Porfyrii Bazhansky

Porfyrii Bazhansky [Порфирій Бажанський], (b. February 24, 1836, in Beleluia, Sniatyn, Halychyna, Ukraine; d. December 29, 1920, in Lviv, Ukraine). Self-taught composer, folklorist, music theorist, and Ukrainian Catholic priest. He received his musical training at the Greek Catholic Theological Seminary in Lviv.  Among his compositions are folk operas, church music, and two song collections: Galician-Bukovynian and Ruthenian-Galician Folk Melodies. In his church music, Bazhansky used the notes of the “gamut,” the archaic liturgical scale first described by the 17th century theoretician, composer, and pedagogue Mykola Dyletsky. Bazhansky died in 1920, and is buried in Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv.