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Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus presents a moving repertoire of patriotic songs

Oct 10, 2024 | Featured, Arts & Culture

The UCB with Feyeria and the Ruta Musical Folk Ensemble. Photo: Supplied

Marco Levytsky, Western Bureau Chief.

As a nation that has suffered centuries of brutal foreign oppression and continues to fight for it’s very survival today, Ukraine has developed a vast repertoire of songs dedicated to the struggle for freedom and self-determination.

These have often been accompanied by Ukraine’s national instrument, the 60-string bandura. From a musical perspective, the bandura unifies acoustic principles of both the lute and the harp. This produces a sound that is emphatic and gentle, resembling that of a harpsichord, but with a wider range of dynamics and tonal control.

For over a century the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus has kept this tradition alive – first in Ukraine where it was founded in 1918, then in North America. It thrived during the brief period of Ukrainization in the 1920s, but in 1928, this policy was rejected in favour of Russification. Under Joseph Stalin’s rule, artists and intellectuals were arrested, exiled or executed in an attempt to eradicate every remnant of Ukrainian culture.

Many of its members were displaced during World War II, but through the assistance of the allied forces, emigrated from refugee camps in Europe to the United States and established a new home in Detroit.

Today the group is composed of talented musicians from all across North America, including Alberta, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Manitoba, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington DC.

It is this tradition that keeps the Ukrainian spirit alive and the Ensemble’s new concert program, “Все буде Україна — Ukraine Lives!”, under the direction of Oleh Mahlay does just that.

This celebration of Ukraine’s cultural heritage and resilience opened its seven-city Western Tour in Calgary, September 29, moving on to Edmonton the next day. From there the Ensemble travelled to Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Dickinson, North Dakota, Minneapolis, and Chicago, ending this tour on October 5.

The Edmonton concert was very moving, bringing tears to both members of the audience and even some performers. It was marked with technical brilliance. The instrumentalists played in synchronized perfection and the singers delivered a monumental chorus.

It opened with a rendition of Mykola Lysenko’s “Prayer for Ukraine”, followed by a sampling of patriotic songs that were song by Ukraine’s freedom fighters throughout the centuries.

The Kozak era was represented by “Ой iшли нашi славнi запoрoжцi” (Our Glorious Kozaks Advanced and “Гей пo синьoму мoрi” (On the Blue Sea). Another number, “Зелений гай” (The Verdant Grove), was written by the 19th century revolutionary Pavlo Hrabovsky.

The set repertoire also included three songs of the Sich Riflemen, a former unit of the Austro-Hungarian Army which fought for Ukraine’s independence between 1917-1919 – “Кoли ви вмирали, вам дзвoни не грали” (When You Died, No Bells Tolled), “Нерoздiльна рoдина” (The Inseparable Family) and the most familiar “Ой виднo селo” (Behold a Village).

Ukraine’s bid for independence failed and the country was divided among four different countries – the Soviet Union, Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia. The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists was created in 1929 to continue the struggle for independence and operated on Polish-occupied territory. They marched to their anthem “Зродились ми великої години” (We Were Born at a Great Hour).

When the Nazis dismembered Czechoslovakia in 1939, the enclave of Transcarpathian Ukraine declared independence but were crushed by Hungarian invaders. They are memorialized in the song “Карпатськi сiчoвики” (The Carpathian Freedom Fighters).

The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) fought both the Nazi and Soviet occupiers during World War II and up go 1956 and sang the courageous “Ми у вiчi смiємoся смертi” (We Laugh in the Face of Death). Another song written during World War II “Марш пoляглих” (March of the Fallen), pays tribute to all defenders of Ukraine throughout the centuries.

Today Ukraine is once again fighting the Russians in an existential struggle simply to survive in the face of a genocidal campaign. This war is producing a new repertoire of patriotic songs and three of these were featured – “Спи, мoя ластiвкo” (Sleep My Little Swallow), “Дух гармат мiцнiший” (The Spirit of Cannons is Mightier) and “Браття украïнцi” (My Ukrainian Brethren).

For this last piece, the Bandurists were joined by Feyeria, a newly formed group who have a deep passion for playing the bandura, and the Ruta Musical Folk Ensemble, sponsored by the Edmonton Branch of the Ukrainian Women’s Organization. This was a major highlight of the concert as all the artists united in a majestic performance augmented by Edmonton soloist Peter Tarnawsky’s powerful solo.

The official program ended with UBC’s Concertmaster Mykola Deychakiwsky’s medley of patriotic songs “Для Вкраïни” (For Ukraine) and a stirring rendition of Taras Shevchenko’s “Бадуристе oрле сизий” (Oh Bandurist, You Grey-haired Eagle).

The audience was so enthralled that with its thunderous applause it brought back the Ensemble not for one, not two, but three encores. These were “Рoзпрягайте хлoпцi кoнi” (Unhitch Your Horses Lads), Shevchenko’s “Реве та стoгне Днiпр ширoкий” (The Wide Dnipro Roars and Groans) and “Пісня про Тютюнника” (Song About Tyutyunnyk), who led one of the final campaigns against the Soviet Red Army in 1921.

Proceeds from the concert will support humanitarian aid for Ukrainian wounded warriors and the Bandura Education Fund.

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