Klebanov the brilliant young idealist, at Kharkiv University of Art, Music and Drama, where he graduated at 19.
Happy Holidays to all, Happy Chanukah! We’ll return to our regular schedule with Bernstein in January. This month we are honoring a great Jewish-Ukrainian composer whose music was suppressed during his lifetime, in particular his 1st Symphony in memoriam of the Babyn Yar Massacre of Ukrainian Jewish, Romani and Sinti families near Kiev. It just had its first American Premiere in Modesto, California which is its first World Premiere outside of Ukraine. A profound, deeply moving work by a Ukrainian native of Kharkiv, whose family suffered under both the Nazis and the Stalinists, before, during and after WWII. Slava Ukraini!
Nota Bene: Not to be confused with Shostakovich's much later Symphonic Oratorio, Opus 113, sometimes also called the Babi Yar Symphony, erroneously: Shostakovich never called it that, and it has considerable singing parts set to poetry by the dissident Yevtushenko, so it's more of an Oratorio than a symphony. The poetry addresses Antisemitism in general, not just Babi Yar in the first movement. The other movements take subtle shots at Soviet propaganda and bureaucracy. Written 20 years after Klebanov's censored masterpiece, it was definitely a tribute as they were friends and colleagues. But a different work entirely.
Dmytro Lvovych Klebanov was born in Kharkiv in 1907. A child prodigy on the violin, he later graduated from, and became Professor at the Kharkiv University of Music and Drama. The staff was evacuated just ahead of the German invasion, but Klebanov returned after the Kharkiv and Kursk offensives of 1943, when Kiev was liberated. He became head of the Composing Dept. at Kharkiv University after the war, but was stripped of all his posts after writing and dedicating his 1st Symphony and premiering it in 1947, and also because of his String Quartet No. 4 in honor of Mykola Leontovych (see below), a Classical Ukrainian composer who had been condemned by Stalin’s Chekists.
Klebanov's impetus for starting the symphony was the death of his brother in the war, for which he began a few sketches. After he returned in '43 and learned of the massacre by the Nazis of over 100,000 Ukrainian Jews, Romani, Sinti, and Russian Jews and perceived dissidents, at the Babi Yar Ravine near Kiev, he recast it as an elegy for Ukrainian victims of the Holocaust. Finishing the broad outline by '45, he fleshed out the orchestration and organized a premiere in Kiev in 1947, which was very well-received by the music community and the Ukrainian audience. Unfortunately Soviet censors labelled it 'Bourgeois Cosmopolitanism' because the dedication focused on the primarily Jewish victims, and wasn't a Soviet Propaganda memorial to monolithic Russian heroism as required by Stalin. Also condemned was the composer's use of Ukrainian-Jewish folk melodies instead of Russian ones ('Cosmopolitan' was a Soviet dog-whistle for Jewish). The result was Klebanov was suppressed, stripped of his posts, and barely saved from the Gulag by his wife's connections (her father was Dean of the University).
Here's a brief introduction by the conductor of the Modesto, CA Symphony, who just premiered this piece in the US:
Nicholas Hersh, Conductor and Music Director of the Modesto Symphony, explains the historical-musical background of this great work. We don't have a free recording of his performance yet, but here's another fine recording of Klebanov's First:
Symphony No. 1 In Memoriam to the Victims of Babyn Yar. For decades we only had this old recording from the first premiere; it's actually pretty good, but not the final version. In 2024, the music community in Ukraine was able to fully resurrect Klebanov’s work of genius using the original manuscript, along with several changes to the score made by the composer after its first premiere (of 1947). Here is the brilliant result:
Babyn Yar Memorial government website explains the Ukrainian resurrection of this musical masterpiece. babynyar.gov.ua/...
1. Allegro Moderato 2. Scherzo 3. Funeral March 4. Finale. A deeply moving, dramatic and tragic symphony using Classical Sonata-Allegro Form, with thematic connections between the movements. Klebanov was a big fan of Beethoven, and there are a couple sly quotations: the descending 4ths of the opening Sonata-Allegro recall Beethoven's 9th. And right before the shofar melody enters in the Finale, there's a very brief quote of the dot-dot-dot-dash theme of Beethoven's 5th, which was a symbol for Allied victory in WWII.
Here is the fine piece that first brought Klebanov to Conductor Hersh’s attention, his lovely String Quartet No. 4 dedicated to Mykola Leontovych who composed the Ukrainian National Song, Shchedryk known here in the US as ‘Carol of the Bells’ (re-arranged in English by a Ukrainian-American composer). Anyway the Quartet No. 4 quotes the old folk song briefly at the start, then develops some dynamic variations all based on its motif:
If you view on YouTube and click on the beginning of each movement in the drop-down menu, you will hear definite Variations on the original Shchedryk Motif, which is then developed with a different character in each number. Very clever and beautiful counterpoint, Leontovych would approve — he was known as “the Ukrainian Bach.” He specialized in contrapuntal choral music, see his own lovely voice-leading in Shchedryk below. He was murdered by one of Stalin’s Chekist agents after returning from a successful European tour and acclaim in the Paris Salons, presumably for being too 'bourgeois'.
(‘Shchedryk’ refers to a bird of good fortune that enters the house during Ukrainian New Year, to bless the family and fields. Leontovych’s composition is a cappella counterpoint of a high order.)
Had he not been suppressed, Klebanov would have been a famous Ukrainian composer of the 20th century. His wife’s intervention as a government bureaucrat saved him, barely, and he was later pardoned by Khrushchev in the 1960s and regained his post. Khrushchev has been criticized for his Ukrainian sympathies by Putin and his vatniks. Here are some more fine pieces by Klebanov:
Four Preludes and Fugues for Orchestra - very original and very good counterpoint - celesta mixed with brass in the 1st Fugue, very cool!
a) Prelude and Fugue No. 1 b) Prelude and Fugue No. 2 [6:47] c) Prelude and Fugue No. 3 [10:10] d) Prelude and Fugue No. 4 [18:40]. These are all immediately likable from the first Prelude, and are tonal but modern in a similar vein as Shostakovich and Prokofiev. Klebanov was a friend and mentor to the younger Shostakovich, whose Symphonic Ode No. 13 (aka 'Babi Yar') evidently was a veiled tribute to his censored friend.
It’s high time to rediscover and celebrate this great Ukrainian composer, even as his hometown of Kharkiv is once again fighting for its life.
Here is his masterful Symphony No. 3 with beautiful string passages in this old Ukrainian recording (1959). Some late Romantic language and chromaticism, but also traditional and beautiful harmonies; just gorgeous chord progressions peep out of the high drama:
1. Allegro 2. Lento 3. Scherzando 4. Maestoso Recitativo : Each movement conjures up its own unique charm and all display highly gifted orchestration, well worth listening (view in YouTube to explore the movements. Or listen to the whole thing, it’s a masterwork. First movement is a fine Sonata-Allegro Form of course, with dramatic development and just lovely chords in the quiet sections. The Finale is triumphant and sublime.)
For sheer fun, here’s the Scherzo from his Piano Trio No. 2 performed at the Royal Conservatory UK:
Wonderful Neoclassical harmonies, sometimes almost Jazz-Like, but quite tonal with Latin-sounding chord progressions and a Malaguena-type rhythm. The strings are lyrical and inspired, and the piano part alone rocks!
Here’s something a little more modern, Suite for String Orchestra (1975), not unlike Copland. It’s immediately appealing and the Fugues are highly skilled. All movements are inspired, sometimes a little abstract but never atonal:
1. Prelude 2. Nocturne 3. Fugue 4. Metelytsia 5. Fugue (Metelytsia literally means “snow flurry” in Ukrainian and is the name of a popular, fast folk dance.) These are just amazing pieces, fully in the modern idiom of polytonality but very likable, with quite skillful and beautiful counterpoint. All of Klebanov’s work richly deserves to become part of our Modern Classical repertoire.
Slava Ukraini!
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Shabbat Shalom
