Mykola Leontovych

Mykola Dmytrovich Leontovych was the leading Ukrainian composer of his time, a figure whose output is largely made up of folk-inspired works for unaccompanied chorus. Among his more popular and critically acclaimed compositions are the vastly popular Shchedryk (The Carol of the Bells) and Dudaryk (The Duda Player), works that can be described as miniatures within the choral realm. Leontovych not only used folk melodies but folk texts in his choral works, and over time he evolved a quite imaginative and original style. Still, there are influences discernible in it, most notably...