Rachynsky, Andrii

Rachynsky, Andrii [Рачинський; Андрій; Račyns'kyj, Andrij], b 24 November 1724 in Avhustiv (present-day Velyki Mosty), Sokal county, Galicia, d ca 1800 in Novhorod-Siverskyi, Novhorod-Siverskyi county, Little Russia gubernia. Composer and conductor; father of violinist Havrylo Rachynsky. A scion of a Galician noble family, Rachynsky studied at the Jesuit College in Lviv. Between 1749 and 1752, under Metropolitan Lev Sheptytsky, he conducted the metropolitan’s kapelle at Saint George's Cathedral. In 1753 he was invited to work at the court of Hetman Kyrylo Rozumovsky in Hlukhiv. There, between 1753 and 1763, he conducted Kyrylo Rozumovsky’s kapelle and orchestra, founded the Hlukhiv Music Library, and organized music education and music-cultural life in Hlukhiv and the Cossack Hetman state. In 1761–2 he frequently visited Saint Petersburg and acted as a chamber musician at the court of Peter III. He was also responsible for recruiting promising young singers from Ukraine for the court choir in Saint Petersburg. During that time Rachynsky composed choral music and occasional instrumental works, being the first composer to introduce the classicist ‘Italian style’ of music to Left-Bank Ukraine and to the Russian Empire. His choral compositions can be regarded as a transition between the baroque forms (partesnyi concerto) and classicism. These works include the sacred choral concertos Vozliubykh Tia, Hospody (Loving Thee, O Lord), Raduitesia Bohu, pomoshchnyku nashemu (Rejoice in God, Our Helper), Skazhy mi, Hospody, konchynu moiu (Tell Me, O Lord, What is the Measure of My Days), and Ne otverzhy mene vo vremia starosty (Do Not Forsake Me in My Old Age), the latter of which likely inspired Maksym Berezovsky to compose his famous choral concerto of the same name. In fact, Rachynsky may have been Berezovsky’s first music teacher in Hlukhiv.

In 1763 Hetman Kyrylo Rozumovsky appointed Rachynsky captain of the Novhorod-Siverskyi company of the Starodub regiment. In Novhorod-Siverskyi Rachynsky was associated with the Novhorod-Siverskyi patriotic circle. He served as captain until 1782, when he was appointed a head of one of the departments of the Novhorod-Siverskyi vicegerency. He also held the titles of the fellow of the standard (from 1780), court counselor (from 1784), and collegiate assessor (from 1787). Around 1796 he retired from active service and lived the rest of his life in Novhorod-Siverskyi.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hobdych, Mykola. ‘Dukhovni kontserty Andriia Rachyns'koho: vid naukovoï rekonstruktsiï do vykonannia,’ Imidzh suchasnoho pedahoha no. 4 (187) (2019)
Iurchenko, Mstyslav. ‘Maksym Berezovs'kyi v Hlukhovi: Muzychne zhyttia mista,’ Literatura ta kul'tura Polissia no. 102 (2021)

Marko Robert Stech

[This article was updated in 2024.]