The Bortniansky Concertos: A Collectors’ Classic Returns

In 1987, Maestro Wolodymyr Kolesnyk realized one of his life’s goals with the completion of the recording of composer Dmytro Bortniansky’s 35 choral concertos. The recordings met with critical and popular acclaim, and Kolesnyk’s purpose-assembled Millennium Choir, featuring some of the finest voices in North America, presented the concertos in two phases during concerts at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall in 1985 and 1987. These concerts marked the first time in the history of Ukrainian musical performance that all 35 of Dmytro Bortniansky’s religious concertos for the choir were performed in the order the composer had set during his lifetime, and according to the original score. 

Only 50 boxed sets of Dmytro Bortniansky 35 Sacred Choral Concertos are available for purchase. Click here for details, and read the compelling story of Dmytro Bortniansky, Wolodymyr Kolesnyk, and a recording project with roots that reach back to Kyivan Prince Volodymyr the Great and St. Andrew the Apostle. 

According to early Christian legends, nearly 2,000 years ago, St. Andrew the Apostle stood near the site where Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, now lies and said, “Do you see these hills? The favour of God shall shine upon them and at this place, a great city shall be built, and by God’s will, many churches shall be built within it.” 

In 988 AD, Kyivan Prince Volodymyr the Great accepted Christianity as the official religion of his realm. This was the deliberate act of a monarch setting a new historical course for his kingdom and an extraordinary event in the history of world culture.

In 1751, Dmytro Bortniansky was born in Hlukhiv in the province of Chernihiv, Ukraine. His exceptional music talents were soon recognized and at the age of seven, he was sent to St. Petersburg to sing with the Imperial Chapel Choir. At the age of eleven, he began his studies of music theory, harmony, and the art of the harpsichord. As a composer, Bortniansky created an entire epoch in Ukrainian choral music with original compositions constructed on a foundation of national Ukrainian melodic principles. His sacred choral concertos were large, cyclical works in his own unique style – characterized by a natural simplicity, brightness and harmony, a rare melodiousness, and deep emotional expression.

In 1928, Wolodymyr Kolesnyk – former principal choirmaster, conductor, artistic director, and director of one of the largest theatres in the world, the Taras Shevchenko State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Kyiv, Ukraine – was born in Dnipropetrovsk. In 1973, after a musical career that saw him named “Distinguished Artist of the State,” Maestro Kolesnyk continued his work outside the Soviet Union, in Australia and the United States. Once in Canada, he staged the operas Kupalo, Zaporozhets’ za Dunaiem, and Natalka Poltavka with the Canadian Ukrainian Opera Association. His career included numerous concert appearances with symphony orchestras in prestigious concert halls in Toronto, Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, and Ottawa, and in New York, Chicago, and Cleveland.

To achieve a goal he had set for himself – to return the spiritual legacy of Dmytro Bortniansky to his people by recording and releasing Bortniansky’s 35 choral concertos – Kolesnyk formed the Ukraine Millennium Foundation, located the originals of Bortniansky’s works in the British Museum in London, assembled the Millennium Choir (300 singers competed for some 47 voice parts), and learned and explored the poetic and musical texts with successful choir members from across North America, half of whom were not of Ukrainian descent. A rigorous schedule of weekly rehearsals encompassing six centres was implemented. In the west, these were led by assistant chorusmaster Maria Dytyniak, and in the east, by Maestro Kolesnyk.

By June of 1985, the preparatory work was completed. The entire choir assembled in Ancaster, Ontario, for three weeks of gruelling work to polish the ensemble sound. The recording of the first 18 concertos took place in the Gothic Church of Our Lady Immaculate in Guelph, Ontario, a site chosen for its acoustic splendour, long reverberations time, and very even fall-off of sound. Phase 1 of the Bortniansky Project culminated in a grand concert at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto on July 28, 1985 

Phase 1 met with tremendous critical and popular acclaim. Work continued throughout 1986 and 1987 to prepare concertos 19 through 35. Structural demands of the latter concertos necessitated a readjustment of the choral instrument. Regional auditions were held, and another rigorous schedule of regional rehearsals culminated in July of 1987 when the entire 50-member choir assembled in Guelph to record concertos 19 to 35. A concert at Roy Thomson Hall on July 26, 1987, marked the completion of Phase 11 of the Bortniansky Project.

The concerts at Roy Thomson Hall marked the first time in the history of Ukrainian musical performance that all 35 of Dmytro Bortniansky’s religious concertos for the choir were performed in the order the composer had set during his lifetime, and according to the original score.

(With text from the Dmytro Bortniansky 35 Sacred Choral Concertos booklet. Contributors: Andrew Gregorovich, Wolodymyr Kolesnyk, Marie Lesoway, Mykhailo Tkach, Bohdan Tkachenko.)