By Halyna Kravtchouk, Winnipeg, Canada
«Koshetz’s Ukrainians are more wonderful than ever», Winnipeg Free Press
The Ukrainian National
Choir, under the direction of the world-renowned Ukrainian choral conductor
Alexander Koshetz, ceased to exist in 1924. In Maestro’s own words, the
troubles began in Havana (when the singers attempted to strike over ten days of
unpaid work. Additional reasons for the choir’s dissolution included
misunderstandings and clashes among the choristers, indecent behavior by some
singers, constant conflicts with their impresario Max Rabinow, and falsified,
humiliating, and provocative information in the press. These negative reports
were influenced by russophiles and moscow agents and targeted the choir, the
conductor, and the choristers. Some singers, lured by promises of well-paying
jobs, wished to continue independently and become famous without Rabinow and
Koshetz. As a result, everyone, including the conductor, was left jobless and
penniless.
After a year of
unemployment, Alexander Koshetz signed a new contract with Max Rabinow, the
founder and director of the American Institute of Operatic Art in Stony Point,
New York. Rabinow appointed Maestro as the principal conductor of the American
Choir (The Stony Point Ensemble).
Koshetz had to prepare the newly formed choir for a North American tour
scheduled for August 1925, during which they planned to give 100 concerts over
a 15-week period.
Koshetz found it
challenging to work with the choir, hastily assembled with individuals
inexperienced in choral singing, unfamiliar with him, and unaware of his
conducting style. A significant challenge for him was the English language.
Despite these obstacles, he was pleased with the progress he was making and the
possibility of earning enough money to pay for his journey home. «The only hope that keeps me alive and still
gives me the strength to live is to visit my homeland before death, to see my
dear friends, my beloved Kyiv, my native Ukraine...», he wrote to his
closest friend Vasyl Benevsky on October 5, 1925 (О. О. Кошиць. Листи до друга. 1904-1931. Київ, 1998. – Р. 40-51). He even planned to buy
an estate in Bohuslav (Kyiv Oblast) with his older brother Fedir, who had begun
making arrangements (Letter from Fedir, dated October 24, 1925/Ukrainian Cultural and
Educational Centre archives – Oseredok, 184 Alexander Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba).
Bound by a new contract,
Koshetz had to refuse an invitation from the Kharkiv Opera House for a
conductor’s position. Thus, instead of serving his homeland and its people, he
had to work for foreigners.
From the start, the
concerts planned by Rabinow failed. Ignoring Maestro’s advice, Rabinow insisted
on including not only choral singing and female soloists in the program but
also a violinist, former female ballet dancers, and a Clavilux (a mechanical device for
projecting onstage light patterns).
The only successful
performances were those of the choir, including music for the «Dance of Salome»
by Joseph Achron. Despite being given only three weeks to learn the piece with
its «terrible consonances», the choir
excelled. However, Koshetz lamented that «divided
between two soloists [Nina Koshetz and Ada Slobodskaya], a violinist, two dancers, and a Clavilux,
[the choir] couldn’t give a clear,
complete, convincing impression».
The tour was cut short,
and the press was merciless. A budget of $500,000 was exceeded by $250,000,
leaving the tour in the red from the start. According to Maestro, the dancers
and Clavilux, which required no less than 15 workers and 5 hours to install,
along with the need for a large theater premises, «ruined us, destroyed us».
In a letter from New York,
dated December 19, 1925, a heartbroken Koshetz wrote Benevsky: «I waited for this cursed Institute for a
whole year, worked for three and a half months, received a salary for three
weeks, and lost all my savings. But the most important thing is that my nerves
can no longer withstand this environment. And I have very little strength left».
After this difficult and unsuccessful tour, Koshetz fell seriously ill with
pleurisy (O. О. Кошиць. Листи
до друга. – P. 52-55). He concluded that self-enrichment was paramount in
America, a country «for good crooks»,
like Rabinow. He was disappointed by the low level of general musical standards
and the «unscrupulous exploitation of
cultural workers, including ordinary choristers». He was irritated by the
modernization of art, particularly choral singing, which he considered nothing
more than «experiments on the nerves of the
listeners».
In an effort to salvage
his reputation, Max Rabinow discussed a possible job with Maestro for the next
season. Bound by a two-year contract, Koshetz faced a dilemma: remain
unemployed for a third consecutive year or continue working with Rabinow. After
weighing his options, he decided to stay with that «crook» but demanded a $12,000 guarantee for himself and the new
choir. However, memories of the unsuccessful previous tour left Koshetz
overwhelmed with worries, which soon proved justified.
On August 25, 1926, he
informed V. Benevsky that he had to terminate his contract with Rabinow and
signed a new contract for the upcoming season with manager Blok. The choir
continued their tours.
In November 1926, while
performing in American cities near the Canadian border, the Alexander Koshetz Choir Inc. (that was
the name of the Ukrainian Choir formed of mostly new singers) performed in
Winnipeg. According to newspaper archives, the concerts on November 19 and 20,
1926, at the Walker Theatre (now the Burton Cummings Theatre) were highly
successful. The press reviews serve as reliable testimony to their success.
From the Ukrainian Singers Charm Big Audience
article
Choir is Received with Enthusiasm by Lovers of
Choral Work
Women’s Voices Even Better Than Three Years Ago and Man as Good
Koshetz’s
Ukrainians are more wonderful than ever. Their singing on the previous visit
three years ago, left Winnipeg tingling with enthusiasm for their unique choral
work and their songs. Now they are here again with better women’s voices than
before and the men’s voices have the same extraordinary extent of compass and
of richness among the basses. There were 29 singers in all last night at the
Walker theatre, - sixteen men and thirteen women - a picturesque double row in
their national peasant dress of Little Russia, and making an exotic burst of
color with red predominating when they stopped and faced the audience. From the
start they commend attention by a general air of simple dignity and devotion to
the business on hand. The pitch pipe sounds through a quiet theatre and the
figures become vocal with no eyes for anything or anybody but their conductor.
They are constantly compared to an orchestra. In no number they bear out the
analogy so strikingly as in Lullaby in the arrangement of which Koshetz himself
had a hand. Against a choral background of humming which swelled and subsided
like a summer wind, rose the cradle song, sung by a soprano with a lovely
voice. Thereupon followed an astonishing play of timbres. Such moaning of
woodwinds “with linked sweetness long drawn out”, and semblance of plucked
strings and mutterings of double basses! One of the singers at the outer left
wing had a habit of descending to marvellous cushiony depths taking everybody
sympathetically with him. It was hard to come to the top again.
Securing Effects
Undoubtedly
the choir relies for its effects principally upon changes in rhythm, time and
shading that goes from a full forte to a pianissimo keeping substance even when
the tone has almost died out. The Slavic voices are fundamentally different
from those of the singers of other lands. They have a peculiar intensity and
sonority and a great variety of color. Each of the soloists last night had
arresting quality.
Ukrainian
folk music is absorbing since it portrays so naively and directly the soul of
the people who created it. Part of the impression is due to thought, to the
skillful arrangements of the part songs, which have been done by several
russian musicians, among them, Lyssenko, Kositsky, Stetsenko, Leontovych,
Stupnitsky. Koshetz emphasizes the natural gift for harmony possessed by the
people and one of the songs, in his own arrangement, called the “Ploughing
Peasant”… One of the most beautiful things of the concert was “Our Lady of
Potchaiv”, in which the religious atmosphere and setting of the picture, by the
soloists and choir, were transporting. Another song, “The Hill on the Steppe”,
was extremely impressive for the sense of loneliness pervading it. … L. S. (Ukrainian
Singers Charm Big Audience/Winnipeg Free Press Newspaper
Archives, November 20, 1926: https://access-newspaperarchive-com.wpl-dbs.winnipeg.ca/ca/manitoba/winnipeg/winnipeg-free-press/
1926/11-20/page-9).
From
the Music column
It is to
be sincerely hoped that there are no Winnipeggers staying from one or other of
the concerts being given by Alexander Koshetz and his Ukrainian National Chorus
in the Walker theatre because of any mistaken comparisons with any of our local
choral combinations. Any notions based on a question of respective excellencies
are really the most futile of all. And ignoring these, a little thought re the
matter should make it quite clear that there is no actual basis of comparison
which can be instituted. The splendid work which is being done by the best
known of this city’s singing organizations runs in the different main direction
from that which has been carved out by the talented and modest Mr. Koshetz and
his chorus, while our local Ukrainian singers, delightful as their performances
invariably are, would doubtless be the last people to suggest that they are
what the Koshetz choir are - an array of picked singers of the highest calibre
for their job. The mere assembling of these many fine voices into a specialized
whole automatically puts them into the position of being able to cope with all
that is most difficult and ambitious in the folk music of their native Ukraine
and in the arrangements of arias and songs by the new and older school of
composers of great russia which are the part of their repertoire.
Bearing
these points in mind, one can warmly recommend a visit to the Walker this
afternoon or this evening for the second and third concerts by the Ukrainian
Chorus, the first being given last night. To see them so picturesque garbed in
colors … is itself a whiff of another world. To the music student (all sound
critic are such and quite cognizant of the fact that they can never learn more
than a paltry smattering) and lovers of music in general, concerts such as
those which Mr. Koshetz and his exotically-garbed singers must fascinate as
well as charm and thrill.
How
often, since they were here three years ago, have we in this city undergone
further initiation into the song-love of Ukraine? Just as one gulps down all
one can swallow of the research of Bela Barton into the native gypsy songs
which can be heard from Isa Kremer, or of the results of many years of diving
by J. B. Trend into the roots of native Spanish music, etc., so must one be
thankful of the opportunity to again hear the Ukrainian National Chorus and to
be once more vividly reminded that world music is a rolling ball of
chromaticism of which but few colors are glimpsed.
In addition, of course, there is the joy of great singing itself. The gallery of adjectives was several years ago despoiled for the benefit of Mr. Koshetz and his choir. Let it suffice to say that there are booming basses, rich baritones, black-cherry contraltos, liquid-lyric tenors and luscious sopranos on all sides, as it were. And when they all shed their musical magic at once, as they do, for instance, in Stetsenko’s arrangement of a Christmas song, “From the Mountains and the Valleys“, surely it must be irresistible to all expecting those who may have had ear drums destroyed through undergoing a course of the Schoenberg-Pierrot-Lunaire treatment (Music/The Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 1926-11-20. p. 9: https://digitalcollections. lib. umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A1640169).
The reader’s attention
catches the article I First Saw in The Winnipeg Tribune, published November
18, 1926. Its author, The Wanderer, who experienced the Ukrainian
National Choir's performances in Winnipeg in 1923, was seated next to the
Maestro at a banquet held in his honor at the Fort Garry Hotel, following one
of his thrilling concerts. Getting to know Koshetz better, he writes the
following:
- He is one of those rare men in the
world of art whose name is known to millions of people in Europe as well as
this continent.
- I have never listened to a finer flow
of oratory on the subjects of music, literature and kindred arts than the
demonstration at the Fort Garry, ending with such enthusiasm that the
banqueters seized the great Koshetz, bodily, and carried him round and round
the gully decorated hall, singing meanwhile the folk songs and the patriotic
songs of Ukrainia. All this followed, by the way, the very climax which came in
an oration from Koshetz himself on the poetry and music of his native
land. Koshetz painted wonderful pictures
envisioning the life of Ukraine, from its tragic wars to the merry or gossiping
chit-chat of its peasant folk over winter fires, or in summer door-yards.
- He told of the heroes, of their
native land and of its impassioned lovers, of festivals, of marriage and
harvest; then he spoke of a far-off pagan era, when the Sun god was worshipped
and the God of Thunder feared; he recited hymns, canticles and carols, which
interpret the altered ideals of the later Christian period. Much of it all, he
said, had a striking Oriental background. The people of Ukraine, he pointed
out, have suffered much, and this, too is apparent in their songs, stabbing
deep into the heart of the hearer, gripping and thrilling and touching him into
tears.
- I was very deeply interested in
this man of very quiet, yet wonderful personality.
- I learned … that he was appointed,
by the new Ukrainian administration to his cabinet position, and … later, was
made conductor of the Ukrainian National Chorus, a selected group of trained
singers formed from the many choral organizations of that “singing” country.
- As the history and traditions of
the Middle Ages were broadcasted through the world by the wandering minstrels,
or minnesingers, so these troubadours of a newer day the sweet singers of
Ukrainia have carried through Europe and to the nations of the western
hemisphere the history, the faith, the loves, the deeds of valor, the
simple-hearted festival joys and the piteous sorrows and hardships of their
native land, the far Ukraine, now a political figure upon the new map of
Europe.
- The music is a national thing. Even
before it became an independent state…, Ukraine had a musical section in its
Ministry of Education, and through this had developed numerous “national
choirs”. Even the priests of Ukraine are singers, and it has been called “a
country of popular rhapsodists”.
- Recently introduced to the Western
world, Ukrainian music has captivated audiences with its enthusiasm,
spontaneity, and almost religious devotion to art. It has been hailed as a
revelation in choral singing and as the foundation of a new art movement.
- Luolan Mainssleux of the French
magazine Le Crapouillot recently declared that Ukrainian music “was written with pure love and tears”.
He described it as: “...marvelous skies, seen as through some magic
glass; Byzantine cupolas and minarets flooded with sumptuous golden rays”.
- Mr. Koshetz tells me that
Ukrainians sing their songs on every occasion and dance their national dances
together. Therefore, their music is the most natural and differs from that of
other countries.
- When sung by intrinsically fine and
perfectly trained voices, the effect has been found almost indescribably
beautiful, likened to a “human symphony
orchestra”.
- During his stay on this continent, Mr. Koshetz has lectured at many prestigious educational institutions. He has studied the music of Canada and has given his expert approval to «O, Canada», agreeing with Emil Oberhoffer (a German-born American conductor and composer), that it deserves to rank high among inspiring national melodies (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-winnipeg-tribune-a-koshetz/ 122875625/).
During
the tour, Koshetz hoped for the best, but the competitive world proved his
hopes futile. Driven by revenge, Rabinow wrote anonymous negative letters about
the choir, resulting in poor ticket sales. Additionally, there was a lack of
effective advertising. From the tour’s onset, problems plagued the new choir.
The allocated budget was insufficient to sustain it, leading to delays in
payments for both the choristers and their conductor. Good singers began to
leave the choir, planning to go to New York and sue their manager Blok. Only 23
choristers, paid by the conductor out of his own pocket, continued the tour.
Despite these issues and costly legal proceedings, the concerts were very
successful.
Having not been paid for
four and a half weeks (with choristers unpaid for two), Koshetz hired a lawyer
and terminated the contract with Blok, who had ceased payments entirely in
California. Subsequently, Koshetz independently signed a contract with Sid
Grauman, an American entrepreneur and owner of Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in
Hollywood. As per the 16-week contract scheduled to conclude in mid-May 1927,
the choir was expected to perform a 12-minute prologue to the movie «Old
Battleships» twice daily, in exchange for a generous salary (О. Кошиць. Листи до друга. – P. 75-78).
However, conflicts arose
with Grauman, a greedy millionaire who did not recognize Koshetz’s status as a
world-renowned master of choral singing and tried to dictate how the choir
should perform. During a highly stressful period, Maestro had no alternative
but to remain in Hollywood until autumn after falling ill.
On
December 13, 1927, aboard the SS Roma, Alexander Koshetz and his wife Tetiana
departed from New York for Italy where he would receive medical treatment. His
health did not improve due to the local climate, and his nerves did not fare
any better. While there, he received an invitation from Mykola Grinchenko,
Rector of the Lysenko Music and Drama Institute in Kyiv, to join as a professor
in the Department of Choral Conducting. This offer led him to decline an
invitation from Prague to organize a Ukrainian choir. As a result, he would
travel there in 1932.
In
the autumn of 1928, Koshetz moved to France and initiated the necessary
procedures for his return to Ukraine. To assist him in this process, a special
committee named the “Koshetz Committee” was formed, with Ostap Lysenko, the son
of Mykola Lysenko, being a part of it.
Correspondence
with the members of this committee and the hope of returning home provided him
with the motivation to carry on, despite facing challenges. The prospect of his
return to Ukraine began to materialize. This is evident from the correspondence
of Serhiy Telezhynskyi, dean of the conducting and choral faculty of the
institute, concerning his employment: «Students
of the institute received the news of your return with joy and admiration»; ...
«They eagerly await your arrival: a notice was recently published in a Kyiv
newspaper stating that starting January 1st, you will be leading the
chapelle at the Lysenko Institute. This stirred up a lot of excitement: people
started asking about your return, strangers even approached me on the street to
inquire about your arrival. You are the talk of the town. They even tried to convince me that your concert
would be on Sunday» (Листи Сергія Тележинського
до Олександра Кошиця з фондів Осередку: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox?projector=1).
The
desire to return home was so strong that, upon learning from Telezhynskyi’s
letters about the living and working conditions in soviet Ukraine and the
decline of choral art, Koshetz made a firm decision to return. «Whatever the circumstances, I simply wish to
be home», he wrote to his friend V. Benevsky, eagerly anticipating their
meeting.
However,
his optimism was diminished upon learning that the soviets had appointed S.
Romaniuk, a loyal supporter of the bolshevik party, instead of Rector M. Grinchenko.
Romaniuk’s delay tactics, his insistence that Koshetz publicly express a
favorable stance towards the soviet government in the press, and the news from S. Telezhynskyi that the bolshevik authorities had
decided to make decision regarding his employment upon his return further
disappointed and frustrated Koshetz (О. Кошиць. Листи до друга.
– P. 120-140).
After two long and
exhausting years in Europe, holding the official document from the soviet
consulate in France granting him permission to return home, Alexander Koshetz
was back in New York on November 22, 1929, as confirmed by archival documents
provided by professional genealogist Xenia Stanford (https:// familyrootstracer.com). To his dismay, he found
himself immersed in what he described as a «disgusting»
émigré environment, where he believed fate had unjustly placed him. These years
coincided with the Great Depression, a period of soaring unemployment that hit
workers in the arts, including the esteemed Maestro Alexander Koshetz,
particularly hard. Furthermore, he was distressed to learn about the oppressive
measures and persecutions carried out by the soviets in Ukraine. The recurring,
somber thought that «the times have come
to destroy the Ukrainian nation not only physically, but also spiritually, and
not only by force, but by the worst weapons – falsification», lingered with
him for years…
Koshetz was constantly
tormented by an unbearable longing for Ukraine, his family, and friends. He
believed he had left them in 1919 for just two months, only to find out that it
was actually... forever.
Halyna Kravtchouk, Winnipeg, Canada
