Zalesky, Osyp

Zalesky, Osyp [Залеський, Осип; Zales'kyj], b 16 April 1892 in Trostianets Malyi, Zolochiv county, Galicia, d 13 March 1984 in Buffalo, New York State. Musicologist, educator, conductor, and composer. He completed studies in musicology with A. Chybiński at the Lviv Conservatory (1911–14) and then worked as a gymnasium teacher. He founded, directed, and taught at the Stanyslaviv branch of the Lysenko Higher Institute of Music; conducted choirs in Lviv, Stanyslaviv, Jarosław, and Vienna; and owned (1913–30) the musical publishing house Lira. From 1955 he taught music theory at the Buffalo branch of the Ukrainian Music Institute of America. Zalesky’s writings include the pioneering Pohliad na istoriiu ukraïns'koï muzyky (A Look at the History of Ukrainian Music, 1916), Muzychnyi slovnyk (A Music Dictionary, 1925), Korotkyi narys istoriï ukraïns'koï muzyky (A Small Sketch of the History of Ukrainian Music, 1951), Zahal'ni osnovy muzychnoho znannia (General Principles of Musical Knowledge, 1958), and Mala ukraïns'ka muzychna entsyklopediia (A Concise Ukrainian Music Encyclopedia, 1971). He also composed choral music, art songs, and piano miniatures.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]