THE ROLE OF MUSIC CULTURE IN THE PROCESSES OF THE UKRAINIAN NATION FORMATION IN GALICIA (THE SECOND HALF OF THE XIXth – THE BEGINNING OF THE XXth CENTURY)

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to determine the role and place of the musical component in the processes of the Ukrainian cultural nation formation in Galicia under the rule of the Habsburg monarchy. The research methodology is based on the integrated application of historical, retrospective and culturological methods. Historical method – in the coverage of the historical realities of socio-political life of Galician Ukrainians in the Habsburg Empire. Retrospective method – in the analytical reconstruction of cultural forms of public realization of national self-awareness of the Ukrainians in Galicia during the second half of the XIXth – the beginning of the XXth centuries. Culturological method – in the aesthetic assessment of artistic phenomena and forms that were born in the cultural space under the Austrian Galicia of the period under study and contributed to the Ukrainian nation-building in these areas. The scientific novelty of the research consists in singling out the cultural and artistic sphere as analytical optics, which allows a more complete understanding and evaluation of the historically significant processes of the Ukrainian identity formation of Galicians in the multicultural society of the Habsburg Empire. The Conclusions. In the development of the Ukrainian national culture in Galicia during the second half of the XIХth – the beginning of the XXth century an important place was played by the activities of numerous musical societies, as well as the work of Galician composers, associated with the poetic words of Taras Shevchenko. These factors became an important issue in overcoming the Germanization and Polonization of the Galician population, who was under conditions where the Ukrainian language was removed from public life and sometimes even from home. This problem was partially tackled owing to the creative activity of O. Nyzhankivsky, D. Sichynsky, F. Kolessa, H. Topolnytsky, and Ya. Lopatynsky. The above mentioned composers referred to the texts of famous writers who represented the Ukrainian literature in Ukraine under the Russian rule (O. Konysky, B. Hrinchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, A. Krymsky) and in Galicia uder the Austrian rule (I. Franko, U. Kravchenko, V. Pachovsky, B. Lepky, O. Lutsky). Thus, they affirmed and promoted not only the Ukrainian music, but also the Ukrainian word, awakening the “expressive spirit of the nation” by their work.

Key words: national identity, Galician Ukrainians, cultural life, evenings dedicated to T. Shevchenko, music societies.