Kostenko, Valentyn

Kostenko, Valentyn [Костенко, Валентин], b 28 July 1895 in Urazovo, Valuiki county, Voronezh gubernia, d 14 July 1960 in Kharkiv. Composer, musicologist, and educator. As a youth he sang in the court kapelle in Saint Petersburg, and in 1921 he graduated from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. From 1923 he taught at the Kharkiv Music and Drama Institute and served as musical director of Kharkiv Ukrainian Radio. In 1927–32 he headed the Association of Revolutionary Composers of Ukraine. His compositions, which were influenced by contemporary European music, include the operas Karmeliuk, Nazar Stodolia (based on the play by Taras Shevchenko), and The Carpathians; the ballet Reborn Steppe; the symphony The Year 1917; a suite for symphony orchestra; violin, piano, and choral pieces; and six string quartets. His scholarly publications include studies of Pavlo Senytsia (1922), the role of folk songs in Ukrainian music (1928), and the influence of German expressionism on Ukrainian music (1929). He also prepared a textbook on musical theory.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988).]