After the failure of the 1917–21 national liberation struggle, much of Ukrainian lands fell under the Soviet occupation. The Central Committee of the Communist Party introduced the policy of Ukrainisation (korenizatsiia)¹. They sought to strengthen Soviet power by somewhat satisfying the needs of Ukrainians as a national minority. Unexpectedly for the Soviet government, however, the Ukrainisation policy bolstered Ukrainian national conscience and catalysed their cultural renaissance in education, science, literature, and the arts. Historians later called this phenomenon the ‘national revival of the 1920s’. 

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Unexpectedly, the policy of Ukrainisation served as a catalyst for strengthening national consciousness and spurring a cultural renaissance among Ukrainians — an outcome unanticipated by the Soviet leadership.

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Thus, the 1920s are remembered as a fruitful and foundational period in the history of Ukrainian choral art. That era witnessed intense artistic exploration, the rise of bright and original creative talents, and the expansion of the horizons of Ukrainian music. In 1923, the Leontovych Music Society appeared. It was the first musical community organisation that brought together young representatives of a new generation of composers whose music cultivated the Ukrainian national spirit. The Society’s early initiatives included organising choral collectives in various cities across Ukraine and stimulating the work of already existing groups.

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After Mykola Leontovych’s tragic death (murdered at the hands of a Chekist in his own father’s house)² and the premature deaths of Kyrylo Stetsenko and Yakiv Stepovyi, the composers’ legacy was carried on by a generation of musicians from Kyiv, Levko Revutskyi, Pylyp Kozytskyi, Mykhailo Verykivskyi, and Hryhorii Verovka. The second half of the 1920s saw the debuting of Kharkiv composers Kostiantyn Bohuslavskyi, Valentyn Kostenko, and Yulii Meitus.

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The most outstanding solo arrangements of the 1920s are Levko Revutskyi’s compositions, comprising over 50 works, among them three cycles of arrangements: Kozatski Pisni (Cossack Songs), Halytski Pisni (Galician Songs), and the children’s cycle Sonechko (Little Sun).

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Meanwhile, Ukraine was experiencing a revival of interest in the national instrument: the bandura. In 1923, Kobzar Choir’s³ former member HeorhiiKopan led the formation of the Kyiv Bandurist Chapel⁴. The group’s activities and numerous concerts across Ukraine were popularising collective kobzar performance. However, by the late 1920s, the communist party had strengthened its control over all spheres of culture, including music, demanding it to serve the regime’s interests. As true narrators of historical events, kobzars were subjected to repressions.

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Musicians of the first Ukrainian chapel of kobzars in the Ukrainian SSR. Reproduction, 1925

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The 1920s were marked by creative pursuits and avant-garde, expressionist, and futuristic experiments. A new page in the history of Ukrainian theatre began with the founding of the Berezil theatrical studio under Les Kurbas and his innovative ideas and techniques. Of course, the Soviet establishment was not happy with the bold, original theatre that compelled the audience to reflect; in 1933, Les Kurbas was arrested and subsequently persecuted.

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The team of the Young Theatre, founded by Ukrainian director and actor Les Kurbas (who sits in the second row with a Hutsul hatchet). Reproduction, 1919–20

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At the same time, a cohort of gifted artists emerged in the West of Ukraine, including Mykola Kolessa (Ukrainska siuita [Ukrainian Suite]), Stanislav Liudkevych (Striletska rapsodiia [Rhapsody of the Riflemen]), and Vasyl Barvinskyi (Kolosysia, nyvo [Grow Tall, Field], lyrics by Bohdan Lepkyi for mixed choir). Composers eagerly worked in choral music, striving to provide artistic material for singing enthusiasts.

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In interwar Lviv, entertainment was in huge demand, becoming common place for the locals. Franciszek Moszkowicz, the ‘father’ of Lviv’s show business and owner of extremely popular dining establishments and cabarets in Warsaw, Krakow, and Lviv, introduced the locals to dancing, a new, globally popular form of leisure. In 1925, he opened the Bahatela cabaret, the first family dance hall in Lviv, which offered a musical programme with artist performances. Cities saw the emergence of cabarets, restaurants with live music, dance halls, which were concert venues and where artists performed. In the 1920s, the young art of jazz also significantly influenced the musical tastes of a broad audience in Ukraine, notably represented by the jazz orchestras of Borys Renskyi (Kyiv) and the jazz band led by Yuliy Meitus (Kharkiv, at the Berezil Theatre).

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1. Korenizatsiia (transl. ‘indigenisation’ or ‘nativisation’) was an early policy of the Soviet Union for the integration of non-russian nationalities into the governments of their specific Soviet republics.

2. Chekist is a secret policy officer in the Soviet Union. The name is derived from Cheka (chrezvychaynaya komissiya — extraordinary commission), the colloquial name of the first in the succession of Soviet secret police agencies.)

3. Bandurist is a person who playsa Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument known as the bandura.

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