sultan in the opera "Zaporozhets Beyond the Danube", staged by Maria Mashir and Mykola Karlash.
In September of the same year, at the Okeh studio, he recorded the songs "Oh Dnipro, Dnipro" by Mykola Lysenko and "I die in a foreign land", and in a duet with Stefania Tushniv recorded "Where do you wander, my fate" by V. Zaremba and "When Two Part" by M. Lysenko, together with the Ukrainian National Quartet - "God Sees, the Creator Sees", "Gray Cuckoo", "Hey, Guys, to Arms", "That Gray Cuckoo" and "For You, Ukraine".
The 1960 album included, among other songs, "Oh, the High Oak Bent" by M. Haivoronsky, "In Bethlehem", "Ukrainian Elegy", "Buckwheat", and the duet of Odarka and Karas from the opera "Zaporozhets Beyond the Danube".
