A CULTURAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVE OF NESTOR NYZNANKIVSKYI'S LIFE WORK IN THE DAY-BOOK “SVOBODA” (“FREEDOM”)

Abstract

The study highlights the little-known pages of the life and work of Ukrainian composer, teacher, music critic, and coryphaeus of the cultural and artistic life of Eastern Galicia in the first third of the twentieth century Nestor Nyzhankivskyi through the prism of publicistic materials published in the American magazine Svoboda. The authors of the newspaper articles are prominent cultural and educational figures, including Antin Rudnytskyi, Ihor Sonevytskyi, Roman Prydatkevych, and Osyp Zaleskyi, who, together with the artist, were the founders of the national musical space during the period of statelessness. It is confirmed that the printed articles of artistic content in the oldest Ukrainian-language day-book Svoboda became a multifaceted cultural chronicle that contributed to the preservation of the historical memory of our musical past. The article analyzes the content of the memorial press releases, the amplitude of which covers a wide range of information from biographical and musical events to the characterization of stylistic features of N. Nyzhankivskyi's compositional work, consideration of critical practice and public and educational activities. Based on the character traits described by the publicists, the personal portrait of this Ukrainian musician is crystallized as a principled professional artist, a patriot, a sensitive and delicate nature. It is proved that the printed word about this outstanding artistic personality contributed to a deep understanding of his social and cultural contribution to the development of national art and gives grounds to distinguish them in a personalized specialized area – Nyzhankiv studies.