From the Discographic Heritage of Ivan Karabyts: A Comparative Analysis of Two Recordings of the Pop Song “My Land is My Love”

Author

Horbunova Iryna

a Ph.D. in Art Studies, a research fellow of the Department of Musicology and Ethnomusicology of M. Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine).

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6302-4366

From the Discographic Heritage of Ivan Karabyts: A Comparative Analysis of Two Recordings of the Pop Song “My Land is My Love”

Abstract

The life path of Ivan Karabyts is considered in the article. His creative portrait is outlined. The most significant genres in his creative heritage are described, including the genre of the “academized” pop song, as well as the most essential stylistic features, those include an organic synthesis of various ancient and modern, folklore and professional, Ukrainian and global origins; the ambivertness (i. e., multi-vector nature) of many works associated with this, including his pop songs; a high-art balance between “traditionalism” and “avantgardism”. The composer’s discographic heritage is reviewed, proving that it remains unsystematized and uncataloged, with information “scattered” across various, primarily electronic, sources. The content, structure, dramaturgy, and musical language of the “academized” pop song “My Land is My Love” are studied. It is proved that this work possesses all the main signs of “pop music academization”: diverse pop, academic, and folklore genre origins; a through-composed structure with continuous dramaturgical development while relying on the traditional verse-chorus song form; parity between the vocal and instrumental parts. A comparative analysis of two recordings of the work is conducted – one is performed by highly professional academic musicians and another by an amateur bandura player. Certain discrepancies with the author’s original score are identified in both versions: the first recording tends toward a more complex piano texture to enhance the structural and dramaturgical integrity of the conception, generally approaching the style of an academic art song (solo song). The second recording, conversely, moves toward reduction and simplification, which has hindered the continuity of musical development but simultaneously emphasized the work’s ambivertness by strengthening its inherent folk and pop components.

It is proved that the ambivertness typical for I. Karabyts’ pop songs enables these works to be performed by musicians of various directions and levels of professionalism. In the current era of digitalization, numerous recordings of such diverse performances available online can be included rightfully in the composer’s or performer’s discographic legacy alongside the recordings on physical media.

Keywords

discography, pop songs, academization of pop music, ambivertness, genre, style.

References

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