Ivan Franko and Drohobych: musical ”scenes” of the city in the 1860s-1870s (19th century)

Іван Франко і Дрогобич: музичні „образки” міста 1860–1870 років ХІХ ст.

Abstract

Ivan Franko studied in Drohobych at the main (normal) school of the Basilian Fathers of the Holy Trinity Church and the Franz Joseph Higher Gymnasium. He left a number of autobiographical works about these educational institutions, including A Mustard Seed, The Ruthenians, Memories from My Gymnasium Days, A Report on the Drohobych Gymnasium, The Student Library in Drohobych and others. Scattered information about the singing groups in these schools can be found not only in the aforementioned works but also in the memories of Franko’s contemporaries. These sources speak of the musicality of Ukrainian students, their interest in singing, and the promotion of Ukrainian choral repertoire. The gymnasium students organized singing sessions during breaks and formed school choirs, led by the most talented among them. These choirs participated in events organized both at the schools and in the region. Their performances contributed to the cultural uplift of the school youth and the Ukrainian population, while their repertoire (folk songs and original compositions) fostered national consciousness in the context of statelessness, shaping their spiritual needs. The strict discipline in the schools did not satisfy the students, so music-making in the singing groups became a source of true solace for them. Thus, we can assert that the foundations for the development of Drohobych’s musical culture in the first third of the 20th century were partly laid by the spontaneous and permanent choral groups of the main (normal) school of the Basilian Fathers and the Franz Joseph Gymnasium, in which Ivan Franko played an active role.