Musical Culture of Ukraine against the Challenges of Time

Author

Kuzyk Valentyna

a Ph.D. in Art Studies, a senior research fellow at the Department of Musicology and Ethnomusicology of the NAS of Ukraine Maksym Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology, a member of the National Union of Composers of Ukraine, the M. Lysenko Prize winner. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0110- 6937

Musical Culture of Ukraine against the Challenges of Time

Abstract

Currently, Ukraine is living in a historically defining period of the Russian-Ukrainian war, when the feeling of national dignity and self-respect of a civilized European person is asserted in society. Comparison of the events of 1918–1921 appears constantly – the times of the first proclaimed independent Ukrainian People’s Republic, and 2022, when the enemy’s position toput an end to the Ukrainian question finally is manifested with particular aggression. The Ukrainian Republican Chapel under the leadership of Oleksandr Koshyts – the first cultural ambassador of Ukraine in Western Europe and America – has been of a great significance in those historical events.

The actions of representatives of Ukrainian culture, musicians in particular, have become a powerful “humanitarian weapon” in the contemporary confrontation between civilization and the savagery of the horde. The concert activity of our performers has covered musical and theater stages of various countries of the world. Many leading foreign groups have decided to perform Ukrainian music. The National Anthem of Ukraine and the songs Oi u luzi chervona kalyna / Oh, Red Viburnum in the Meadow (version by Andrii Khlyvnyuk and the Pink Floyd ensemble), Stefania by Kalush Orchestra (winners of Eurovision Song Contest–2022) have become the most widespread.

Nowadays there are three essential components in European musical culture, requiring serious attention: 1) Creative heritage, i. e. Russian heritage, spread over the centuries; 2) Performing forces, namely the priority of musicians from Ukraine; 3) Solving the problem in Ukraineitself, primarily with the so-called Russian heritage. The Russian-Ukrainian war has dotted all the “i” over many essential phenomena of life and become a powerful impetus for reorganization processes both in national and world musical culture.

Keywords

musical culture of Ukraine, Russian-Ukrainian war, Ukrainian Republican Chapel, National Union of Composers of Ukraine, National Anthem of Ukraine, Shchedryk, Stefania, Oi u luzi chervona kalyna / Oh, Red Viburnum in the Meadow.

References

1. Historical Songs of Ukrainian People with Explanations of V.Antonovych and M. Drahomanov. Kiev, 1874, vol. 1, pp. 50 [in Russian].
2. KUZYK, Valentyna. Algorithms for the Construction of the Symbolic Imagery of the Song Oi u luzi chervona kalyna/ Oh, Red Viburnum in the Meadow.MusicInternet-Journal. August 8, 2022. Available from:

http://mus.art.co.ua/alhorytmy-konstruiuvannia-symvolichnoi-obraznosti-pisni-oy-u-luzi-chervona-kalyna/?fbclid=IwAR0cuqu2Pt4oz_tkWfdqKfB6z4tE7wfHmvoLZUbvUkI9VPOkngKGvcplfAI [in Ukrainian].

3. KUZYK, Valentyna. Algorithms of the Secrets of the Hit Song Stefania. MusicInternet-Journal. June 12, 2022. Available from: http://mus.art.co.ua/alhorytmy-sekretiv-khita-stefaniia/ [in Ukrainian].
4. KUZYK, Valentyna. Soft Power of Music: Ukrainian Context / Interview conducted by Snizhana Mazurenko. Press Service of the NAS of Ukraine. August 8, 2022. Available from:

https://www.nas.gov.ua/UA/Messages/Pages/View.aspx?MessageID=9425 [in Ukrainian].

5. MASLII, Mykhailo. Stepan Charnetskyi is the Author of the Second, Unofficial Anthem of Ukrainians Oi u luzi chervona kalyna/ Oh, Red Viburnum in the Meadow. Available from: https://www.facebook.com/messenger_file/?attachment_id=1015426669141399&message_id=mid.%24cAAAABHkMKmaIs3ccEWCgjHSYXcFR&thread_id=100000487156496 [in Ukrainian].
6. OLIINYK, Lesia. Ukrainian Week in Oxford under the Sign of Valentyn Sylvestrov. MusicInternet-Journal. October 11, 2022. Available from: http://mus.art.co.ua/ukrainskyy-tyzhden-v-oksfordi-pid-znakom-valentyna-sylvestrova/ [in Ukrainian].
7. PERESUNKO, Tina, compiler. World Triumph of “Shchedryk”: 100 Years of Cultural Diplomacy of Ukraine. Kyiv, ArtEk, 2018, pp. 367 [in Ukrainian].