Vedel (Vedelsky) Artem Lukianovych (1767, Kyiv - 14 (26) July 1808, Kyiv)[7] was a Ukrainian composer, conductor, singer, and violinist.
He was born into the family of a wealthy Kyiv burgher, Lukian Vlasovych and Olena Hryhorivna Vedelsky, probably on April 28, 1767. The Vedelsky family manor was located in Podil in the parish of the Nativity of the Baptism of the Lord (Borysohlibska) Church. The house with a vegetable garden stood on the corner of modern Bratska and Andriivska streets. Vedel lived here until 1788, from April 1792 to spring 1796, and from summer 1798 to August 1799. The composer also ended his life in his father's house in 1808.
Vedel's father Lukian Vlasovych Vedelskyi (1730-1815) was a carving artist who had his own workshop and made iconostasis. The composer's surname Vedel is probably a shortened form of Vedelsky. This is how the composer signed his handwritten letters, and his military document is written under the name Vedel. The composer's father wrote in a letter to the Kyiv governor-general: "I have Artem Vedelsky in my family" and signed it: "Kyiv burgher Lukian Vedelsky".
Vedel studied at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy until 1787, taking courses up to and including the philosophy class, where he received a thorough humanities and music education. At the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Vedel began composing his first musical works, conducted the student choir and orchestra, and performed as a soloist and violinist. A singer from the choir that Vedel directed at the Academy later told the researcher V. Askochenskyi: "...he was a handsome young man with eyes that radiated light, had a gentle voice, a calm disposition, and was extremely tactful."
Work in Moscow
In 1788, Metropolitan Samuel Myslavsky, the protector of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, sent him and his young singers to Moscow, where he led the chapels of the Governor-General of Moscow Petro Yeropkin (until 1790) and, after his resignation, Oleksandr Prozorovsky. These chapels occupied a prominent place in the empire in terms of artistic level and importance, following the Court Imperial Chapel. A wide variety of musicians were selected to lead them. So even then, Vedel's talent was recognized by musical circles and highly praised. Formally, Vedel was enlisted and paid for the construction of the "Present Seats" in the Kremlin (from March 17, 1788 to May 27, 1791), and later he was a sub-chancellor in the staff of the Sixth Deputy Senate (from May 28, 1791 to December 1, 1792). During his five-year stay in Moscow, the composer had the opportunity to get acquainted with the musical culture of Russia and Western Europe. On December 1, 1792, at Vedel's request, he was dismissed from the rank of Senate clerk.
Return to Ukraine
A memorial plaque to Artemii Vedel by Ihor Hrechanyk
From the end of 1792, Vedel lived in his parents' house. For some time he again directed the choir of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Church choirs were especially famous in Kyiv at that time, and among the secular choirs was the choir and musical chapel of General Andriy Levanidov at the headquarters of the Ukrainian Infantry Corps. In early 1794, Vedel became the head of the chapel. At the same time, he directed a choir of soldiers' children. Levanidov highly appreciated and honored Vedel's talent and contributed to his musical activities in every way possible. He was promoted very quickly in the military service; on March 1, 1794, he was appointed a staff clerk, on April 27, 1795 - a junior aide, and on September 24, 1796 - a senior staff aide with the rank of captain. Vedel's musical activity at this time was very fruitful. In 1793-1795, he wrote 6 concertos, possibly a number of other compositions that were not included in his famous autograph.
In March 1796, Artemii Vedel moved to Kharkiv, which was due to the appointment of General Levanidov as Governor-General of the Kharkiv Governorate. Here A. Vedel organized a new governor's choir and orchestra, taught singing and music at the State School at the Kharkiv Collegium. The composer continued his creative work. He wrote 3 concertos: "Arise, O God" and "Hear My Voice, O Lord" (October 6, 1796), etc. Only the dated works are mentioned, but at that time the composer could have written a number of other compositions, including the two-voice concerto "The Lord Shepherds Me".
In Kharkiv, the composer and his works were highly valued. Vedel's concertos were studied and performed at the Kharkiv Collegium and sung in churches. At the beginning of 1797, by order of Emperor Paul I, Levanidov's corps was disbanded, the Kharkiv governorate was liquidated, and Levanidov left Kharkiv. By tsarist decree, all regimental chapels that were not included in the staffing list were liquidated, and Vedel submitted a report asking for his resignation. By a decree of the State Military Board of October 12, 1797, Vedel was released "from military service for his own subsistence he is discharged with the same rank and wearing his uniform."
At that time, musical culture was experiencing significant oppression: choir staff and their support were being cut everywhere. In churches, it was forbidden to sing spiritual concerts (psalms, prayers) that were not directly related to the service, and cantatas and carols, which were common in Ukraine, were banned, something that had organically entered our national worship and merged with it. Ukraine, which was destroyed by Catherine, was finished off by destroying the centers of spiritual culture. The most talented Ukrainian artists who did not serve the regime, and even more so those who worked for the glory of their homeland, became unwanted and dangerous...
Vedel went to work in the civilian department of Oleksii Hryhorovych Teplov, the governor of the newly created Sloboda-Ukrainian province. Teplov had received an excellent musical education in his youth. He treated Vedel in the best possible way. The composer continued his musical activities, which he had begun under General Levanid: he directed the provincial chapel, was a vocal class chaplain at the State School at the Kharkiv Collegium, and his students became leading singers in the court chapel of St. Petersburg, Moscow, and the St. Petersburg Metropolitan Choirs. The conductor of the St. Petersburg Court Chapel and prominent composer Dmytro Bortnyansky spoke of Vedel's vocal classes as a "musical academy." But gradually the cultural and artistic life of Kharkiv declined. The theater, the provincial choir and choirs in military units, symphony orchestras were liquidated, and performances of Vedel's works in churches were banned.
In the late summer of 1798, Vedel moved to Kyiv. He lived in his parents' house in Podil and worked on new compositions. He wrote two concertos: "God's Laws are Rising Against Me" (November 11, 1798) and "We Always Mourn for the Lord." These concerts were performed in the Kyiv Epiphany and St. Sophia Cathedrals. But Vedel apparently did not see any opportunities to use his abilities. He wrote to his student: "I am completely unsettled in my fate. It's neither here nor there, but what can I do?"
Persecution and imprisonment
In early 1799, he became a novice at the Kyiv Cave Monastery. In the monastery, the artist, according to the memoirs of Fr. Petro Turchanynov and Hieromonk Varlaam (Zubkovsky), led an ascetic life, flawlessly fulfilling the obedience of a reader and singer on the choir. He was an example to the brethren of humility, patience, and conscientiousness of service.
In the late spring of that year, a book called "Service to Nil Stolbensky" was found, where a prophecy about the assassination of the current king, Paul I, was symbolically written on empty pages in Vedel's hand and named as his murderer. A "secret case" was immediately opened against Vedel. It is precisely because of the "secrecy" of the case that everything that happened at that time is covered in mystery: due to the 200-year absence of archival documents, which were found only recently, legends, fabrications, and outright slander spread, in particular about the "long wandering in Little Russia" during which the composer "joined the Illuminati sect."
It is not known where the "Service..." was actually found - either at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy or at the Lavra; it is not known whether Vedel left the Lavra or whether his departure was falsified by the monastery's leadership to avoid personal responsibility for the novice.
On May 25, 1799, Metropolitan and Archimandrite of the Kyiv Cave Monastery Hierotheus (Malytskyi) declared Vedel insane and handed him over to Kyiv commandant F. L. Vigel for detention. "The documents of the case," writes Vedel scholar Vasyl Kuk, "only show how the composer was executed and how he was finally tortured without guilt, without trial. They do not reveal the essence of the case, why and for what reason he, Vedel, was killed, they do not cover... According to the documents, no one formally arrested Vedel... there is no act of indictment, no protocols of interrogation of the accused. Everything happened without the participation of the "crazy retired captain" and his fate is being decided without him. But what is very surprising is that in order to place the 'patient' in a hospital, Kyiv Governor Milashevich asks permission from Malorossia Governor Bekleshov, who advises to send the case to the Prosecutor General of Russia, and the latter submits the relevant document to the Czar for authorization."
While the case was being decided in St. Petersburg, Vedel, who was seriously ill in the brig and close to death, was placed under his father's care. On July 10, 1799, an order was received from the Prosecutor General of St. Petersburg, which stated that the tsar "ordered that if Vedel recovered, he should be taken from his father, sent to a house of lunatics in Kyiv, and kept without release."
On August 1, 1799, Kyiv Governor P. I. Saltikov reported that Captain Vedel "was sent to a house of the insane to be kept without release." The successor of Emperor Paul I, Emperor Alexander I, wrote in Vedel's case on May 15, 1802: "...leave him in his present position".
The composer suffered for 9 years in a Kyiv insane asylum. Only on the eve of his death did his father manage to take him home. Artemiy Vedel was buried at the Shchekavytsky cemetery in Podil. Today it is completely destroyed, and it is unknown where Vedel's grave was.
His works
Vedel's works were banned for a long time and were distributed in manuscripts, they were known and performed despite the ban. Today, about 80 pieces of music are known. Among them are 31 choral concertos, 6 trios, including "Repentance has opened the door," 2 liturgies of John Chrysostom, All-Night Vigil, and one secular cantata.
The Institute of Manuscripts of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy holds manuscripts of an incomplete liturgy of John Chrysostom and 12 spiritual concertos:
"In Prayers to the Unsleeping Virgin Mary" in C minor (1794)
"Save me, O God, as the waters come down to my soul" - in A minor (1794)
"How long, O Lord, will you forget me" - in F minor (1795)
"I sing to my God in the end" - in C minor (1795)
"Blessed is the one who understands the poor and the needy" - in G minor (1795)
"Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak" - in A minor (1796)
"Arise, O Lord..." (incompletely preserved, 1796)
"Hear, O Lord, my voice" - in C minor (1796)
"Preacher of the Faith" - in C major (1796)
"The Lord shepherds me" - in C major (1796)
"O God, the criminals have risen against me" - in C minor (1796)
"To the Lord, we will never mourn" - in C minor (1798)
The vast majority of Vedel's concertos are set to the words of psalms, mostly of a plaintive, mournful nature, which deal with the harassment of man by evil forces. Three of the concertos are based on historical psalm texts, and only two (Nos. 9 and 10) are panegyric.
Like Berezovsky and Bortnyansky, Vedel followed the traditions of partes singing. The concertos are multi-movement (mostly 3- and 4-movement), most of which are based on the principle of tempo and tonal contrasts, in some cases the integrity of the cycle is strengthened by thematic connections between the movements. Often, parts of the concertos have 2-4 relatively independent sections, consisting of an exposition, development and conclusion.
Vedel's melody is expressive, covers a considerable range and is closely related to the word. The expressiveness of the melody is enhanced by the rhythmic structure, which is characterized by the complexity and variety of rhythmic patterns. The classical style is associated with a clear dismemberment of melody, the use of question-answer constructions, and summary structures. At the same time, connections with ancient Ukrainian monody and Ukrainian folklore give it a chant-like character.
The harmonic language has all the signs of a developed tonal system; the use of an altered subdominant and an altered dominant contributes to the increase in tension. In his ensembles, Vedel often uses a three-voice chordal texture characteristic of cantatas. The choral texture has a significant impact on imagery and form formation. The inherent juxtaposition of ensemble sounds with tutti, changes in choral texture are dynamizing factors.
Commemoration of the memory
"Vedel Artem Lukianovych", postage stamp of Ukraine (2017)
There are streets named after Artem Vedel in several Ukrainian cities and towns.
In 2017, Ukraine celebrated the 250th anniversary of the birth of Artem Vedel (1767, according to other sources - 1770-1808), a composer, choral conductor, singer, and violinist.
