Treasures of Ukrainian Folk Music. Traditional Songs and Instrumental Music of the Left-Bank of Kyiv Region
Treasures of Ukrainian Folk Music. Traditional Songs and Instrumental Music of the Left-Bank of Kyiv Region
folk music, Ukrainian folk music, Ukrainian music, folk songs, instrumental music, instrumental dance music, world music, eastern European music, folklore
ukraine, ukrainians, village music, village band, field recording
choral music, choral music sacred, choral hymns
medieval music, bizantine chant, ukraine, ukrainian folk songs, ukrainian christmas ukrainian folk music, ukrainian dance music russian folk music, russian folk songs, russian
This album represent musical tradition of Left-bank Ukraine. The records were made in the villages, situated in the basin of the Supiy river, a tributary of the Dnieper. The musical folklore of the left-bank Kyiv region was formed under the considerable influence of original historic-social processes that took place here. After the Tartar-Mongolian invasion in the 13th century and further devastation, caused by frequent Tartar raids, the free lands began to populate again little by little. From the middle of the 17th century Yagotin and Basan' Cossack squadrons of Peresliv regiment (military alignments, arisen in the war against Rzeczpospolita) quartered here in a number of villages. After the war - from 1667 - left-bank Ukraine became a part of Russian empire and this affected largely the lexis, the set of musical instruments, the repertoire of songs and dances. Three songs represent ritual melodies of an agricultural calendar. They are - New Year carol (1), that accomplished a Christmas ritual of visiting the peasant homesteads, "kupalska" (6), that used to be performed near ritual fire "Kupaylo" on "The John's night", and a reaper's song (22), which sounded right in a field. Wedding songs constitute a considerable part of a repertoire of rural singing circles. Even nowadays we can hear them during rituals "Korovay" ("The Loaf) (2, 29), "Divych-vechir" (20), "Divuvannia" (6, 14). Undoubtedly, the limited scale and so-called "hukannia" ("exclaiming") preserved in wedding songs until now are backwashes of the pagan archaism, which is more common in the north of Ukraine. Instrumental music of the region is represented mostly by social dances (4, 10, 17, 27). Traditional Ukrainian dances coexisted with the dances of different ethnic origin and until recently they were an integral part of peasants' life.