December 2025
Mykola Leontovych (1877-1921) lived in Ukraine. His parents loved music and were singers. His father directed the school choir and was Mykola’s first music teacher. He also became a good singer and could play the violin, flute and harmonium (a type of organ).
His grandfather and father were priests in the Orthodox Church. Mykola went to seminary to become a priest too. When he graduated he decided to become a teacher. His first job was teaching secondary (high school) students math and singing. He decided that wasn’t a good fit, so he taught college students church music and calligraphy instead. He married Claudia Feropontovna Zholtkevych and they had two daughters: Halyna and Yevheniya. They needed more money so he took a position teaching at Church-Educators College.
When Mykola was a young man, Ukraine was ruled by the communist Russian Bolsheviks. Their leader was Vladimir Lenin. He was very cruel. He took away people’s rights including the right to own land. Tens of thousands of people who disagreed with his policies were put in jail or were killed. Mykola Leontovych stood up for the rights of Ukrainians. He organized a choir that sang at anti-Bolshevik rallies. Lenin’s police started watching him closely and made him move to a small town, Tulchyn, where he would not cause any trouble. There he taught at Eparchy Womens College. He liked to compose a cappella choral music. “A cappella” means singing without instrument accompaniment, only voices.
In 1914 Mykola wrote this famous melody (Carol of the Bells). It’s original title was “Shchedryk.” It was a New Years song about a little bird that flew into people’s homes and told them that the future looked bright. This song was quite popular in Ukraine and eventually was performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City where Peter Wilhousky heard it.
In 1921, a secret agent for Lenin shot Mykola. Sadly he died from his injuries.
His music would live on though. Mr. Wilhousky loved his composition. In 1936, he transformed it into a Christmas carol, giving it new lyrics (words) and a new title.
*Information from “Ukrainianworldcongress.org,” & “Wikipedia”
November 2025
This month we are practicing our feedback skills before our performance workshop. If you are Level One or higher please challenge yourselves to write specific comments on your feedback sheet. Find things you like about her performance and things she can work on. We do this ALL THE TIME in lessons. You’re getting quite good at it! Some examples of comments you might write are:
- Sometimes your beat was steady
- Look at the audience and smile before and after bowing
- Great contrasts in dynamics
- Remember to do a cat back at the end
Smiley faces are fine for students in MFPA or Primer levels. 🙂
October 2025
The Wild Horseman, Op. 68, No. 8
performed by Dr. Alan Huckleberry
German composer, Robert Schumann (1810-1856) was born the same year as Frederic Chopin. He started playing piano at age 6. When he grew up his family wanted him to become a lawyer. Instead of studying Robert decided to improvise at the piano, write songs and fiction novels! In 1828 he dropped out of the university and moved into his piano teacher’s house. Friedrich Wieck had a very gifted and hard working daughter named Clara. (Of course she was her father’s favorite piano student!)
Robert Schumann dreamed of becoming an incredible pianist, but sadly he hurt the third finger on his right hand. It never healed properly and he was not able to achieve his goals. Instead he focused his time and energy on composing music and writing about music. In 1834, Robert and some friends started a music paper called the New Journal for Music.
Schumann wanted to marry Clara Wieck, but her father did not think that was a good idea. After many years passed, they eventually were married. That year, he composed nearly 140 songs. Clara asked him to compose a symphony and he did! Clara was a very successful pianist and Robert traveled with her to Russia for her concert tour. This was hard for him because she was living his dream (and he was not). In addition to this, Robert had to overcome a lot of mental health challenges and depression. He persevered and even tried a new career. He conducted an orchestra for awhile but realized that he was a better composer. Later in life he and Clara gave Johannes Brahms some composition lessons!
Robert Schumann’s most famous pieces are “Traumerei” (Dreaming), “Carnaval”, Piano Quartet in Eb, Symphonic Etudes, and a collection (cycle) of songs called “Dichterliebe” (Poet’s Love). He mostly belonged to the Programmatic music team (see September Listening Log below). The titles of many of his piano works are imaginative and guide the listener in experiencing his music.
*Information from “Britannica.com,” & “NPR.org”
September 2025
performed by American pianist Garrick Ohlsson
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) is one of the most important composers of the Romantic Period (1810-1900). He mainly wrote pieces for the piano but he did write some Polish songs too. As an adult Frederic lived in France, but he was born in Poland. As a young child he enjoyed listening to his mother and older sister play the piano. He tried to copy them and by age six he was composing his own pieces!
Chopin had his own distinct style. His teachers recognized his artistry and creativity and encouraged him to continue developing his own approach to composition and piano technique. Frederic composed many types of piano pieces. Here are few examples:
Mazurka – energetic Polish dance in 3/4 time, sometimes accenting a weak beat (2 or 3).
Polonaise – stately Polish dance in 3/4 time
Prelude – These are some of Chopin’s shorter works. He wrote one in every key (scale), major and minor. Some say they were inspired by J. S. Bach’s “Well-Tempered Klavier” which also had a piece in every key!
Nocturne – pieces that have a singing-style melody for the right hand with tasteful ornamentation, and broken chords for the left hand
The video for this month’s listening log is one of Chopin’s nocturnes. Listen for the singing melody in the right hand with all it’s beautiful turns, grace notes, trills and grouplets. Garrick Ohlsson’s artistry is on full display. You’ll hear how he balances the melody with the harmony notes and plays with the tempo (rubato).
There are two teams of composers: “Absolute Music” and “Programmatic Music.” Franz Liszt and Felix Mendelssohn liked to write music with imaginative titles that guide listeners in how they experience the pieces. For example Lizst wrote “Liebesträume” (Love’s Dream). They were for programmatic music. Chopin was on team “Absolute Music” and preferred titles that indicated the genre or type of music they belong to (like mazurka or prelude). I think Chopin thought that imaginative titles were limiting.
Which team are you on, “Programmatic Music,” “Absolute Music” or maybe both! 🙂
*Information from “Britannica.com,” “Wikipedia.com” & ” polishmusic.usc.edu/research/dances”