A Brief History

1708 - 6000 Ukrainian men women and children are murdered by Peter I and the Ukrainian city Baturin burned to the ground

1720 - The printed Ukrainian language is outlawed on Ukrainian territories by Peter I.

1721 - Book printers in Ukraine are destroyed and Ukrainian language books are burned.

1729. Peter II orders all Ukrainian historical documents rewritten in Russian

1755, 1766, 1769, 1775, 1786 - More attempts to forbid and destroy the Ukrainian language.

1764, 1769, 1786 - Attacks on Ukrainian religious freedoms and changing of all the holy texts to Russian.

1817 - Kyiv Mohyla Academy, one of the oldest universities in Europe, is shut down by Russian royalty.

1831, 1847, 1863, 1869, 1886 - More laws and bills forbidding Ukrainian language and culture in Ukraine. Arrests and repressions against those who try to keep up their culture

1876 - Ukrainian theatre and songs are forbidden.

1881 - No Ukrainian language allowed to be used in churches.

1888 - Historically Ukrainian names are forbidden to be given to newborn children.

1895, 1907, 1908, 1914 - More laws repressing against Ukrainian language culture and identity.

1921-1923 - 1.5 MILLION people starve to death in Ukrainian villages due to the policies of the new communist regime.

1929 - Mass arrests for Ukrainian culture workers and artists.

1929-1930 - Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are ripped away from their homes and relocated to Siberia in an attempt to "Russify" them.

1930 - 45 of the most important Ukrainian writers and scientists of that time are arrested and imprisoned.

1932-1933 - Holodomor, genocide against Ukrainians conducted by the Russian government in which more than 8 million Ukrainians starve to death. My grandparents lived through it as children and were never able to get over their fear of dying from starvation.

1933 - The Ukrainian population of Cuban are killed off and persecuted.

1933-1941 - Historical, architectural, and cultural landmarks in Ukraine are destroyed, and up to 80% of Ukrainian cultural elites are repressed and murdered. This period is known in Ukrainian history as the "Murdered Renaissance”

1937 - A mass execution of Ukrainian writers

1938 - Russian Is the main language learned in all Ukrainian schools.

1939-1941 - Mass deportations of people of Western Ukraine to the territories deep within Russia.

1947, 1949, 1954 - More deportations and repressions against Ukrainians by Russian CP [Communist Party]

1957-1961 - The destruction of Ukrainian Orthodox Churches.

1959, 1961, 1962 - More mock court processes and imprisonment and executions of Ukrainian cultural leaders.

1963 - Ukrainian academy of sciences becomes a harshly controlled division of the Soviet academy of sciences

1965, 1972 - Two large waves of imprisonment and torture of Ukrainian writers and artists.

1978 - New laws about the "Russification" of Ukraine

1979 - More arrests of representatives of Ukrainian culture.

1980-81 - Repressions against Ukrainian political activists

1983 - A law about studying the Russian language in schools and a 16% raise to the teachers who teach Russian

1984, 1985 - Many Ukrainian writers and artists die in concentration camps.

1989, 1990 - Laws about Russian being the only official language in the USSR (including Ukraine).

2014 - Russia annexes Crimea and invades eastern Ukraine.

February 2022 - full on invasion and war of Russia on Ukraine. Putin claims Ukraine is not a country and Ukrainian culture does not and should not exist.

Today - A senseless evil war and murder of Ukrainian people goes on

American Democracy

for Mom

not the hate we love ourselves with

no problem with the love

we hate ourselves with love ourselves

with the love we don't think we know

we love the hate we think we don't

think ourselves with

we know we love ourselves

we hate the hate we love ourselves with

not the love we think we know

the love that knows us

cognizant, aware, needing

us to see we see we know

Concert program including presenters, lyrics and background information

1. “List soldaty”  (‘Letter to a soldier”)

Duo: Slupska Victoria and Slupski Maksym, siblings at School # 67 Lviv. 

Modern song about this current war. Music by Oksana Pervova-Roshka, lyrics by Svitlana Oleksandrova 

Lyrics: “Please come home alive because your smile is like a sun that needs to warm the earth. The fate of our country is in your hands.”

2. Candlelights dance (Tribute to Temo Svirely, artist). 

Ira’ Vorobyeva's husband who died in 2014 right after he took part together with Iryna and her mother and daughter in protecting Ukrainian independence on Maidan.

Temo Svirely’s website is https://www.svirelyart.com/en/

3.  “Glory” from the Album “Atmospheric Phenomenon” 

Composer & amp; piano: Maks Lan (Ex Shastri from Lviv),  bass: Andriy Arnautov trumpet: Yaroslav Kazmirchuk drums: Leonid Petkun

4. Video from Dance World Cup by Sonya Zhegar, Slava's Zhegar's daughter Sophia Zhegar,  choreographer and solo dancer

Entry in the 2023 Dance World Cup. They earned 10th place.

5.  Brian McCorkle, composer and pianist Suite for Ukraine, 

Mov’ts 1 – 3 (Mov’t 4 will come at the end of today’s concert) 

1. Lament for Ukraine 

2. Waltz in Wartime: Shall We Still Wed? 

3. Remembering Those We Have Lost.

6.  Group name: Jeronimo. Anton Polunin is Lena Samoilenko’s husband. 

Anton Polunin (vocals) Bogdan Bondarenko (bass guitar), Anton Tkachenko (drums), Ilya Tyaglo (guitar).

Do what you want, tear where it’s thin

Laugh, don’t be afraid, fall, get up

The dreams are gone, all that’s left

A predatory subway, a drunken tram

Nothing will escape. Sid and Nancy

Virgins and shooters shine from the sky

Clear sea, stereo, mono

Everything will be okay in the end

Chorus

Something didn’t work out 

In the darkness between the stations

No matter what happens

There’s dancing again tonight

How are you today? Sleeping till lunch?

Cursing the weather? Lose your keys?

Are you traveling far? You see how easy it is

The sun goes down, the heart is silent. 

The sun goes down, the mountains turn black, 

I’m not with you, I’m almost nowhere. 

Do what you want on a day of hopelessness, 

A day without love, a beautiful day.

7. Oksana Solovieva, folksong

Ira Gritsenko was in Kyiv, and is now at Dechen Chöling. The singer, a friend of her daughter, is Oksana Solovieva. 

She was invited by Herb Elsky to sing in his performance space. She is surrounded by electric fans which were used as musical instruments for a different piece. 

The song is about the death of mother's son.

8. Snow Lion, “Idi domoy” (Go Home)

This is the punk rock group from DCL, the name Snow Lion.  

Snow Lion is a rock group made up of people at a Buddhist retreat center in France called Dechen Chöling

All musicians are Shambhalians: Michael - DCL gardener, Simone and Benjamin, students of Sakyong. She calls it Dharma Rock.

The lady on drums is Isabelle, bass guitar is Mikael, guitar is Simon and chant is truly yours.. Benjamin. 

“Idi domoy” is Russian for “go home” “tavarich” is Russian for “comrade”

9. Ocean of Elsa (group) "Misto vesny" “Town of My Spring/Youth

Svyatoslav Vakarchuk (lead singer, music, lyrics), Former People’s Deputy of Ukraine

Vocals, Iryna Shvaidak, Sviatoslav Vakarchuk 

arrangements - Ustym Pokhmursky, Denis Glinin, Milos Jelic

The City of Spring (lyrics translated by Ella)

Why do I dream about how again and again

Walking with you around my native Lviv

It smells like spring and the sun is setting

On the bank of a river, which has long been gone

And lions look at you tenderly

And wishes are brewing with the smell of coffee 

And freedom on the corner between

hell and heaven In Lviv, nothing dies so easily   

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 

The city of spring is breathing 

My city of spring is breathing My city of spring

A troubled century heals wounds

Before coming of age, we are all the veterans here

Filled with light, the past forgives

For some reason I never want tea here

I don't want snow, I don't want glory

Let the churches with banners have it

We’re just going for a walk together

On the banks of a river, which has long been gone

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

The city of spring is breathing

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

My city of spring

Why can’t we forget about the troubles?

Maybe we’re too vulnerable for heroes

Walls and lions do not allow us

To scatter the ashes that never fade away  

Those dreams in which I walk with you again and again 

I walk with you around my native Lviv 

It smells like spring and the sun is setting 

On the bank of the river, which has long been gone.

10. Vegan's uncle: Pianist, Armen Aharonian

A medley of four songs: 

Ridna Mati Moya (Dearest Mother of Mine)

Celebrating a mother’s love when leaving her on a trip.

Chervona ruta (The Red flower or rhododendron)

No need to gather flowers and herbs for love potions. Already, the singer loves only you.

Nich Yaka Misyachna (The night is so moonlit)

The singer invites his love to join him in a beautiful moonlight grove.

Ty zh mene Pidmanuly (You've Lied To Me)

The singer complains that they made plans to meet up every day for the last week, but their lover never showed up.

11. Grisha Panasenko, sangha member.

Grisha Panasenko (Ivano- Frankivsk, Ukraine) dancing the tango with the icon painter, his classmate, Oksana Melnychuk, at a dance school of immigrants from Kharkiv.

12. McCorkle, arrangement of Ukrainian National Anthem

Brian McCorkle, composer and pianist Suite for Ukraine Mov’t 4. 

Ukraine’s freedom has not yet perished. (Ukrainian National Anthem)

13. Chervona Kalyna

• Folksong in the 17th century.

• Published in a volume of Ukrainian folksongs in 1875

• Revised in anti-Russian form in 1914 for the Sich [Seeeech] Riflemen, a Ukrainian unit that fought in WW-I in order to gain independence from Russia.

• Adopted by the Ukrainian People’s Army during the Ukrainian War of Independence 1917-1921.

• Outlawed by the Soviets, signing could results in jail and beatings.

• Became a theme song of the Euromaidan [Yeah-vro my-dahn] demonstrators in 2013-2014.

• After Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, they outlawed it in Crimea. After the Russian invasion in 2022, it was outlawed in occupied areas.

Here there is no shade

In this bright, blue day,

There is no shade to

Lay honor over 

The corpse-strewn land. 

There is no shade 

To ease down a street

   or a road;

A drive might be a life

   lost by the winds of

   war. 

Here there is no shade

To cover the shame

Of women raped and

Men gored abjectly. 

There is no shade to

Cover the naked fear

   and humility

That flashes in the

   the mirror

Of the peoples' eyes. 

Here the sun and moon

Lay down their light

On battered cars, 

    bloodied streets

Amidst the scattered

    left standing.

For here, the heart

Beats - witness to the

    grief of its people

Their eyes shining

   tears

With fearless courage

   and merciful hope. 

With sadness

Jillian

Ukrainian National Anthem

Glorious spirit of Ukraine shines and lives forever.

Blessed by Fortune brotherhood will stand up together.

Like the dew before the sun enemies will fade,

We will further rule and prosper in our promised land.

Ще не вмерла України ні слава, ні воля.

Ще нам, браття молодії, усміхнеться доля.

Згинуть наші вороженьки, як роса на сонці,

Запануєм і ми, браття, у своїй сторонці.

We will lay our soul and body for the cherished freedom.

Cossack blood will raise the nation of the joyous people.

Душу, тіло ми положим за нашу свободу,

І покажем, що ми, браття, козацького роду.

For the liberty the folk strive ardently from San to Don,

And will let no alien power in our common home.

Aged Dnieper and Black Sea arm in arm rejoice,

And Ukraine will see daylight and live by Fortune’s choice.

Станем, браття, в бій кривавий від Сяну до Дону,

В ріднім краю панувати не дамо нікому;

Чорне море ще всміхнеться, дід Дніпро зрадіє,

Ще у нашій Україні доленька наспіє.

We will lay our soul and body for the cherished freedom.

Cossack blood will raise the nation of the joyous people.

Душу, тіло ми положим за нашу свободу,

І покажем, що ми, браття, козацького роду.

Passion and hard-working hands prove a bright future true.

Song of freedom, loud and clear, guides us all the way through.

Over mountains and steppes it flows, over ages told.

Valorous Ukraine stands strong in a thriving world.

А завзяття, праця щира свого ще докаже,

Ще ся волі в Україні піснь гучна розляже,

За Карпати відіб'ється, згомонить степами,

України слава стане поміж народами.

We will lay our soul and body for the cherished freedom.

Cossack blood will raise the nation of the joyous people.

Душу, тіло ми положим за нашу свободу,

І покажем, що ми, браття, козацького роду.

Friends,

Since not all of you are on social media, I want to let you know that my dear friend and regular Arrowsmith contributor Victoria Amelina was killed last week when Russia bombed a crowded pizza restaurant in Ukraine. When I met her, at a PEN event in NY, Victoria was living with her family in Brookline, Mass. A soft-spoken inward-turning, award winning novelist, she had recently returned from world travels which had taken her to, among other places, Tibet. We became friends. She eventually became a regular contributor to Arrowsmith. 

She returned to Ukraine just before the pandemic. When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022 Victoria was traveling in Egypt with her son. Hearing about the war, Victoria knew she had to return to her native country. This began a remarkable transformation as Victoria went from writing fiction to chronicling the lives of women chronicling war crimes. She began working with Truth Hounds, a Ukrainian organization which has been documenting Russian war crimes since 2014. Her work took her to some of the most dangerous parts of Ukraine, including back to New York (a city in Ukraine), where, years earlier, she'd started a literary festival. Last summer she and I taught an online CW course for Ukrainian students through Chris Merrill's International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, with Victoria often teaching straight through the sound of air raid sirens.

She was a brilliant writer and a beautiful soul. You can read about her here (there's a story in the Times today, and stories have also appeared in the Washington Post, on the BBC, etc):

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/03/ukrainian-writer-victoria-amelina-dies-after-being-wounded-in-kramatorsk-strike

And you can read her Arrowsmith columns here:

https://www.arrowsmithpress.com/nothing-bad

https://www.arrowsmithpress.com/homo-oblivious

And here's an account of the class we taught together:

https://www.arrowsmithpress.com/teaching-ukrainian-students

We look forward to ensuring her literary legacy lives on and look forward to English translations of her books.

with thanks,

Askold

Recording of Brian's presentation  June 25, 2023: https://youtu.be/PDRewt2DKlg

“White voice” (Білий голос)

Raisa Kirichenko https://youtu.be/iPYTQA7Fmz0

Multipart village singing

Bozhychiv https://youtu.be/07cpcZAflk4

Documentary on video archive of village singing  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KdMG1NkrWg

Folkloric ensembles

Veryovka Ukrainian Folk Choirv https://youtu.be/P-wILthmwIo

Honored Academic Transcarpthian Folk Choir  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Luef-eN9vJY

Slavutych https://www.dreamstime.com/folklore-ensemble-slavutych-dnipro-ukraine-december-national-traditions-customs-rites-ukrainian-people-performed-video166052683

Opera singers including folksongs as art songs in recitals

Anatoly Solovianenko  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7td6PdLNEUQ

Kobzar (bard tradition)

Yuriy Fedynsky https://youtu.be/eWc5bfBM0as

Bandura chorus

Charivnytsi  https://youtu.be/mqnq_qvwHRY

Ukrainian church music – medley

https://youtu.be/2H9ol7rfojA

Ukrainian national anthem

Ukrainian opera singers, March 14, 2022 (2.5 weeks after the invasion)  https://youtu.be/_myOT8R_zAo

“The other national anthem” 

Oi u luzi chervona kalyna (Oh, the red virburnum in the meadow).    

Written 1875, adapted 1914 for the Sich Riflemen (Ukrainian unit in WWI)

(more info, including lyrics, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oi_u_luzi_chervona_kalyna

Andriy Khlyvnyuk, February 27, 2022 (3 days after the invasion) https://youtu.be/ebeDBEfLNMk

It has since been remixed in all kinds of ways, easily findable on YouTube or Google

Andriy Khlyvnyuk and opera singers https://youtu.be/Ivw8g7RgXuU

(Not played, but highly recommended)

Pink Floyd fundraiser remix featuring Andriy Khlyvnyuk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VvwH4vqUiI

Song for the Blind Kobzar

Kobzars, traveling troubadours of Ukraine, were often

captured by Turks to entertain them. So that they could

never escape, the Turks put out their eyes. This elegiac

style is similar to the long ballads composed by kobzars.

When the Turkish raiders stole

the rainbow and the moon,

They plowed the field from which you harvest

many a haunting tune.

When they stole the twilight’s glow

and all that delights the eye,

The silent flight of swallows

and the vast expanse of sky,

They were careless in their cruelty,

for they gave you a keener ear

And left your heart so wrenched with pain,

so intimate with fear,

That from your soul wells up such song

to make the angels weep,

To soothe the anguished, grieve the blithe,

and wake the earth from sleep.

Tarney Baldinger

I found my heart in the dark

Tonglen brings compassion to life.

May the world be free from pain!

We are a field of many kinds of flowers

growing in a charnel ground

We are a family under one sky, naturally blue in the light of the Shining sun

Connecting to heart for their hearts

We are One

Deeply centering

Beautiful open heart breaking

Feeling lost and at home together.

Having a safe home to return to, when so many cannot

Thank you, everyone … I always feel a great support!

Genuine genuineness - genuine

Always deeply felt and moving

Without this group, the pain would be unbearable.

Heart Breaks

Intimate connection to war shatters, sends shards of love

My heart bursts with gratitude.

Beautiful Ukraine teaching our hearts to open like a flower from a blast of flames.

Sunflowers raise their head despite missiles flying above

Flames and flowers — both blossoming on this precious earth.

Fires in the east, explosions in the west — we keep our seat and raise lungta

We became a family of people who care for Ukraine.

broken hearts opening to the world

Ukrainian warriors awaken hearts and minds: Great Eastern Sun shines everywhere

Where the teachings come alive and society glimpses collective enlightenment.

Kindness births kindness

Love conquers aggression

Undo hate.

Bathing in equanimity - here, now, & in vastness.

Trying to offer support, we are awed and inspired by their genuine warriorship. 

Who's helping who? Nondual radiation of compassion

We are one tonglen organism, we don’t shy away from anything

The cradle of loving kindness fearlessly facing the wounds of war.  Is it possible to ask for more?

Best part of my day -- to be present with this group of love.

I am here creating a bridge

Interconnectedness.  Bridge to hearts

My heart opens and breaks.  ah.

Compassion and humor are the lungta of the sangha

showing the path to a society of wisdom and peace

We practice together, we practice together

The way a sunflower tracks the sun in a blue sky,

white rays of love follow pain, sending

Blue and Yellow mix — Green of life comes flowing

Vulner… ability breathing… giving

Such courage and huge heart ….surely this war will be won

I found my heart in the dark

There are no strangers in love and compassion.

~ Tonglen for Ukraine Doha - Shambhala Day of the Water Rabbit Year, 2023

Kyiv Independent

Opera During War 

https://youtu.be/kNJxy-AqNzY

[Announcement] The air raid alert is over! The air raid alert is over!

This is “Natalka Poltavka,” an opera by famous Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko. It's one of the future pieces performed at the national Opera of Ukraine located in the very heart of Kiev. 

It was also the last piece performed at the Opera before Russia launched its full-scale war on February 24. When the war started, the Opera closed its doors for three months. 

When it resumed work in late May tickets for the first shows sold out. 

Anatoliy Solovianenko, Chief Stage Director: “I went out to the hall and asked people why they came to the theater at this time; what motivated them to do so. And the answers were all similar. The theater gives us an opportunity to plunge into another world, another realm of something beautiful, wonderful, and bright at least for a few hours.”

While the core team stayed with the Opera, some of its members fled abroad, and others joined the army. 

The Opera soloist Oleksandr Melnychuk took the warnings about the looming full-scale invasion seriously. 

Oleksandr Melnychuk, Soloist: “I was ready. I had stuff packed, a car filled with petrol, and I was just waiting for when it would happen.” 

He took his family to a village just outside of Kiev, thinking it would be safer there, but the Bucha district where the village is located soon turned into a front line of the war.

Melnychuk: “The enemy was not far from my house. Knowing how Russians behave in the occupied territories and what atrocities they commit I had no choice but to join the fight in stopping this invasion.”

So Melnychuk joined the local territorial defense.   

Melnychuk: “Of course, the fear for my family and my loved ones motivated me to do everything I could to help our military hold back this invasion.”

After Kyiv Oblast was liberated and the opera resumed work, Oleksandr returned to singing.

[Opera “Nabucco” by Giuseppe Verdi]

At the beginning of the all-out war around 50 of the Opera 1,000 employees joined the military. 

Some of them soon returned to the cultural front, while around 30 remained in the military. 

The Opera's former principal dancer Oleksandr Shapoval was killed on the front line in Donetsk Oblast in September. His photos are now displayed in the Opera's hallways.

[scene of Oleksandr Shapoval]

Shapoval retired as a dancer in 2021. When the full-scale invasion started, he volunteered to join the military.

Maksym Moitkov, Ballet Teacher, Shapoval’s friend: We were so proud of him, we called him and asked not to get into trouble.”

Yuriy Korobchevsky, Former Ballet Dancer, Shapoval’s friend: He was the kind of person who could not stand aside. He made this step himself, he volunteered to do it (go on the last mission) … And then, when we found out that he had died, we couldn’t bear it, we couldn’t believe it. We cried for a long time, to be honest.”

The Opera also lost another member due to Russia's attacks on civilians.  Artem Datsyshyn, another principal dancer, died in the hospital in March after being injured by a Russian subversive reconnaissance group on February 26 in Kyiv, his colleagues say. 

The war changed the Opera's work in many ways.  One major shift was removing all Russian operas and ballets from its program.

Viktor Lytvynov, choreographer: “Staying away from and saying you are not involved in politics is also political. Now, nobody can avoid politics. All people have to take sides with the so-called civilized world, or with autocracies like North Korea, or today’s Russia which is gradually returning to the 1937 version of itself during Stalin’s rule.”

Anatoliy Solovianenko: “Now, everything is connected to Russia’s full-scale military aggression against Ukraine. And it doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about culture or weapons. Today, Ukraine can’t accept anything related to the Russian Federation. I, like my colleagues, have nothing to say about the quality of Tchaikovsky’s music, but this music represents a certain country and its ideology. I think everyone who with their mind and heart, felt what happened in Bucha, Irpin, or Izium, doesn’t question why ‘Yevheniy Onegin’ is no longer performed [here]. Dozens of years have passed, but [German composed Richard] Wagner’s music is not performed in Israel. And no one questions it.” 

Aside from program changes, the Opera reduced the number of seats by 3 times, to 460 to meet the building's bomb shelter's capacity. It also reduced prices when the full-scale war started making tickets more affordable. 

Because of the energy crisis caused by Russia's attacks against Ukraine's critical infrastructure, the Opera had to additionally equip its premises to be able to run shows amid blackouts. 

Despite the challenges the Opera continues to surprise its audience with a new repertoire. In late October, it had a major premiere -- a new interpretation of the Opera La traviata, by Giuseppe Verdi.  Its pre-premiere performance, however, was interrupted by an air raid alert.

[Announcement]: Attention! The air raid alert is announced in Kyiv. We ask you to head to the shelter.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10dNmvypiTfbguQP-JSqgCTBKXckjltXV_D8Bo6_LWAY/edit

Chapter 1.  Folk music

1. Svyatoslav Sylenko. “Hey, Cossack brothers'', lyric by Stepan Rudanskyi


 Ukrainian musician, multi-instrumentalist, kobzar, composer, actor, traveler, founder and leader of the band "SVIATOSLAV".  He was a participant in the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity.   Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022), he was on duty in the volunteer battalion "Freedom" at the 112th brigade of military personnel (Kyiv).

Bandurists (kobzars)  were singers of Cossack glory.  Kobzarstvo, as a Ukrainian tradition, originated in the lands of the Liberties of the Cossacks  Army and spread throughout Ukraine in 15 c.

This song is an invocation of Ukrainian warrior spirit.

2. Oksana Nikituk. Ukrainian folk song “Oh, there, on the mountain, in the silk grass”


  Ukrainian singer, art critic, choirmaster, Honored Artist of Ukraine, Candidate of Art History. Winner of the Grand Prix of All-Ukrainian and International competitions.   Oksana is a participant of concerts in the front-line zone in the East of Ukraine. 

highest rank

Chapter 2.  Pop music

3. Daria Mykolenko. “How not to love you, my Kiev”, lyrics by Dmytro Lutsenko,  music by Igor Shamo


Оpera singer, soprano. While still a student at the Kyiv Conservatory, she became a laureate of many all-Ukrainian and international competitions.  She is also the winner of many All-Ukrainian ballroom and sports dance tournaments, and a finalist of the world championship.  Soloist-vocalist of the Kyiv Opera.

Chapter 3. Musical theatre.

4. Yana Tatarova. From operetta “The Tokay Pearls” by Fred Raymond


Laureate of all-Ukrainian and international competitions, soloist of the Kyiv National Operetta Theater

5. Galyna Gregorchak-Odryns’ka. Jadwiga's waltz from the operetta “Robinson Crusoe” by Jacques Offenbach


Honored Artist of Ukraine, soloist of the Kyiv National Operetta Theater

6. Iryna Bespalova-Prymak. From opera-buff  “La Perichole”  by Jacques Offenbach


Iryna Bespalova-Prymak is an honored artist of Ukraine, soloist of the Kyiv National Operetta Theater

Chapter 4. Classical music

7. Mykyta Suhovienko(violin). “Carmen suite” by Rodion Shchedrin.


8. Bohdana Pyvnenko (violin) and Mykyta Suhovienko (violin). “Melody” by Myroslav Skoryk.


Bohdana Pivnenko is a Ukrainian violinist, People's Artist of Ukraine. Laureate of All-Ukrainian and International competitions.  Also a participant of the Orange Maidan and the Revolution of Dignity.

LYRICS: 

Song #1

Ukrainian:

Степан Руданський. Гей браття-козаки

Гей, браття-козаки, сідлайте-но коні!

Черкніть для охоти вина!

До боку шабельку, на руки повіддя,

На ноги стальні стремена!

Не гнути нам шиї, козацької шиї,

Під тяжким залізним ярмом,

Не нюхати диму нещасного краю,

Що в’ється над нами кругом!

Чи в нас не та сила, що у батьків була?

Не тая шабелька у нас?

Чи в нас нема коней на степах широких

Чи вуголь на люльці погас?

Нехай наші коні на чистому полі

Тріпнуться і враз заіржать!

Нехай наші браття, молодці-козаки,

На чистеє поле біжать!

Нехай знову брязне шабелька стальная

В козацьких залізних руках!

Нехай знову ляжуть ворогові кості

Могилами в наших степах!

А люлька-голубка нехай не вгасає,

Паліть вражі села кругом!

Нехай ворог знає, повік не гадає

Знущатися над козаком!.

English:



Stepan Rudanskyi Hey, Cossack brothers

Hey, Cossack brothers, saddle up your horses!

Reach for wine!

A sword at your side, reins in your hands,

Steel stirrups on your feet!

We won't bend our necks, Cossack’s necks,

Under a heavy iron yoke,

We don’t smell the smoke of the unhappy land,

That is swirling above us in a circle!

Do we not have the same strength that our parents had?

 Don’t we have that sword?

Don't we have horses on the wide steppes

Did the embers in the pipe go out?

Let our horses be on a clear field

They will run and roar!

Let our brothers, young Cossacks,

Run on a clear field!

Let the steel sword rattle again

In the iron hands of the Cossacks!

Let the enemy’s bones lie again as

Graves in our steppes!

And let the pipe not fade away,

Burn down the enemy's villages!

Let the enemy know, and never dare

 To bully the Cossack!..

1857

SONG #2

Ой там, на горі, в шовковій траві, 

Ой там сиділа пара голубів.

Цілувалися, милувалися, 

Сизими крильми обнімалися.

Де взявся стрілець, стрілець-молодець, 

Голуба утяв, голубку узяв.

Принів додому, пустив додолу, 

Насипав пшонця та по колінця.

Голубка не їсть, голубка не п'є, 

На свою гору плакати іде.

"Хоч плач, хоч гуди, а їстоньки йди, 

Вже не утечеш од тої біди.

Не плач, голубко, не плач, сизая. 

Пришлю я тобі сім пар голубів,

Пришлю я тобі сім пар голубів — 

Шукай, вибирай пароньку собі".

"Вже ж я ходила і вибирала. 

Не найшла того, що я втеряла.

Не таке крилечко, не таке пір'ячко. 

Не так він гуде, як до мене йде".

ENGLISH:  Oksana Nikituk. Ukrainian folk song “Oh, there, on the mountain, in the silk grass”

Oh, there, on the mountain, in the silk grass

Oh, there sat a pair of pigeons

Kissing, petting,

Blue wings hugging.

Where did the shooter come from, good shooter,

Killed a he-dove, and took a she-dove.

Brought her home, 

And poured millet.

The dove does not eat, the dove does not drink,

But only cries.

But the man says:

"No matter how much you cry, no matter how much you complain, you better eat, 

Because you wouldn’t  escape from this trouble.

Don't cry, baby dove, don't cry, dear.

I will send you seven pairs of pigeons,

I will send you seven pairs of pigeons 

Search, choose a partner for yourself."

She replies: ”I already went and chose mine.

And I can’t find what I lost.

I only can love whom I lost.”

SONG #3

Як тебе не любити, Києве мій

слова Дмитра Луценко муз. Ігоря Шамо

Грає море зелене,

Тихий день догора.

Дорогими для мене

Стали схили Дніпра,

Де колишуться віти

Закоханих мрій...

Як тебе не любити,

Києве мій!

В очі дивляться канни,

Серце в них переллю.

Хай розкажуть коханій,

Як я вірно люблю.

Буду мріяти й жити

На крилах надій...

Як тебе не любити,

Києве мій!

Спить натомлене місто

Мирним, лагідним сном.

Ген вогні, як намисто,

Розцвіли над Дніпром.

Вечорів оксамити,

Мов щастя прибій...

Як тебе не любити,

Києве мій!

ENGLISH

Daria Mykolenko. “How not to love you, my Kiev”, lyrics by Dmytro Lutsenko,  music by Igor Shamo

The green sea plays

       A quiet day is over.


       The slopes of the Dnipro became


        Dear to me


       Where the winds blow


       Dreams of love...


 How not to love you My Kyiv!

     Flowers looks into the eyes,


     Their hearts overflow.


     Let them tell their beloved


     How I truly love.


     I will dream and live


     On the wings of hope…

    How not to love you My Kyiv!

    The tired city sleeps


    Peaceful, gentle sleep.


    Let lights like a necklace


    Bloom above the Dnieper.


    Velvet evenings,


    Like happiness surfing ...


How not to love you, My Kyiv!

Boris Nemtsov

Deputy prime minister during the Yeltsin years

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrH74ghynDM

Interview

Russian Democracy on the Eve of the U.S.-Russia Summit: A Conversation with Boris Nemtsov

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzbcovdFGWk

Documentary:

THE MAN WHO WAS TOO FREE/documentary/Boris Nemtsov

(I did not find an english version on youtube)  here's a trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiwNprRSCOA

Mikhail Khodorkovsky

An opposition leader

What Happens After Putin? - TLDR interviews Mikhail Khodorkovsky

https://youtu.be/2O-xz11B7XM?t=354

Citizen K - 2019  documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISpQd_6mfrY

Power  documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpemnn2b8ts

Khodorkovsky documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQwSxLVqpcM

Aleksey Navalny 

Documentary "Navalny" is nominated for an Oscar this year. 

No free version; looks like it available via HBOMax 

https://www.cnn.com/shows/navalny-cnn-film

https://www.hbomax.com/feature/urn:hbo:feature:GYmFp9ATv1JSBmwEAAACW

To the people of Ukraine: 

I yearn to be with you

To walk with you into the unknown

To face it together with courage, with trust

To hold you in warm arms

To give you a glowing fire’s safety

To delight you with many kisses and embraces.

Though I am here and you are there

I am with you

We are together in the broken heart of sadness

We will always be together in our broken hearted world.

What else to do but feel, let go, open, open, open

To each other, to our broken heart of sadness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk0GePZiMlY&t=2s

Lyrics

We’ll never be brothers

neither by home nor by mother. 

You do not have the spirit to be free – 

we do not even become consolidated with you. 

You have christened yourself "senior" - 

We would be younger, but not yours. 

You are so many of, but sorry, You are faceless. 

You are huge, we are great. 

And you press ... you all toil, 

You’ll be choked by your own envy. 

Liberty is a word unfamiliar to you, 

You are all chained up since childhood. 

At your home "silence is gold", 

And here we burn Molotov cocktails, 

Yes, we have hot blood in our hearts, 

What are you to us for "relatives" blind? 

And we all have fearless eyes, 

Without weapons, we are dangerous. 

We grew older and became bolder 

The snipers have us all under their sights. 

They used to put the hangmen on our knees – 

We rebelled and fixed everything. 

And in vain the rats hiding, and praying – 

They’ll wash with their own blood. 

New instructions are being sent to you – 

And here we have the fires of rebellion. 

You have a Tsar, but we have - Democracy. 

We’ll never be brothers.

Lyrics: Anastasiia Dmytruk 

Music: Virgis Pupšys 

Arranger,video: Gintautas Litinskas 

Singers: Virgis Pupšys, Jaronimas Milius, Kęstutis Nevulis, Gintautas Litinskas, 

Klaipėdos muz.teatro choras.

A story on the history of the Ukrainian song "Shchedryk" which relates to prior attempts at erasure of Ukrainian culture in the early 1900's, and how music was one of the ways this was resisted.

This video story can be found on the same site with the "Carol of the bells" concert, scroll down the site, or on youtube.  see links below. 

https://www.carolofthebells100.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk6GZe15FRY  

In 1919, the Ukrainian Republic Capella, the national choir of the newly independent Ukrainian National Republic, embarked on a cultural diplomacy mission to spread awareness of a newly independent Ukrainian nation around the world. Under the auspices of the head of the republic, Symon Petliura, and his Ministries for Education and Foreign Affairs, the choir toured Europe and North America. Directed by renowned composer and conductor Oleksandr Koshyts, the Ukrainian Republic Capella shared Ukraine’s unique choral tradition by way of promoting the country’s sovereignty and distinctiveness from "the Russian world.”

The first stop on the North American tour, the choir sang on the stage of New York City’s Carnegie Hall on October 5, 1922. This momentous performance would mark the first time North American audiences heard Mykola Leontovych’s “Shchedryk”, a New Year’s song that would become the beloved Christmas classic, “Carol of the Bells.” The choir subsequently performed throughout the United States, but it was Carnegie Hall where the mesmerizing melody first reached American audiences.

CLOSE THE SKY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGts2MS3n_Q

Children should not cry

Children should not die

Stop this bloody war, close the sky 

[Chorus]

Close the sky — save our lives

Close the sky — stop this bloody war

Millions souls are praying for the one thing every night

Please, close our sky-y

Give us life-e-e

Give us life-e-e-e-e

[Verse]

How many innocent have to be killed?

How many broken lives more do you need?

We are your neighbors, we'rе not that far

Close our sky, stop this bloody war

Rockets and astronauts should reach for Mars

Now thеy burn hospitals, they burn our house

Millions are stranded, it will leave a scar

Close our sky, stop this bloody war

[Bridge]

Children should not cry

Children should not die

Stop this bloody war, close the sky

[Chorus]

Close the sky — save our lives

Close the sky — stop this bloody war

Give us life-e-e

Give us life-e-e-e-e