Vasyl Barvinsky

Vasyl Oleksandrovych Barvinsky (Ukrainian: Василь Олександрович Барвінський) (20 February 1888 – 9 June 1963) was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor, teacher, musicologist, and music related social figure.

Barvinsky was one of the first Ukrainian composers to gain worldwide recognition. His pieces were published not only in the Soviet Union, but also in Vienna, Leipzig, New York (Universal Edition), and Japan. Barvinsky directed a post-secondary musical institution in the city of Lviv (1915-1948) the Lysenko Higher Institute of Music, and was considered to be the head of musical life at the time. Currently there is a College of Music named after Barvinsky in Drohobych, Ukraine.

Vasyl Barvinsky was born in Ternopil, on 20 February 1888. Barvinsky descended from an older aristocratic family. Barvinsky's father, Oleksander Barvinsky, was a Ukrainian pedagogue, politician, and public figure. In 1917 he was appointed a member of the Austrian upper chamber. Vasyl's mother, singer and pianist, Yevheniya Barvinska, became his first music teacher. Barvinsky married Natalia Puluj, the daughter of scientist of radiology Ivan Puluj.

In 1939 he founded Lviv Secondary Specialized Music Boarding School named after Solomiya Krushelnytska.

In January 1948 Barvinsky and his wife were arrested by the NKVD. He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by the Soviet authorities. He was exiled to a GULAG in Mordovia, at which time most of his printed and handwritten works were burned under mysterious circumstances in Lviv. After his release in 1958, he attempted to reconstruct works that had been destroyed, but he died on 9 June 1963, before completing this work. Many of the lost works were not rediscovered until after his death. Many works were lost forever. Barvinsky was posthumously rehabilitated in 1964.

He was buried in Lviv in the family tomb in Lychakiv Cemetery, field number three.

Barvinsky gained professional music education in Lviv conservatory. Barvinsky continued his music education in Prague. Among his teachers were Vilém Kurz (piano), and Vítězslav Novák (composition). When he began to teach, one of his first students was Stefania Turkewich.

Barvinsky wrote about 30 works. Barvinsky's compositions are said to be impressive by their “… matureness’, thoughtfulness and delicacy”. Barvinsky composed in various genres except ballet and opera. His style, late romantic with impressionistic features, was also strongly influenced by Ukrainian folklore. Although many of Barvinsky's works were lost, most of his creative inheritance remained and is performed worldwide.