Ivan Karabyts

Ivan Fedorovych Karabyts (Іван Федорович Карабиць; January 17, 1945 – January 20, 2002) was a Ukrainian composer and conductor, and a People's Artist of Ukraine.

Most of the early works were chamber works, some of them in neofolk style, including "Three songs on folk texts" for voice and piano (1969), "Songs by Yavdokha Zuikha" for voice, flute and viola, and "Music" for solo violin (1974).

In the 1970's and 80's, Karabyts was attracted to large-scale musical productions.

Symphonic and vocal-symphonic genres predominate (such as the oratorio "Kyiv Frescoes" and three concerts for orchestra), as well as philosophical and civic themes (including themes of the Motherland, memory, moral duty).

Karabyts' vocal-symphonic works tend to conceptual concreteness, entertainment, achieved by dramaturgical functions of the narrator, independent and rather active role of the poetic component, program accuracy of musical expression, genre associativity, timbre dramaturgy, etc.

The universality of the musical language of the works of his next period was determined by the synthesis of various elements of modern compositional techniques (such as pointillism, aleatorics, sonoristics) in combination with new tonal and new modal pitch organization, intersection of different stylistic tendencies (neoclassicism, neo-baroque, neo-impressionism, jazz).

In the figurative sphere, the tragic is intensified and the theme of repentance is actualized (Concerto 3 "Lamentation", Concert-triptych for orchestra), the pantheistic theme sounded in a new way («Music from Waterside»).

In a letter to Virko Baley, Ivan Karabits described his own style as follows:

"In Soviet times, we received a basic education, but we were not sufficiently informed about what was going on in the multifaceted music world.... My music [is] characterized by a desire to synthesize different musical sources...Mahler, Lyatoshynsky, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, [are some who] influence my music.... I consider the most important of my works [to be]: Concerto for choir and orchestra “Garden of Divine Songs”; Symphony "5 songs about Ukraine", 2nd concert for orchestra, 3rd concert for orchestra; Symphony for strings"

He was born in village Yalta in the Donetsk region of the Ukraine, and graduated from the Kyiv Conservatory in 1971, where he studied under Borys Lyatoshynsky and Myroslav Skoryk.

Karabyts conducted the Dance Ensemble of the Kyiv Military District and the Kyiv Camerata.

He also taught at the Kyiv Conservatory.

Ivan Karabyts wrote works for solo piano, orchestra, voice, piano, and voice, as well as different combinations of instruments.

His works have been performed throughout the nations of the former Soviet Union, many European nations, and the United States.

He died in Kyiv, aged 57.

His son is the conductor Kirill Karabits.

L. Kyyanovska maintained that all of the composers who influenced Karabyts' music were united by passion and a willingness to confront the officially accepted canons of art.

Nevertheless, Karabyts' teacher Borys Lyatoshynsky had a noticeable influence on his music, as well as a group of like-minded students including V. Silvestrov, L. Grabovsky, V. Godziatsky, V. Guba, E. Stankovych, and O. Kiva.

O. Beregova considered that Karabyts' work showed the breadth and universality of creative thinking and an innovative approach to traditional musical genres and forms.

Early works by Karabyts are distinguished by the expressiveness of musical language and the search for individual style and the composer's liberal use of dodecaphony.