Maksym Berezovsky is the short, tragic genius of Ukrainian music. By tradition he is believed to have been born in Hlukhiv and to have studied at the Hlukhiv choral school. From his youth he performed as a soloist in the Imperial Court Chapel. His remarkable gifts drew the attention of Catherine II, who sent him to study in Italy.
At the Bologna Accademia Filarmonica Berezovsky became one of the first non-Italians elected to membership (1771) — after an examination requiring him to compose a complex fugal exercise. Returning to the imperial capital, he could not find a post worthy of his talent; he died in poverty at age 31 (some sources suggest suicide). His legacy: the opera Demofonte, sacred concertos (most famously “Cast me not off in the time of old age”), and choral works. Berezovsky stands as a symbol of the “lost generation” of talents from the Ukrainian Hetmanate.
