Traditional ethnic Ukrainian music in general

The Ukraine originate itself is at the territory of Asia and Europe and this is revealed within the music in a confusing combination of exotic melismatic singing with choral accord  which does not always easily suit the rules of the folk western European accord. The most striking usual characteristic of authentic cultural Ukrainian traditional music is the extent use of minor modes or keys which join augmented 2ns intervals. This is a sign that the major-minor method established in western European music did not become as rooted or as cultured in Ukraine.

source of picture: kyivweekly.com.ua

Musically the music infrequently uses difficulty time-signature, but compound meters are encountered, and the music can be very difficult harmonically.

Harmonically there are three or four part accord that has been established and it was recorded in the central steppe areas of Ukraine, but it was not renowned use in the mountain areas in the late 19^th century.

·         Ritual chants reveal the biggest tendency to preservation. They are often in recitative pattern, importantly monadic, based on the notes in the range of the third or the fourth. An instance of this pattern is the theme for the Schedrivka Schedryk recognized in the west as the Carol of the Bells.

·         A big orchestra of Ukrainian ritual songs decline within a perfect fourth with the main central sound as the lowest note. Many of the ritual Easter songs recognized as Havivky decline into this group. The tetrachordal method is also seen in the wedding and harvest chants. The traditional dances frequently have songs based on two tetrachords joined together.

·         The pentatonic scale in anhemitonic type is related in spring chant which is known as Vesinanky.

·         The majority of Ukrainian traditional songs melodies is based on scales alike to medieval modes, but varies in melodic structure. The Mixolydian and Dorian modes are utilized more often than Ionian and Aeolian modes. This is involved in the traditional paraliturgical as Koliadky.

·         The augmented 2^nd interval is originated, as well as the raising of the fourth and seventh degree of the scale. This is frequently used for musical expression. This melodic manner gives an influence that is known as adding severe tension o sadness in some Ukrainian chants. The occurrence is not originated in Russian traditional chants and it is though have been brought or established during in the 17^th century.

The Ukrainian traditional chant singing pattern can be split into a number of broad aesthetic groups.

·         Solo singing, which is mainly ritual chants which include the following such as the holosinnya sung during in the wakes.

·         Solo singing with instrumental supplement by specialized nomadic singers known as the kobzari or lirnyky. The biggest type of improvement of this pattern of singing can be seen in the word historical traditional poems known as dumy sung to the supplement of the bandura, lira or kobza (lirny). Dumy were sung mainly in the dorian mode.

·         The third is an ancient kind of modal a cappella choral pattern in which a phrase sung by the soloist who answered a vocal phrases in 2-or-3 voice vertical polyphony/heterophony accord. The choral inflection here is quite medieval in character and some uniqueness of uniquely Ukrainian flavour are obvious, such as the parallel fifths and octaves, and several kinds of plagal tempo. This kind of chant, once leading, after 1650 had ceded its domination to the latest tonal forms, but can still be found in remote village. This pattern is proving in the Kolyadka and Schedryk.

·         The other choral patterns are marked by the effects exerted by the European music, by paraligurgical music of Danylo Tuptalo and his circle during in the 18^th century, and later by the classical music and urban culture.

Ukrainian choral music’s display an extent type of forms such as the heterophonic, monodic, harmonic, homophonic and polyphonic

One of the very active advocates of these patterns of Ukrainian choral music is known as Nine Matviyenko. In the present time groups have been created dedicated to preservation to Ukrainian folk polyphony, popularly as Hurtopravci, Boyzhchi, Korali, Volodar and Drevo.

Some of the folk instruments include the bandura, turban (bass lute), basolya (3-cord cello), kobza (lute), lira or the relya (hurdy-gurdy) and the tsymbaly; the sopilka (duct flute), flovara (open, end-blown flute), trembita (alpenhorn), buben (frame drum), fife, tulumbas (kettle drum), volynka (bagpipes), drymba/varhan (jaw harp), and resheto (tambourine). The traditional instrumental bands are frequently recognized as the troisti muzyki (literally means the three artists that usually make up the band, for instance violin, buben and sopilka). When performing dance song instrumental act generally includes the improvisation.

The folk dance in Ukraine include the Tropak, Kozak, Kozachok, Kolomyjka, Hrechanyky, Hopak and Hutsulka, Metelysia, Arkan, Shumka, chabarashka and Kateryna (Kadryl). Dances deriving outside the Ukrainian cultural area but which are also renowned include Krakowiak, Waltz, Polka, Mazurka, Csardas, Kamarynska and Barynya. Ukrainian instrumental and dance music has also affected the Jewish (Hava-Nagila Let’s rejoice) and Gypsy music and much of it was included in the collection of nomadic klemzorim.

The early 20^th century, Pavlo Humeniuk of Philadelphia became popular in the North America for his fiddle music.

However most of the instrumental dance music in Ukraine can be sung, the existence of Ukraine group of professional traditional artists who sing to their own accompaniment. These nomadic artists were generally known as kobzari (kobzar singular), and followed their singing with the kobza, bandura and lira. Though their roots traced back to ancient times, their collection and traditions is directly traced back to the 17^th century in which they describe the era of the crises between the Kozaks and different foreign oppressors. There were many cases of those traditional singers’ blind blind which became a stereotype in the cultural memory.