Rachynsky, Havrylo

Rachynsky, Havrylo [Рачинський, Гаврило; Račyns'kyj], b 1777 in Novhorod-Siverskyi, d 11 April 1843 in Novhorod-Siverskyi. Composer, violinist, guitarist, and pedagogue; son of Andrii Rachynsky. At an early age he was taught to play the violin by his father. In 1789–95 he probably studied with Artem Vedel at the Kyivan Mohyla Academy, and in 1795–7 he studied in Moscow, where he subsequently taught advanced music until 1805. Beginning in 1808 he concertized throughout Ukraine. He was one of the first Ukrainian musicians to embark on a career as a concert artist. From 1823 to 1840 he lived in Moscow. His works consist mostly of art songs, romances, variations, and arrangements of Ukrainian folk songs. His best-known set of variations is on the folk song ‘Viiut' vitry, viiut' buini’ (The Wild Winds Blow).

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]