United States Various, Notes from Ukraine – 100 Years of ‘Carol of the Bells’: Marichka Marczyk (vocalist), Janai Brugger (soprano), Ukrainian Children’s Choir ‘Shchedryk’ / Marianna Sablina (conductor), Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus / Oleh Mahlay (conductor), Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York / Vasly Hrechynsky (conductor), Choir of Trinity Wall Street / Daniela Candillari (conductor). Carnegie Hall, New York, 4.12.2022. (RP)
On 5 October 1922, the Ukrainian Christmas carol ‘Shchedryk’ rang out in Carnegie Hall. It was the primary time that an American viewers had heard the music by Mykola Leontovych, which might turn into identified the world over as ‘Carol of the Bells’. Just over a century later, on 4 December 2022, the carol once more resounded within the corridor. Now, as then, Ukraine is engaged in a battle to take care of its distinctive cultural id and sovereignty distinct from that of Russia.
In 1922, ‘Shchedryk’ was sung by the Ukrainian Republic Capella, the nationwide choir of the Ukrainian National Republic, which existed between 1917 and 1920. From 1922 till 1991, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was one of many constituent republics of the Soviet Union. In 1991, 92.3% of Ukrainian voters permitted a declaration of independence, and the nation turned formally often called Ukraine.
At Notes from Ukraine – 100 Years of ‘Carol of the Bells’, ‘Shchedryk’ was sung within the association by Peter J. Wilhousky that has made it universally fashionable. (Wilhousky was a choral director and music administrator within the New York public colleges for 25 years.) The mixed voices of the Ukrainian Children’s Choir ‘Shchedryk’, the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus and Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York united on stage to carry out it. When it was reprised as an encore, the Choir of Trinity Wall Street sang too. Needless to say, they didn’t want the music.
The live performance opened with music from Ukraine’s previous. Canadian-American people vocalist Marichka Marczyk entered the corridor singing ‘Oh, how it was long ago’ from the Pokuttia Region, which is within the southeast of modern-day Ukraine. She was then joined by the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus and Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York in singing the earliest extant Ukrainian Christmas carol, ‘The Magi of Persia’.
The two choirs subsequent sang Christmas music that’s heard in modern-day Ukraine. Among probably the most poignant choices was ‘The King’s Crown’ by Hanna Havrylets, sung by the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka. Its delicate rendering was a tribute to the composer, who died on 27 February 2022, the third day of Russian’s invasion of Ukraine. Havrylets, who labored in lots of genres together with symphonic, instrumental, chamber and choral works, suffered an aneurysm and was unable to get medical assist as a result of battle.
The most unique sound to be heard within the live performance was that of the bandura, thought-about to be the nationwide instrument of Ukraine. Historically, it was related to blind touring minstrels who went from village to village singing epic ballads and historic songs. It produces a fragile, tinkling sound that mixes these of the lute and the harpsichord.
The all-male Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus is a North American choral and instrumental ensemble devoted to preserving the Ukrainian musical custom and the artwork of the bandura. The consort of bandurists play the Kharkiv model of the plucked string people instrument. With 34 to 65 strings and infrequently a key-changing mechanism, the Kharkiv bandura is little heard these days in Ukraine.
The mixture of the full-bodied singing of the refrain and the shimmering sound of the bandura was heard all through the live performance, however resonated most fantastically in two carols by Mykola Lysenko, ‘I Am Caroling’ and ‘Oh Carol’. Active throughout the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor and ethnomusicologist was a pivotal determine in establishing his nation’s nationwide music custom.
The Ukraine of at this time was represented by 56 members of the Ukrainian Children’s Choir ‘Shchedryk’, made up of 51 ladies and 5 boys, aged 11 to fifteen. With their conductor, Marianna Sablina, they traveled from Kiev to New York to carry out. Over the previous months, all have skilled battle firsthand, sharing of their nation’s defeats and triumphs in addition to struggling private losses. To the extent that these experiences had been mirrored of their singing, it was solely in a deeper reference to the music. The courageous younger choristers sang with clear tone, good intonation, poise and an exuberance befitting their youth.
As with the opposite choruses, the kids sang music by modern Ukrainian composers: ‘Alleluia’ from Valentyn Sylvestrov’s Three Sacred Songs, the ‘Gloria’ from Victoria Poleva’s Missa-simphonia and Havrylets’ ‘Stepping Wheel’. Their efficiency of ‘Somewhere in my Memory’ from John William’s soundtrack for Home Alone, nevertheless, tugged at one’s heartstrings: the fun of Christmases previous of which they sang might be extra treasured reminiscences for them than ever.
The second half of the live performance featured the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, one in every of New York’s most interesting skilled vocal ensembles, and the choices included works reflecting the cross-cultural currents that exist between Ukraine and the U.S. The first piece, nevertheless, was a conventional Ukrainian lullaby, ‘A Dream Passes by the Window’, organized by Sarah Martinez. Along with ‘Shchedryk’, it was carried out on the historic live performance in 1922.
The Trinity Wall Street forces introduced sly humor to picks from The Noel Consort by Kiev-based composer Svyatoslav Lunyov. In his preparations of conventional carols akin to ‘Silent Night’ and ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlefolk’, Lunyov twists a melody or introduces a concord that imparts a dreamlike sensibility. The jolt that comes from the sudden is one thing that Lunyov exploited to the complete.
The remaining work was the world premiere of Trevor Weston’s ‘Slowly’, a setting of picks of a textual content by Serhiy Zhadan. The Ukrainian poet has remained in his nation, principally in Kharkiv, all through the battle. In ‘Slowly’, he captures the devastation of the battle with vivid photographs of the carnage and bitter emotion.
The Choir of Trinity Wall Street understands Weston’s fashion, having carried out and recorded his music. The singers etched in tones and phrasings that captured Weston’s delicate harmonic shifts and temper modifications in his setting of Zhadan’s phrases, as did the soloist, soprano Janai Brugger. (She had earlier sung an achingly stunning ‘Summertime’ by George Gershwin.) ‘Slowly’ is a profound work that captures each the futility of battle and the complicated feelings of 1 who has endured it.
In pre-recorded movies, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska spoke of the devastation ensuing from the Russian invasion, the necessity for help to rebuild their nation and their gratitude for the help Ukraine has obtained from the American folks. Proceeds from Notes from Ukraine will go to Rebuild Ukraine, which supplies very important humanitarian help to Ukraine’s defenders, civilians and refugees.
As it was a century in the past, music is as soon as once more a rallying cry in help of Ukraine. Decades of Soviet domination didn’t destroy the nation or its tradition. At Carnegie Hall, it was as soon as once more a easy carol that exemplified that almost all fantastically and poignantly.
Rick Perdian
For extra info on ‘Rebuild Ukraine’ click on right here.