
Carols Of The Bells
Mykola Leontovych
Song library
Browse piano sheets by Mykola Leontovych on Zen Virtual Piano. Mykola Leontovych came from a family in which his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were village priests. His mother, Mariya Yosypivna Leontovych, and his father, Dmytro Feofanovych Leontovych, were both singers. Mykola's parents were his first teachers of music: his mother taught folk songs, and his father taught playing musical instruments. His parents' singing and his own folk-song arrangements may point to a thread of vocal music running through his life. The musicologist Boleslav Yavorsky taught Leontovych from 1909 on. Leontovych was to visit him in Moscow and Kyiv over the next 12 years. Since 1899, Leontovych taught singing at the Chukiv Secondary School. In the village of Chukiv he also organized an amateur symphony orchestra. Leontovych formed a lasting friendship with the composer Kyrylo Stetsenko, and Stetsenko later influenced his musical style. Teaching singing at Chukiv and studying under Boleslav Yavorsky may suggest a composer involved in both teaching and study. Rich harmony, vocal polyphony, and imitation mark Leontovych's music. His earlier folk-song arrangements, by contrast, were primarily strophic arrangements of the melody. The Leontovych museum says that he reimagined Ukrainian folk tunes thoroughly in his choral compositions, giving them a unique sound. According to America Magazine, he was a perfectionist, and a single arrangement could occupy him for years before anyone saw it. After becoming dissatisfied with one publication, Leontovych bought back all 300 copies and joked, "Let me go to the Dnipro." The years he could spend on one arrangement and the 300 copies he bought back may point to close attention to the form his work took. In December 1916, the performance of Leontovych's arrangement of "Shchedryk" brought him great success amongst Kyiv's music lovers. His Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, a milestone for Ukrainian spiritual music, had its first performance on 22 May 1919 at the St. Nicholas Military Cathedral in Kyiv, Pechersk. Performances of his works in Western Europe and North America earned him the nickname "the Ukrainian Bach". The 1916 success of "Shchedryk" in Kyiv and the nickname earned in Western Europe and North America may hint at a reputation that reached beyond Kyiv.
Browse piano sheets by Mykola Leontovych on Zen Virtual Piano.
Mykola Leontovych came from a family in which his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were village priests. His mother, Mariya Yosypivna Leontovych, and his father, Dmytro Feofanovych Leontovych, were both singers. Mykola's parents were his first teachers of music: his mother taught folk songs, and his father taught playing musical instruments. His parents' singing and his own folk-song arrangements may point to a thread of vocal music running through his life.
The musicologist Boleslav Yavorsky taught Leontovych from 1909 on. Leontovych was to visit him in Moscow and Kyiv over the next 12 years. Since 1899, Leontovych taught singing at the Chukiv Secondary School. In the village of Chukiv he also organized an amateur symphony orchestra. Leontovych formed a lasting friendship with the composer Kyrylo Stetsenko, and Stetsenko later influenced his musical style. Teaching singing at Chukiv and studying under Boleslav Yavorsky may suggest a composer involved in both teaching and study.
Rich harmony, vocal polyphony, and imitation mark Leontovych's music. His earlier folk-song arrangements, by contrast, were primarily strophic arrangements of the melody. The Leontovych museum says that he reimagined Ukrainian folk tunes thoroughly in his choral compositions, giving them a unique sound. According to America Magazine, he was a perfectionist, and a single arrangement could occupy him for years before anyone saw it. After becoming dissatisfied with one publication, Leontovych bought back all 300 copies and joked, "Let me go to the Dnipro." The years he could spend on one arrangement and the 300 copies he bought back may point to close attention to the form his work took.
In December 1916, the performance of Leontovych's arrangement of "Shchedryk" brought him great success amongst Kyiv's music lovers. His Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, a milestone for Ukrainian spiritual music, had its first performance on 22 May 1919 at the St. Nicholas Military Cathedral in Kyiv, Pechersk. Performances of his works in Western Europe and North America earned him the nickname "the Ukrainian Bach". The 1916 success of "Shchedryk" in Kyiv and the nickname earned in Western Europe and North America may hint at a reputation that reached beyond Kyiv.
Search the library

Mykola Leontovych
Common questions
Mykola Leontovych's parents were his first teachers of music: his mother, Maria, taught folk songs, and his father taught playing musical instruments.
Leontovych studied under the musicologist Boleslav Yavorsky starting in 1909. Over the next 12 years he was to visit Yavorsky in Moscow and Kyiv.
According to America Magazine, Leontovych was a perfectionist, and a single arrangement could occupy him for years before anyone saw it. The Leontovych museum says he reimagined Ukrainian folk tunes thoroughly in his choral compositions.
In December 1916, the performance of Leontovych's arrangement of "Shchedryk" brought him great success amongst Kyiv's music lovers.