Ukrainian folk music
Encyclopedia
Ukrainian folk music includes a number of varieties of ethnic (traditional), folkloric
, folk inspired popular
and folk inspired classical traditions.
In the 20th century numerous ethnographic and folkloric ensembles were established in Ukraine and gained popularity.
During the Soviet
era, music was tightly controlled commodity and was used as a tool for the ideological shaping of the population. As a result the repertoire of Ukrainian folk music performers and ensembles was tightly controlled and restricted.
Among the most popular exponents of traditional Ukrainian folk singing in the modern era are Nina Matvienko and Raissa Kyrychenko.
It was supported in the Soviet period in opposition to church music, as village song was viewed by the authorities as being more proletarian.
In recent times (post 1980s) there is a movement toward authentic ensemble singing particularly in eastern Ukraine with the establishment of various ensembles and festivals there focusing on this style of music. Notable groups who perform in this tradition are Zoloti kliuchi, Drevo and Muravsky shliakh.
Ethnographic ensembles became popular in the 20th century. These were often choirs often with orchestral accompaniment and sometimes a group of dancers. They originally performed works based on the ethnic folk music of the area, however over the past 40 years have become more academic regarding their performance style and material.
The most prominent professional groups are:
Regional groups include:
Characteristics of these choirs was the use of chest register singing (particularly in Eastern Ukraine) and the use of Ukrainian folk instruments in the accompanying orchestras.
, Borys Hmyria, Anatoliy Solovianenko
have also propagated the singing of Ukrainian folk songs and romances. In the United States Kvitka Cisyk
also promoted art song.
choral music was the only genre that was actively supported. As a result sacred choral music flowered in Ukraine and it became a prime provider of singers for the Russian courts and Russian orthodox cathedral choirs.
In the 20th century notable Ukrainian a cappella choirs have included the Ukrainian National Choir choir, Dumka (choir), Kiev frescoes and Boyan
which is the touring choir of the L. Revutsky Capella of Ukraine.
Notable choral conductors include Olexander Koshetz, Wolodymyr Kolesnyk, Nestor Horodovenko, Dmytro Kotko.
and bandura
.
The repertoire of these itinerant musicians differed considerably from that sung by the folk including the performance of dumy
(sung epic poems).
In the 20th century the vocal-instrumental tradition has grown into a movement where ensembles and whole choirs sing to their own accompaniment on these instruments. Notable examples include the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus
, The Canadian Bandurist Capella and the Kiev Bandurist Capella
.
The bulk of the ethnic Ukrainian population lived in village setting and did not share the urban culture of the city based elite that controlled the country. As a result traditional music village music encouraged and fostered.
and his publications starting in 1874 dealing with the bandura
and other Ukrainian folk instruments.
Further scholarship was undertaken in the early 20th century by enthno-musicologist Filaret Kolessa
and Klyment Kvitka. Publications in the new science of organology
were undertaken by Hnat Khotkevych
with his 1930 monograph "Musical instruments of the Ukrainian people" was banned by the Soviet authorities in 1934 because of it studied the phenomena of folk instruments from a national perspective.
After WWII scholarship was continued by Andriy Humeniuk who began the trend of mixing Soviet innovations in instrument construction and training with authentic instrumental music. This tendency was avoided by Sofia Hrytsa but became a feature of the publications of Victor Hutsal, Victor Mishalow
and the bulk of Soviet and post-Soviet scholarship.
In recent times this trend has taken an about-face with the publications by the ethomusicologist Mykhailo Khai of the early 21st century has clearly separated Ukrainian instrumental music into authentic and fakeloric instrumental music traditions.
Significant contributions to the study of Ukrainian organology and performance have been done by both Russian and Polish ethno-musicologists as Alexander Famintsyn and Stanislaw Mzrekowski.
have been introduced into North American culture as "Yes my darling daughter" (sung by Dinah Shaw).
composed by various Slavic composers such as Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky
and Dvořák
.
The use of folk melodies is especially encouraged in ballet
and opera
. Among the Ukrainian composers who often included Ukrainian folk themes in their music were Mykola Lysenko
, Lev Revutsky, Mykola Dremliuha, Yevhen Stankovych
, Myroslav Skoryk
.
Of the Ukrainian groups the longest surviving and most significant was the group known as Kobza.
is a folk
song of the 1960s written by Pete Seeger
and Joe Hickerson
. Seeger found inspiration for the song while on his way to a concert. Leafing through his notebook he saw the passage, "Where are the flowers, the girls have plucked them. Where are the girls, they've all taken husbands. Where are the men, they're all in the army." These lines were from a Ukrainian
and Cossack
folk song referenced in a novel by Mikhail Sholokhov
, And Quiet Flows the Don
. Seeger adapted it to a tune, a lumberjack version of "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill". With only three verses, he recorded it once in a medley
on a Rainbow Quest album and forgot about it. Joe Hickerson
later added verses four and five.
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, folk inspired popular
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
and folk inspired classical traditions.
In the 20th century numerous ethnographic and folkloric ensembles were established in Ukraine and gained popularity.
During the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
era, music was tightly controlled commodity and was used as a tool for the ideological shaping of the population. As a result the repertoire of Ukrainian folk music performers and ensembles was tightly controlled and restricted.
Authentic folk singing
Ukrainians, particularly in the Eastern Ukraine have fostered a peculiar style of singing which they call "bilyj holos" (literally - "white voice"). This type of singing primarily exploits the chest register and is akin to controlled screaming. The vocal range is restrictive and in a lower tessitura. In recent times vocal courses have been established to study this particular form of singing.Among the most popular exponents of traditional Ukrainian folk singing in the modern era are Nina Matvienko and Raissa Kyrychenko.
Authentic folk singing ensembles
Ensemble singing in 3 and occasionally 4 part harmony was one of the features of traditional village music in Ukraine. The multi-part singing used in Central Ukraine was thought to have been unique at the turn of the 19th century. Numerous folk choirs were established Okhmatinsky choir and studies published of the style of choral singing.It was supported in the Soviet period in opposition to church music, as village song was viewed by the authorities as being more proletarian.
In recent times (post 1980s) there is a movement toward authentic ensemble singing particularly in eastern Ukraine with the establishment of various ensembles and festivals there focusing on this style of music. Notable groups who perform in this tradition are Zoloti kliuchi, Drevo and Muravsky shliakh.
Folkloric ensembles
The first such ensemble in Ukraine was the Okhmatynsky village folk choir organized by Dr Mykola Demutsky in 1889.Ethnographic ensembles became popular in the 20th century. These were often choirs often with orchestral accompaniment and sometimes a group of dancers. They originally performed works based on the ethnic folk music of the area, however over the past 40 years have become more academic regarding their performance style and material.
The most prominent professional groups are:
- State Academic Merited Ukrainian Folk Choir named after Hryhory Veriovka (established 1943)
Regional groups include:
- VeselkaVeselkaVeselka is a 24-hour restaurant in New York City’s East Village. It was established in 1954 by post-World War II Ukrainian refugees Wolodymyr and Olha Darmochawal and is one of the last of the many Slavic restaurants that once proliferated the neighborhood. A cookbook, published in October, 2009 by...
- (now known as Poltava) (est. 1987, PoltavaPoltavaPoltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
) - Donbas - merited miners ensemble of song and dance (est. 1937 DonetskDonetskDonetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...
) - Podolianka - ensemble of song and dance (est. 1938 Khmelnytsk)
- Bukovyna merited ensemble of song and dance (est. 1944, ChernivtsiChernivtsiChernivtsi is the administrative center of Chernivtsi Oblast in southwestern Ukraine. The city is situated on the upper course of the River Prut, a tributary of the Danube, in the northern part of the historic region of Bukovina, which is currently divided between Romania and Ukraine...
) - Transcarpathian merited folk choir (est. 1945, (UzhhorodUzhhorodUzhhorod or Uzhgorod is a city located in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. It is the administrative center of the Zakarpattia Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Uzhhorodskyi Raion within the oblast...
) - VerkhovynaVerkhovynaVerkhovyna is a town located in the western Ukrainian oblast of Ivano-Frankivsk. Originally established as Żabie in 1424. The city is located in the Hutsul region of Carpathian Mountains called Pokuttya, upon the Cheremosh River, a tributary of the Prut. Verkhovyna is currently an important...
- merited Carpathian ensemble of song and dance (est. 1946, DrohobychDrohobychDrohobych is a city located at the confluence of the Tysmenytsia River and Seret, a tributary of the former, in the Lviv Oblast , in western Ukraine...
) - Lionok - Polissia ensemble of song and dance (est. 1970, ZhytomyrZhytomyrZhytomyr is a city in the North of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zhytomyr Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Raion...
) - Tavria - Women's vocal-choreographic ensemble (est 1971, SimferopolSimferopol-Russian Empire and Civil War:The city was renamed Simferopol in 1784 after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to the Russian Empire by Catherine II of Russia. The name Simferopol is derived from the Greek, Συμφερόπολις , translated as "the city of usefulness." In 1802, Simferopol became the...
) - SlavutychSlavutychSlavutych is a new city in northern Ukraine, named after the Old Slavic name of the nearby Dnieper River. As of 2007, its population was 24,549.-Geography:...
- ensemble of song and dance (est. 1972, DnipropetrovskDnipropetrovskDnipropetrovsk or Dnepropetrovsk formerly Yekaterinoslav is Ukraine's third largest city with one million inhabitants. It is located southeast of Ukraine's capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, in the south-central region of the country...
) - Volyn Folk Choir (est. 1978, LutskLutskLutsk is a city located by the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of the surrounding Lutskyi Raion within the oblast...
) - Zoria ensemble (est. 1987, RivneRivneRivne or Rovno is a historic city in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Rivne Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Rivne Raion within the oblast...
)
Characteristics of these choirs was the use of chest register singing (particularly in Eastern Ukraine) and the use of Ukrainian folk instruments in the accompanying orchestras.
Art singing
In the 20th century, popular operatic singers like Modest Mencinsky and Solomea Krushelnycki included Ukrainian folk songs in their concert performances. Other prominent Ukrainian singers include Ivan KozlovskyIvan Kozlovsky
Ivan Semyonovitch Kozlovsky was a Soviet lyric tenor of Ukrainian ethnicity, one of the greatest stars of Soviet opera, as well a producer and director of his own opera company, and longtime teacher at the Moscow Conservatory.-Biography:...
, Borys Hmyria, Anatoliy Solovianenko
Anatoliy Solovianenko
Anatoliy Solovianenko was an operatic tenor, People's Artist of the USSR , People's Artist of Ukraine, and State Taras Shevchenko prize-winner.He was born into a mining family and graduated from Donetsk Polytechnic Institute in 1954, having taken singing...
have also propagated the singing of Ukrainian folk songs and romances. In the United States Kvitka Cisyk
Kvitka Cisyk
Kvitka "Kacey" Cisyk was an American soprano of Ukrainian ethnicity. Cisyk, a classically-trained opera singer, successfully pursued a career in four different musical genres: popular music, classical opera, Ukrainian folk music and commercial jingles for radio and TV advertisements.Cisyk...
also promoted art song.
Choral Art singing
Choral singing has a rich tradition in Ukraine. While the Catholic West developing sophisticated vocal instrumental works, the Orthodox church frowned on the use musical instruments in sacred music and a cappellaA cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
choral music was the only genre that was actively supported. As a result sacred choral music flowered in Ukraine and it became a prime provider of singers for the Russian courts and Russian orthodox cathedral choirs.
In the 20th century notable Ukrainian a cappella choirs have included the Ukrainian National Choir choir, Dumka (choir), Kiev frescoes and Boyan
Boyan
Boyan may refer to:* Boyan , a common Bulgarian given name.*Boyan Botevo, a village in Mineralni bani, in Haskovo Province, Bulgaria* Boyan , town in Wu'an, Hebei, China...
which is the touring choir of the L. Revutsky Capella of Ukraine.
Notable choral conductors include Olexander Koshetz, Wolodymyr Kolesnyk, Nestor Horodovenko, Dmytro Kotko.
Accompanied singing
In Ukraine there existed a class of professional musician who sang to their own accompaniment. These professional musicians were often known as kobzari or lirnyky. This category also includes players of the torbanTorban
The torban is a Ukrainian musical instrument that combines the features of the Baroque Lute with those of the psaltery. The Тorban differs from the more common European Bass lute known as the Theorbo in that it had additional short treble strings strung along the treble side of the soundboard. It...
and bandura
Bandura
Bandura refers to a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of a box zither and lute, as well as its lute-like predecessor, the kobza...
.
The repertoire of these itinerant musicians differed considerably from that sung by the folk including the performance of dumy
Duma (epic)
A Duma is a sung epic poem which originated in Ukraine during the Hetmanate Era in the sixteenth century...
(sung epic poems).
In the 20th century the vocal-instrumental tradition has grown into a movement where ensembles and whole choirs sing to their own accompaniment on these instruments. Notable examples include the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus
Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus
The Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus is a semi-professional male choir which accompanies itself with the multi-stringed Ukrainian folk instrument known as the bandura...
, The Canadian Bandurist Capella and the Kiev Bandurist Capella
Kiev Bandurist Capella
The Kiev Bandurist Capella is a male vocal-instrumental ensemble that accompanies its singing with the playing of the multi-stringed Ukrainian folk instrument known as the bandura....
.
General
Ukrainians have a wealth of folk instruments and a well-developed tradition of instrumental music. This is particularly because the Soviet government strongly discouraged the population away for Religious music and encouraged "Proletarian" forms of musical performance.The bulk of the ethnic Ukrainian population lived in village setting and did not share the urban culture of the city based elite that controlled the country. As a result traditional music village music encouraged and fostered.
Scholarship of Instrumental music
The first significant scholarship dealing with authentic Ukrainian folk instrumental music traditions is ascribed to the Ukrainian composer Mykola LysenkoMykola Lysenko
Mykola Vitaliiovych Lysenko was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor and ethnomusicologist.- Biography :Lysenko was born in Hrynky, Kremenchuk Povit, Poltava Governorate, the son of Vitaliy Romanovich Lysenko . From childhood he became very interested in the folksongs of Ukrainian peasants and...
and his publications starting in 1874 dealing with the bandura
Bandura
Bandura refers to a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of a box zither and lute, as well as its lute-like predecessor, the kobza...
and other Ukrainian folk instruments.
Further scholarship was undertaken in the early 20th century by enthno-musicologist Filaret Kolessa
Filaret Kolessa
Filaret Mykhailovych Kolessa was a Ukrainian ethnographer, folklorist, composer, musicologist and literary critic. He was a member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society from 1909, The Free Ukrainian Academy of Sciences from 1929, and the founder of Ukrainian ethnographic musicology.- Biography...
and Klyment Kvitka. Publications in the new science of organology
Organology
Organology is the science of musical instruments and their classification. It embraces study of instruments' history, instruments used in different cultures, technical aspects of how instruments produce sound, and musical instrument classification...
were undertaken by Hnat Khotkevych
Hnat Khotkevych
Hnat Martynovych Khotkevych December 31, 1877 in Kharkiv, Russian Empire – October 8, 1938 in Kharkiv, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union) was a Ukrainian writer, ethnographer, playwright, composer, musicologist, and bandurist....
with his 1930 monograph "Musical instruments of the Ukrainian people" was banned by the Soviet authorities in 1934 because of it studied the phenomena of folk instruments from a national perspective.
After WWII scholarship was continued by Andriy Humeniuk who began the trend of mixing Soviet innovations in instrument construction and training with authentic instrumental music. This tendency was avoided by Sofia Hrytsa but became a feature of the publications of Victor Hutsal, Victor Mishalow
Victor Mishalow
Victor Mishalow is an Australian born Canadian bandurist, and educator. He is also known as a composer, conductor, and musicologist.-Biography:Born April 4, 1960, in Sydney, Australia, he graduated from the Sydney University B.A...
and the bulk of Soviet and post-Soviet scholarship.
In recent times this trend has taken an about-face with the publications by the ethomusicologist Mykhailo Khai of the early 21st century has clearly separated Ukrainian instrumental music into authentic and fakeloric instrumental music traditions.
Significant contributions to the study of Ukrainian organology and performance have been done by both Russian and Polish ethno-musicologists as Alexander Famintsyn and Stanislaw Mzrekowski.
Idiophones (Percussion)
- BatihBatihThe batih is a thick stick that is rhythmically tapped on the floor in some Ukrainian folkloric groups. Pieces of metal or bottle-caps can be attached to the stick, which rattle when the stick strikes the ground. This adds to the percussive effect of the instrument.Batih is also a last name...
- Briazalnytsia
- BubonBubonThe bubon is a Ukrainian percussive folk instrument, of the tambourine family. The bubon consists of a wooden ring with a diameter of up to which has a skin tightened over one or sometimes both sides...
, Buben - Bubentsy
- Bubonchyk
- BuhayBuhayFor another meaning, see Buhay Hayaan YumabongThe buhay . Hornbostel-Sachs classification number 232.11-92The buhay is a percussive...
- BukhaloBukhaloThe bukhalo is a type of large drum often used in dance music, particularly popular in Western Ukraine. It is fixed to the player with a belt so that the performer can also dance and move about when needed...
- Bylo
- DerkachDerkachThe derkach is a Ukrainian version of the rattle.The derkach is occasionally used in Ukrainian folk instrument orchestras, but is usually found as a child's toy. The derkach was made by taking a piece of rounded hard wood and cutting teeth into it. Another piece of wood is joined to this with a...
- Drymba, (Vargan)
- Dzvin - Bell
- Dzvinok - bells
- Kalatalo
- Klepalo
- Korobochka
- Lozhky - decorated wooden spoons.
- TorokhkataloTorokhkataloThe torokhkalo - is a Ukrainian folk instrument used in folk ensembles whenever a drum is not available. It was also used by night guards to scare away intruders. The instrument is made from a piece of wood with a handle. A second piece of wood shorter than the first is joined to the original...
- Tarilky - cymbals
- PidkovaPidkovaThe pidkova , literarily "Horseshoe".In some Ukrainian folk instrument ensembles a steel horseshoe dangling from the end of a gut string is struck with a piece of metal wire. This produced a high-pitched ringing sound similar to a triangle.-Sources:...
- horseshoe - RapachRapachThe rapach is a larger version of the derkach. Rapachs are used by churches in the Prešov region of Slovakia by ethnic Ukrainians instead of bells during Easter.-Sources:*Humeniuk, A. Ukrainski narodni muzychni instrumenty, Kiev: Naukova dumka, 1967...
- Rubel
- Skrynka
- Trishchotky - set of wooden boards on a string that are clapped together as a group.
- Trykutnyk - triangle
- VertushkaVertushkaThe Vertushka was a special internal telephone system in the Kremlin. Parallel systems existed in other cities as well as in the capitals of Soviet satellite states...
- ZatulaZatulaThe zatula , also known as the rubal, rubel, kuchelka, kachanka, kachalka, and the rebra, is a Ukrainian folk musical instrument. It is primarily a household item used for washing and drying clothes, but it is occasionally used as a percussion instrument....
- Zvonchalka
Membranophones
- LytavryLytavryThe lytavry are a bass drum similar to the kettle drums or timpani used in Ukraine.The lytavry were used in Ukraine from the times of the Cossacks, and probably earlier as a signaling device to announce meetings and enemy attacks. They are used in Ukrainian folk instrument...
, Tulumbas - kettle drum - Baraban - side drum
- BubonBubonThe bubon is a Ukrainian percussive folk instrument, of the tambourine family. The bubon consists of a wooden ring with a diameter of up to which has a skin tightened over one or sometimes both sides...
- large tambourine - BuhayBuhayFor another meaning, see Buhay Hayaan YumabongThe buhay . Hornbostel-Sachs classification number 232.11-92The buhay is a percussive...
, Berbenytsia - Hrebinetz - comb
- Ocheretianka
Chordophones (String instruments)
- BanduraBanduraBandura refers to a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of a box zither and lute, as well as its lute-like predecessor, the kobza...
- a multi stringed zither played with the fingers. - KobzaKobzaThe kobza is a Ukrainian folk music instrument of the lute family , a relative of the Central European mandora...
- four-stringed luteLuteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
with a round soundboard, plucked or strummed with or without a plectum. - LiraLiraLira is the name of the monetary unit of a number of countries, as well as the former currency of Italy, Malta, San Marino and the Vatican City and Israel. The term originates from the value of a Troy pound of high purity silver. The libra was the basis of the monetary system of the Roman Empire...
- a Ukrainian hurdy-gurdy with an oval or cello shaped body and an attached triangular pegbox. - Hudok - a three-stringed, pear-shaped Ukrainian bowed instrument which is usually held vertically, a relative of rebecRebecThe rebecha is a bowed string musical instrument. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and 1-5 strings and is played on the arm or under the chin, like a violin.- Origins :The rebec dates back to the Middle Ages and was particularly popular in the 15th and 16th centuries...
. - Husli - one of the oldest known Ukrainian musical instruments, described by the Greeks as early as the 6th century CE. Many different versions of this plucked string instrument exist.
- TorbanTorbanThe torban is a Ukrainian musical instrument that combines the features of the Baroque Lute with those of the psaltery. The Тorban differs from the more common European Bass lute known as the Theorbo in that it had additional short treble strings strung along the treble side of the soundboard. It...
- a relative of the theorboTheorboA theorbo is a plucked string instrument. As a name, theorbo signifies a number of long-necked lutes with second pegboxes, such as the liuto attiorbato, the French théorbe des pièces, the English theorbo, the archlute, the German baroque lute, the angélique or angelica. The etymology of the name...
with its own unique tuning. - TsymbalyTsymbalyThe tsymbaly is the Ukrainian version of the hammer dulcimer. It is a chordophone made up of a trapezoidal box with metal strings strung across it. The tsymbaly is played by striking two beaters against the strings....
- a relative of the cymbalom with its own unique tuning. - Skrypka - a relative of the violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
. - BasoliaBasoliaThe basolia is a Ukrainian folk instrument of the bowed string family similar to the cello although slightly larger and not as sophisticated in construction. The basolia was usually homemade and of very rough construction. Sometimes the soundboard was sewn to the body rather than glued...
- a 3-string celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
with its own unique tuning. - Tsytra - Ukrainian citternCitternThe cittern or cither is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is descended from the Medieval Citole, or Cytole. It looks much like the modern-day flat-back mandolin and the modern Irish bouzouki and cittern...
. - KozobasKozobasThe kozobas - is a bowed and percussive instrument that is popular in folk ensembles in Western Ukraine. It is a recently developed instrument and is basically a wooden pole joined to a drum at one end with a cymbal hanging from the other end. The drum membrane acts as the soundboard for one or...
-.
Aerophones (Wind instruments)
- DentsivkaDentsivkaThe dentsivka is a musical instrument.The dentsivka is often commonly called a sopilka, however, it differs from the true sopilka in that the dentsivka has a fipple, like the western European recorder. It is thus classified as a duct flute.Usually it is made from a tube of wood approximately 30...
- a hollow pipe with no additional air holes, used for whistling sounds. - DvodentsivkaDvodentsivkaThe dvodentsivka - means literally two dentsivkas and this is what it is. Two dentsivkas are joined together into one instrument.-Sources:...
- double fipple flute - FloyaraFloyaraThe floyara is a more perfected form of the sopilka. It is characterized as an open ended notched flute. The floyara is a pipe of approximately a metre in length. One end is sharpened and the breath is broken against one of the sides of the tube at the playing end. Six holes in groups of three...
- a non fipple flute - FrilkaFrilkaThe frilka is a more perfected form of the sopilka, a traditional Ukrainian flute. The frilka is a smaller version of the floyarka.The frilka is characterized as an open-ended notched flute. It is a pipe of approximately a 20 cm in length. One end is sharpened and the breath is broken against one...
- a smaller verion of the floyara - Kosa dudkaKosa dudkaThe kosa dudka - - differs from the dentsivka in that the fipple is in the top of the instrument on the same plane as the playing holes, instead of the underside. The fipple is cut away like that of a recorder. Often this instrument is called a dentsivka.-Sources:*Humeniuk, A. - Ukrainski narodni...
- - KuvytsiKuvytsiThe kuvytsi Rebro, are the Ukrainian variant of pan pipes. Pan pipes have been found in archeological excavations in Ukraine that date back some 5,000 years. The instrument consists of several pipes each of which, when blown endwise, produces one sound...
- variant of panpipes - Okaryna - Ukrainian ocarinaOcarinaThe ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument. Variations do exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body...
- Rebro - variant of the panpipes
- RihRihThe horn - - is an instrument that was popular in Eastern Ukraine, with between three and six fingerholes, or sometimes none. Usually they were made from a cylindrical reed with a cow's horn to form the bell. The mouthpiece usually has a single reed although occasionally double reed instruments...
- Ukrainian folk clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
/hornpipeHornpipe (musical instrument)The hornpipe can refer to a specific instrument or a class of woodwind instruments consisting of a single reed, a small diameter melody pipe with finger holes and a bell traditionally made from animal horn...
. - Rizhok - small horn
- PivtoradentsivkaPivtoradentsivkaThe pivtoradentsivka is translated as one and a half dentsivkas. It consists of two dentsivkas joined together into one instrument. Only one of the pipes has fingerholes. The other acts as a drone. The drone pipe in a pivtoradentsivka is usually shorter than the playing pipe. The instrument has...
- - SopilkaSopilkaSopilka is a name applied to a variety of woodwind instruments of the flute family used by Ukrainian folk instrumentalists. Sopilka most commonly refers to a fife made of a variety of materials and has six to ten finger holes...
- simple fipple flute in various sizes - SurmaSurma-hornThe Ukrainian surma is a type of shawm that had widespread use in the armies of the Cossack host. It is thought that the instrument was introduced into Ukraine from the Caucasus or Turkey where the similar instruments exist with related names such as zurna and surnai.The term is also often used to...
- a folk oboe or shawmShawmThe shawm was a medieval and Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family made in Europe from the 12th century until the 17th century. It was developed from the oriental zurna and is the predecessor of the modern oboe. The body of the shawm was usually turned from a single piece of wood,...
. - Sviril - Ukrainian panpipe.
- Svystunetz - folk whistle
- TelenkaTelenkaThe telenka - - is a primitive form of dentsivka without fingerholes.The pitch produced from the instrument is changed by placing a finger into the open end of the pipe and covering this opening by a half or third etc...
- - TrembitaTrembitaThe trembita is a Ukrainian alpine horn made of wood.Used primarily by mountain dwellers known as Hutsuls in the Carpathians. It was used as a signaling device to announce deaths, funerals, weddings....
, Lihava - Alpine horn - TrubaTrubaThe Wooden Trumpet .The truba or lihava is an instrument of the surma-horn type, only with a mouthpiece like that of a standard trumpet made of wood. The instrument has seven to ten finger-holes and is presently used in contemporary folk instrument orchestras.-Sources:*Humeniuk, A...
- a wooden trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
. - VolynkaVolynkaVolyňka is a river in the Czech Republic in the South Bohemian Region rising on the hill called Světlá hora and flowing 46.1 km northeast to city of Strakonice, where merging in Otava River. Volyňka flows through towns such Vimperk, Volyně, Strakonice. and villages such as Lčovice and Čkyně. -...
, DudaDudaThe Magyar duda—Hungarian duda— is the traditional bagpipe of Hungary. It is an example of a group of bagpipes called Medio-Carparthian bagpipes....
, KozaKozaA Koza is a Polish bagpipe.The Polish pipes are more related in appearance to some old German pipes. It uses a large goatskin bag and a single reed chanter, cylindrical bore and deep pitch, with a large horn and brass bell at the end. The bass drone typically has the same bell. It is usually...
- traditional SlavicSlavic peoplesThe Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
bagpipe. - Zholomiha - a double fipple flute
- ZubivkaZubivkaThe zubivka also known as a .The zubivka is considered one of the oldest folk wind instruments in Ukraine and is found primarily in the Carpathian region....
- similar to TelenkaTelenkaThe telenka - - is a primitive form of dentsivka without fingerholes.The pitch produced from the instrument is changed by placing a finger into the open end of the pipe and covering this opening by a half or third etc...
Other recently introduced folk instruments
- BayanBayanBayan may have the following meanings coming from various cultures* Bayan, means dawn in Kurdish language.*Bayan, the larger drum of the tabla set.* an Arabic female name meaning "clearness, eloquence."*Bayan, the Turkish word for "lady"...
- a chromatic button accordionChromatic button accordionA chromatic button accordion is a type of button accordion where the melody-side keyboard consists of rows of buttons arranged chromatically. The bass-side keyboard is usually the Stradella system or one of the various free-bass systems. Included among chromatic button accordions are the Russian... - Ukrainian balalaika a 6 string regional variant of the Russian balalaikaBalalaikaThe balalaika is a stringed musical instrument popular in Russia, with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.The balalaika family of instruments includes instruments of various sizes, from the highest-pitched to the lowest, the prima balalaika, secunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass...
- 4 stringed domra a regional variant of the 3 stringed Russian domraDomraThe domra is a long-necked Russian string instrument of the lute family with a round body and three or four metal strings.-History:In 1896, a student of Vasily Vasilievich Andreyev found a broken instrument in a stable in rural Russia...
- MandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
- Seven string guitar
Folk music of neighbouring countries
Ukrainian folk music has made a significant influence in the music of neighbouring peoples. Many Ukrainian melodies have become popular in Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Russia, Romania and Moldova. Through the interaction with the Eastern European Jewish community, Ukrainian folk songs such as "Oi ne khody Hrytsiu" composed by songstress Marusia ChuraiMarusia Churai
Maria or Marusia Churai was a semi-mythical Ukrainian Baroque composer, poet, and singer. She has become a recurrent motif in Ukrainian literature and the songs ascribed to her are widely performed in Ukraine....
have been introduced into North American culture as "Yes my darling daughter" (sung by Dinah Shaw).
Classical music
The traditional music of the kobzari inspired the dumkyDumky
Dumka is a musical term introduced from the Ukrainian language, with cognates in other Slavic languages. Originally, it is the diminutive form of the Ukrainian term duma, pl...
composed by various Slavic composers such as Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky
Mussorgsky
Mussorgsky can refer to:*The Mussorgsky family of Russian nobility;*Modest Mussorgsky, a Russian composer belonging to that family.*Mussorgsky , a 1950 Soviet film about the composer...
and Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
.
The use of folk melodies is especially encouraged in ballet
Ballet (music)
Ballet as a music form progressed from simply a complement to dance, to a concrete compositional form that often had as much value as the dance that went along with it. The dance form, originating in France during the 17th century, began as a theatrical dance. It was not until the 19th century that...
and opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
. Among the Ukrainian composers who often included Ukrainian folk themes in their music were Mykola Lysenko
Mykola Lysenko
Mykola Vitaliiovych Lysenko was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor and ethnomusicologist.- Biography :Lysenko was born in Hrynky, Kremenchuk Povit, Poltava Governorate, the son of Vitaliy Romanovich Lysenko . From childhood he became very interested in the folksongs of Ukrainian peasants and...
, Lev Revutsky, Mykola Dremliuha, Yevhen Stankovych
Yevhen Stankovych
Yevhen Fedorovych Stankovych is a contemporary Ukrainian composer of stage, orchestral, chamber, and choral works. His works have been performed around the globe.- Biography :...
, Myroslav Skoryk
Myroslav Skoryk
Myroslav Skoryk is a famous Ukrainian composer of diverse and impressive compositions. His music is contemporary in style and contains stylistic traits from two disparate folk traditions: Ukrainian and American.- Early life :...
.
Folk-rock and Folk-Pop music
In the late 1960s and early 1970s Ukrainian folk songs and folk song elements began to be included in pop and rock music in the rock-oriented Kobza ensemble, Smerichka, Opryshky Medikus and many of the other ensembles. This was driven by the lack of Ukrainian pop songs of the time. In time the genre of folk inspired pop music became significant, particularly inspired by the popularity of the Byelarusian group known as Piesnari.Of the Ukrainian groups the longest surviving and most significant was the group known as Kobza.
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is a folk song. The first three verses were written by Pete Seeger in 1955, and published in Sing Out! magazine...
is a folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
song of the 1960s written by Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
and Joe Hickerson
Joe Hickerson
Joe Hickerson is a noted folk singer and songleader. For 35 years he was Librarian and Director of the Archive of Folk Song at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress...
. Seeger found inspiration for the song while on his way to a concert. Leafing through his notebook he saw the passage, "Where are the flowers, the girls have plucked them. Where are the girls, they've all taken husbands. Where are the men, they're all in the army." These lines were from a Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
folk song referenced in a novel by Mikhail Sholokhov
Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov was a Soviet/Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. An asteroid in main-belt is named after him, 2448 Sholokhov.-Life and work:...
, And Quiet Flows the Don
And Quiet Flows the Don
And Quiet Flows the Don or Quietly Flows the Don is the first part of the great Don epic Tikhiy Don , written by Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov. It originally appeared in serialized form between 1928 and 1940...
. Seeger adapted it to a tune, a lumberjack version of "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill". With only three verses, he recorded it once in a medley
Medley (music)
In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks...
on a Rainbow Quest album and forgot about it. Joe Hickerson
Joe Hickerson
Joe Hickerson is a noted folk singer and songleader. For 35 years he was Librarian and Director of the Archive of Folk Song at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress...
later added verses four and five.