Yevhen Teodorovych Turula (4 January 1882, Berezhany - 3 December 1951, Winnipeg, Canada) was a Ukrainian conductor, teacher and composer, a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest (until 1934).
He received his initial musical education at the Lviv Theological Seminary, where he studied the theoretical foundations of music and conducting as compulsory subjects. He also took private piano and violin lessons. This allowed him to direct the seminary choir in 1904-1905, with which he performed at Shevchenko's festivities. Along with his graduation from the seminary in 1906, he simultaneously passed the exam to become a secondary school music and singing teacher at the Lviv Conservatory. In the same year, Yevhen Turula got married, was ordained a priest, and was appointed a staff member at the parish in Zhuravno of the Zhydachiv Deanery (1906-1907).
In Terebovlia, in 1908-1914, in addition to performing his duties as a priest, he worked as a catechist at the Terebovlia Gymnasium, where he organised a male student choir, with which he travelled to Jerusalem in 1906. At the same time, Father Yevhen Turula headed the local choir of the Prosvita Society. He also created and organised a brass band in Terebovlia.
Father Turula was also a composer. Thus, in 1914, during the Shevchenko concert in Lviv, under his direction, a united male choir of 200 singers performed his cantata "Honour to You, Kobzar" (the solo was performed by the famous professional singer, "Bukovyna Nightingale" Philomena Lopatynska). He performed solo pieces by Mykola Lysenko, Fr Kyrylo Stetsenko, Denys Sichynskyi, Fr Viktor Matiuk, Vladyslav Zaremba, and his own compositions.
At the outbreak of the First World War, he was mobilised to the Austrian army and appointed a chaplain; he served as a spiritual advisor to Ukrainian soldiers and as a conductor of the rifle choir. In 1914-1918, he worked for the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine and organised choirs in the camp of captured Ukrainian soldiers in Freistadt, and in 1920-1923 in Berlin, where he graduated from the Conservatory (conducting department). In 1923, at the invitation of Bishop Nikita Budka, he moved to Canada. He was the organiser of the Canada Choir. In 1934, he resigned from the priesthood and opened a music school in Winnipeg, where he worked as a conductor and teacher for over 20 years.
He died in Winnipeg on 3 December 1951.
Creativity
As a composer, Professor Yevhen Turula composed more than 40 pieces for violin, 10 for piano, 12 for orchestra, 20 pieces for men's choir, 8 for women's choir, and 7 for duets.
The collections of Turula's compositions under the title "Ukraine" were published by the publishing house "Ukraine". In the 1920s ("Carols and Shchedrivkas," "Tank Songs," "Songs and Dumas," "Ukrainian Military Songs," "Ukrainian Dances and Chabarashkas") and in Canada ("Song of the Old Miller" and "Canada over all").
In 1926, he published The School Singer in 3 parts, which was reissued under the title The Lark. In addition, Yevhen Turula is the author of articles on musical topics: "Music and singing between Ukrainians in Canada", "How our children should learn music". Among his literary works, his short story "To Zarvanytsia" is interesting.
