20/02/1888, Tarnopol, Russia - 09/06/1963, Lvov, USSR
Soviet Ukranian composer, musicologist, pianist and pedagogue. He studied musicology with Zdenek Nejedly and composition with Vitezslav Novak in Prague. A prolific organizer, he initiated and took part in many musical activities in Lvov. From 1915 to 1939 he taught and was director of the Lysenko Music Insitiute, in 1939-41, 1944-48 he taught at Lvov conservatory. In 1934 he helped to organize and later presided over (1936-39) the Union of Ukranian Professional Musicians. He was later arrested (in 1947) under false pretenses and spent 10 years in Mordovian labour camps. He was rehabilitated posthumously in 1964. Barvinsky's main contribution as composer lies in the area of chamber music, a genre he introduced to the Ukranian music in the 1920-30s. He was also the first Western Ukranian composer to write a purely orchestral work, the Ukranian Rhapsody.
