Vasyl Ivanovych Yakubiak (b. 23 February 1912, Pechenizhyn village? Kolomyia district? Ivano-Frankivsk region - died 21 February 1981, Lviv) - Ukrainian musicologist, composer, conductor, teacher.
He was born on 23 February 1912 in the village of Pechenizhyn, now Kolomyia district, Ivano-Frankivsk region. In 1923, he graduated from the local folk five-grade school, and in 1931 - from the Kolomyia Gymnasium (classical type). At the gymnasium, he mastered the theoretical foundations of music and violin playing, gained a thorough knowledge of German and Polish, and general humanitarian knowledge. After graduating from the gymnasium, he entered the Kolomyia branch of the Mykola Lysenko Lviv Higher Music Institute, majoring in violin and music theory. During his studies, he attended lectures by such famous musicians as Borys Kudryk and Stanislav Liudkevych. After graduating from the Academy in 1934, he directed a Jewish choir and orchestra, a student choir of Lviv theologians, and other amateur groups.
Studying at the Lviv Greek Catholic Theological Seminary of the Holy Spirit
In 1935-1939, he studied full-time at the Lviv Greek Catholic Theological Seminary of the Holy Spirit. Here, in addition to in-depth study of theological sciences, history of ancient Western philosophy and musical culture, students were given a wide opportunity to practically realise their creative potential through involvement in active concert and performance activities. The seminary had a well-known men's choir, in which Vasyl Yakubiak was first a performer and in 1937 became a conductor.
Under his baton, the choir took part in the academies in honour of St. Josaphat (29 November 1936), in the celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the death of Metropolitan Rutsky, and performed at the author's literary and musical evening on 28 February 1937 in the seminary hall, which was attended by Joseph Slipyj, then rector of the Lviv Greek Catholic Theological Seminary of the Holy Spirit. Also on 18 April of that year, the choir took an active part in the celebrations dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the publication of The Mermaid of the Dniester, and on 13 December, in honour of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, the seminary choir under the direction of conductor Vasyl Yakubiak sang "Hear, O God, My Voice" by Dmytro Bortnyansky and H. Zellner "Valthazar".
In addition to the choir, the seminary also had a small symphony orchestra, where Yakubiak played the viola. Vasyl Yakubiak also took an active part in a string quartet and a male vocal quartet of Lviv theologians consisting of: Ivan Zadorozhnyi (first tenor), Vasyl Yakubiak (second tenor), Vasyl Matiyash (baritone), and V. Vasylevych (bass).
In 1938, the conductor of the symphony orchestra, Artemii Tsehelskyi, after completing his theological studies, handed over the leadership of the orchestra to the choir conductor Vasyl Yakubiak. At that time, the orchestra grew not only qualitatively but also quantitatively and consisted of 31 orchestral musicians.
On 26 February 1939, another recital was held in the hall of the seminary, which began with Vasyl Yakubiak's song "Pidlysia" based on the words of Markiyan Shashkevych, performed by the male choir of theologians. The second part of the recital was opened by a male vocal quartet with Yakubiak's song "Gostyna" based on the words of Bohdan Lepky, with the author performing the second tenor role. The concert concluded with a choral work based on poems by M. Hirsky "To the 950th Anniversary" performed by the male choir of Lviv theologians conducted by Vasyl Yakubiak.
With the outbreak of the war in 1939, the composer emigrated to Poland, where he worked as a clerk in the town of Skarzysko-Kamienna for several years. In the autumn of 1941, he came to Kolomyia on holiday and got married. He brought up two sons - Yarema, who continued his father's work and became a famous music teacher, scientist, methodologist and critic, and Markian, a famous translator from French.
Since 1941, he worked in Kolomyia at music schools, school No. 1, and the drama theatre. In 1943-1944 he was the conductor of the Kolomyia Boyan, and from 1944 to March 1962 he worked as a teacher at the Kolomyia 7-year music school, teaching theoretical subjects and heading the cycle of theoretical subjects. He directed the school orchestra, took an active part in the social work of the school and the city, and performed as a performer (on the viola) and conductor in a quartet.
From March 1962, Vasyl Yakubiak worked as an artist of the orchestra of the Kolomyia Ukrainian Drama Theatre named after Y. Halan, but from 10 August 1962, he began working at the Drohobych Pedagogical Institute as a lecturer, and later as a senior lecturer in music theory at the Department of Music and Singing. From 20 October 1964, Vasyl Yakubiak became the head of the section of music-theoretical subjects, and from 1 September 1965, simultaneously with the merger of the Faculty of Music and Pedagogy and the Faculty of Primary School Teachers, he became the dean (he held this position until 10 April 1968). Odnosano works at the Drohobych Music School.
Vasyl Yakubiak died on 21 February 1981 in Lviv, buried in the cemetery of one of Lviv's residential areas in the village of Kryvchytsi.
I Regional Competition of Choirs of Galicia
An important milestone in Yakubiak's professional development and recognition as a choral conductor was his victory at the First Regional Competition of Choirs of Galicia, dedicated to the centenary of the birth of Mykola Lysenko, the founder of Ukrainian classical music.
In 1942, the Institute of Folk Art in Lviv, on the initiative of its director, Professor Severin Saprun, organised the First Regional Competition of Ukrainian Choirs of Galicia, Polissya, and Kholmshchyna to mark the centenary of Mykola Lysenko's birth: "And the Snows Were White", "Oh, What a Raven", "Hey, Don't Surprise Me". The conditions of the competition were quite strict. Each choir had to prepare at least three choral works by Lysenko. The judges took into account the interpretation of the song performance, the singing, the singers' clothes, and even discipline.
At the invitation of Marian Stepaniak, Vasyl Yakubiak became the conductor of the choir of his native village of Pechenizhyn, which selected 28 members, ten of whom were conductors themselves. The choir successfully passed the county competition, after which only 72 out of 163 groups were admitted to the district competition. Later, the choir made it to the audition in Lviv, where the top thirty were selected. Of these, 16 were from villages, 10 were from small towns, and 4 were representative of large cities: Drohobych and Stanislaviv "Boyany", Stanislaviv "Dumka" and Lviv "Surma".
From 31 July to 2 August 1942, the final of the competition took place in Lviv, where Vasyl Jakubiak was awarded as the best conductor of rural choirs with a laurel wreath, a silver conductor's baton, certificates, a cash prize (500 zlotys), and a transitional gift - a silver vase. The Pechenizhyn Men's Choir took 2nd place among the village choirs. The Pechenizhyn residents were able to take part in the Ukrainian Song Festival, which was to be held soon at the Lviv Opera House.
Creative achievements
music for the drama Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi,
cantata "Song of Joy and Praise" (lyrics by Yurii Shkrumeliak) for choir and orchestra,
one-movement sonata "Piano Quintet",
Suite "A Bundle of Folk Songs" for mandolin and string orchestras,
"Song of Stebnytsia Potash Workers" (lyrics by M. Shalata),
Suite from the opera "Cossack Beyond the Danube",
harmonisation and instrumentation of "Eyelash" for orchestra (small symphony),
"Fantasy in G-Moll,
march "Forward" for brass band,
"The Mysterious Cave for orchestra,
"Lullaby" (folk songs) for women's quartet and piano,
"And Joy Plays, Plays" (lyrics by V. Yakubiak) for women's quartet,
"Evening Song" for trumpet and piano,
the dance "Slovianka" for pop orchestra.
A significant creative achievement of Vasyl Yakubiak is his cantata "Song of Joy and Praise". The composer took a serious approach to writing a rather large work of cyclic form with choirs, soloists, readers and a symphony orchestra. The cantata is divided into five movements: "Introduction", "Joy of Liberation", "Massacre of the Nazi Scum", "Tear a Potion for the Wedding" and "Finale". The cantata is based on Hutsul motifs and enriched with the author's own imagination, captivating the listener with its spontaneity, melody and lively rhythm. The cantata "Song of Joy and Praise" was performed twice in Kolomyia (1959, 1960), four times in Drohobych (1964, 1965, 1969, 1972) and once on television (1965).
The composer also wrote a number of works for violin and piano (Kolomyika Dance, Waltz in G-Moll, Dance in G-Moll, Etude in A-Moll) and for string quartet (Scherzo, variations of "Kozachok", "Marcia funebre"), many works for male quartets (variations, tangos, songs), unaccompanied male choirs ("Pidlysia", "Shumyt Dnipro", "Kleplut kosy", etc. ) and solo singing - "Girlfriend" and "Come out, girl" (lyrics by M. Khromey).
In addition to his concert and performance activities, Vasyl Yakubiak was involved in scientific work. The collection contains a 1938 "Collection of carols for a male choir" consisting of 11 carols for a male choir, where the first number is the carol "God is eternal" in his own arrangement. The collection is dominated by carols arranged by Kyrylo Stetsenko, Ostap Nyzhankivskyi, Borys Kudryk, T. Kupchynskyi, and I. Okhrymovych. The musical manuscript of the collection was written by V. Vasylevych on 20 December 1938 in Lviv.
Among the composer's songs, a significant place is occupied by songs for children. Vasyl Yakubiak composed songs based on poems by such poets as Bohdan Lepkyi, Dmytro Nykylyshyn, Stepan Pushyk, Petro Skunts, M. Khromey, Mykhailo Shalata, Markiyan Shashkevych, A. Shekerik-Donikiv, Yuriy Shkrumeliak, and others. The artist wrote several children's songs based on his own poems. But the most effective was the creative tandem of the composer with the young Kolomyia poet Ivan Yuziuk. Together, they created about a dozen songs of different genres (choral, ensemble, solo), 11 of which are for primary school children.
In Vasyl Yakubiak's home archive, there is a printed article from 1938 entitled "Mowing in Pechenizhyn, Kolomyia County". The article describes the peculiarities of the mowing tradition, the special dishes that belong to a mower, and describes in detail all the mowing equipment, its local names, etc. The article is illustrated with a musical recording of two long songs sung by mowers.
With the development of music education in Galicia, there was an increasing lack of special educational literature, which prompted Vasyl Yakubiak to create a "Musical Primer" for children of music schools. His work was highly appreciated by Stanislav Liudkevych.
