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Yevhen Adamtsevych

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Yevhen Adamtsevych
Євген Адамцевич
Background information
Born(1904-01-01)1 January 1904
Solonytsia [uk], Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
Died1 January 1972(1972-01-01) (aged 68)
Kholmivka [uk], Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine)
GenresFolk music
InstrumentBandura
Years active1927–1972

Yevhen Oleksandrovych Adamtsevych (Ukrainian: Євге́н Олекса́ндрович Адамце́вич; 1 January [O.S. 19 December 1903] 1904 – 1 January 1972) was a prominent blind Ukrainian bandurist.

Biography

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Yevhen Oleksandrovych Adamtsevych was born in the village of Solonytsia on 1 January 1904, not far from the town of Lubny, in what is now Ukraine's Poltava Oblast.[1] His father, who came from Snovsk, worked at one time at the railway station at Solonytsia  [uk], possibly as the station master. His mother was Maria Mykhailivna (née Bilan), the middle class daughter of a tailor whose five children were all educated at home.[2]

Yevhen became blind at the age of two.[1] He was educated at a school for the blind in Kyiv.[3] He lived in Romny where from 1925 he was apprenticed to the kobzar Musii Petrovych Oleksienko [uk], who taught him to play the bandura.[4]

Adamtsevych began to perform as a soloist in 1927,[4] where he led a group of bandurists.[5] In 1927 he married Lidia Dmytrivna Paradis; her relatives did not approve of this marriage and were only reconciled years later.[2] During the 1930s, he was a travelling kobzar.[5] In 1939 he participated in the conference of kobzars which took place in Kyiv, and he participated in a 1940 conference on folk singers in Moscow.[4]

During the Second World War, Adamtsevych travelled around Ukraine, performing patriotic songs, including his own composition, the song Unwillingly.[4] During the 1950s and 1960s, he and other bandurists gave concerts in Ukraine and Russia.[5]

In October 1972, Adamtsevych and his wife moved to live with their daughter in the village of Kholmivka, Bakhchysaray District, Crimea.[4] Three weeks later, he was hospitalized with acute pain caused by a stone in his gall bladder), but died during the early hours of 20 November whilst on the operating table.[2] He bequeathed his bandura to the Taras Shevchenko Museum [uk] in Kaniv.[2]

Playing and singing style

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Adamtsevych acted as a bearer of the national Ukrainian traditions of singing and playing the bandura, which he learned his repertoire directly through oral transmission. A characteristic feature of Adamtsevych's singing style was his ability to highlight syllables or words; the range of his voice covered two octaves.[4] he was known for being able to easily memorize the music and lyrics of any songs that he listened to.[2]

Personality

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Adamtsevych's daughter recalled her father as being was energetic, cheerful, and neat. He did not have a haircut, but shaved his head "according to Kotovskyi". According to his daughter, "He did everything himself: he sawed and chopped firewood, repaired the house, built it, even roofed the house himself with iron, dug cellars and covered it with bricks."[2] Adamtsevich attempted unsuccessfully to teach his daughter Tetyana to play the bandura.[2]

Repertoire

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Adamtsevych's repertoire included many historic Ukrainian folk songs, but lacked any authentic dumy (sung epic poems).[6] Yevshan-Zillia, the single epic work in his repertoire, was structured like a duma.[4]

Adamtsevych composed the "Zaporizhian March",[2] which was orchestrated by Viktor Hutsal [uk].[7] The march was played regularly by the Ukrainian State Orchestra of Ukrainian Folk Instruments in Kyiv.[citation needed] Other compositions include the songs "In Captivity" (1941), and "Thoughts about I.F. Fedka" (1966).[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Nimylovych, O. M. "Adamtsevich, Yevhen Oleksandrovych". State Scientific Institution "Encyclopedic Publishing House". Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Bobrykova, Tatyana (1 May 2003). "Про Мого Батька, Бандуриста України" [About my father, bandurist of Ukraine]. Crimean chamber (Krymska Svitlytsia) (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b Zheplinsky & Kovalchuk 2011, p. 5.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Skrypnyk 2006, pp. 29–30.
  5. ^ a b c Dutchak, V. G. (2001). Adamtsevich Evgeny Oleksandrovych. Institute of Encyclopedic Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. ISBN 9789660220744. Retrieved 5 August 2022. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  6. ^ Kononenko, Natalie O. (1998). Ukrainian minstrels: and the blind shall sing. Folklores and folk cultures of Eastern Europe. Armonk, N.Y. London: M.E. Sharpe. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-0-7656-0144-5.
  7. ^ "Євген Адамцевич – народний автор народної музики" [Yevhen Adamtsevich is a folk author of folk music]. Ukrainian Agency for Copyright and Related Rights. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2022.

Sources

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