In memory of Tamara Veske: three portraits in the Réminiscences genre

Abstract

Statement of the problem. The relevance of the presented research is attributed to the introduction of little-known pages of the life of the outstanding vocal teacher, Honoured Artist of Ukraine, Professor Tamara Yakivvna Veske (1914–2005) into the musicological context, their systematisation and problematisation. The purpose of the research is to determine the system of hypostases in which the personality of the legendary vocal teacher manifested itself and to reveal the specifics of her starry path to the top of the profession by creating three portraits of T. Veske in the genre of Réminiscences. An innovative element of the research is the involvement of “acme”-methodology in the development of the aforementioned system, which made it possible to consider the creative personality of T. Veske as universal. The study of the creative path of the outstanding vocal teacher required a combination of historical, biographical, reminiscence (Zolotaryova, 2013) research methods (the latter was used due to the analysis and systematisation of T. Veske’s oral memoirs), as well as the postulates of the theory of age musicology (Savytska, 2008), acme-methodology, in particular, the acme-centred approach (Roschenko, 2013, 2019, 2021) and the concept of activity universalism (Komenda, 2020). Results and conclusion. The results of the study are in the determination of the specifics of T. Veske’s path to the “acme” stage, the analysis of the elements of her methodology for teaching singing, and defining of the facets of the universalism of her creative personality. The conclusion emphasises that the personality of T. Veske combined such different hypostases (a scientist-pharmacist, a woman warrior, a singer and vocal teacher, a skilful leader), realised in her work as a research scientist, a war heroine and an artist, that there would be enough of them for more than one human life. At different stages of her life, she demonstrated many talents, consistently giving preference to a certain field of activity in order to focus on overcoming other peaks and tasks set by fate. As a teacher, T. Veske devoted all her universal talents to the service of vocal art, developing a unique teaching methodology based on a purely individual approach to the student and “following” the properties of their voice in order to fully reveal them. The artist’s path, steadily gravitating towards the starry heights, reflected the versatility of her creative nature as a summa summarum; her talents while interacting contributed to the improvement of the inner and outer beauty of her truly Renaissance personality.