Filaret Kolessa is the scholar who laid the foundations of Ukrainian musical folkloristics as a science. In the early 20th century, using a phonograph, he recorded and meticulously transcribed the dumy in the living performance of the last kobzars and lirnyks — a priceless source that saved this unique epic tradition for posterity.
Kolessa collected and systematised thousands of folk songs, studying their melody, rhythm, and the bond of word and music, proving the deep originality of the Ukrainian melos. He was an academician, the author of fundamental works, and also a composer. His scholarly legacy became the foundation on which all later generations of Ukrainian folklorists grew; thanks to Kolessa, the voice of the kobzar epic still sounds for us today.
