The Polyphony of Slobozhanshchyna in Modern Recordings of Folk Songs of Everyday Life Themes. Commented, compiled and transcribed musically by Liudmyla YEFREMOVA

The Polyphony of Slobozhanshchyna in Modern Recordings of Folk Songs of Everyday Life Themes. Commented, compiled and transcribed musically by Liudmyla YEFREMOVA

Abstract

The recordings of folk songs of everyday life themes (melodies and lyrics) from various settlements of modern Kharkiv region are submitted in the published work. They are executed by the participants of the “Polyphony” project headed by Miklós Both, and transcribed by the authoress of this article. The value of the recordings is in the fixation of the current state of folk song creation in the region in the first decade of the 21st century, which represents the unique type of slow polyphony of the Slobidshchyna in its diversity, testifying to the preservation of the traditional repertoire.

The task of the “Polyphony” project (https://www.polyphonyproject.com/uk) has consisted in the collecting, accumulation, high-quality recording of the samples of traditional singing of Ukrainian folk songs, mainly from the rural environment, on video and multi-channel audio with the most modern equipment. The collected materials have been submitted in open access to a wide audience of listeners, connoisseurs of the song heritage of Ukrainians, and researchers. The multi-channel recording allows to listen to each voice separately. Transcriptions of song lyrics have been added to the recordings. An online map has been also created. The person can determine the geographical landmarks of folk song recording sessions, covering most of the South, North and East of Ukraine. Several foreign folklorists and mainly a young generation of Ukrainian collectors and researchers have taken part in the project in addition to Miklós Both as its manager.

In September 2018, the participants of the “Polyphony” project the researchers Halyna Lukianets and Susanna Karpenko have conducted a series of multi-channel sound recording sessions in the villages in different districts of the Kharkiv region with the participation of famous Kharkiv folklorists. Let’s trace the expedition route and get acquaintance with the transcriptions of non-ritual songs of everyday life themes.

The expedition has been started on September 20, 2018 in the village of Lyman in Zmiiv (now it is Chuhuiv) district in the centre of the region. This place is known for its folk song treasures, where the songs have been once recorded by Oleksandr Steblianko, Vira Osadcha, Nataliia Oliinyk and other folklorists from Kharkiv. The project participants have recorded lyrical songs and ballads on family, everyday life (no. 1) and love (no. 2) topics with rich octave-third interval the two-part singing, abundant chanting of the main syllables of the text, and frequent use of the particle “zhe”.

The next day a recording session has been held in the village of Kyseli in Pervomaisk (now it is Lozova district), which is situated further to the South. It is a favourite settlement of the folklorists. Vira Osadcha, Mykhailo Khai and other scholars have taken part in it. It should be noted that mostly love-themed songs are recorded here. The simpler two-part singing in folk ballads (no. 3) attracts attention, but it is enriched with frequent glissando, compared to song lyrics, saturated with chants, vocalizations of text syllables, word interruptions, and the addition of the particle “zhy” at the end of the lines of the stanzas (no. 4).

On September 22, the expedition has visited a settlement of Kehychivka in Kehychivka (now it is Berestyn) district in the southwest of Kharkiv region. The district status of the town has influenced significantly the reduction of the folk song repertoire of performers. The ballad “Kalyna-Malyna” (“Viburnum-Ruspberry”) with a mournful melody and transparent octave-third two-part singing (no. 5) attracts attention among the fixations of non-ritual folklore. A day later, the project participants have worked already in the village of Pisky-Radkivski of Borova (now it is Izium) district, in the east of the studied region. A few non-ritual songs have been also recorded here. A spreading two-part singing of Slobozhanshchyna type is present in the song “A v Poli Bereza” (“And there is a Birch in the Field”) (no. 6).

Moving north, on September 25, the project participants (Miklós Both, Myroslava Vertiuk, Nataliia Oliinyk) have held recording sessions in two settlements. First they have visited the village of Vyshneva in Balakliia district. There they have recorded many songs, mostly common in the repertoires of modern performing groups with a dominance of four-line stanzas without any special signs of Slobozhanshchyna stunted singing. The main attention is drawn to the branched three-part singing, polyphonic voices, inherent in the folklore of steppe regions (no. 7, no. 8).

The expedition members have visited the village of Pechenihy in the Pechenihy (now it is Chuhuiv) district on the same day. The songs are mostly on family and everyday life topics. The signs of the Central Slobozhanshchyna stunted singing with the chanting of the syllables of the text and elements of polyphony (no. 9, no. 10) are available here again.

On September 26, the recorders have arrived to the village of Hetmanivka in Shevchenkove (now it is Kupiansk) district. They have found a real treasure trove of polyphonic singing there. It has its own specifics depending on the song – from simple two-part singing to Slobozhanshchyna stunted performing with a three-part texture and elements of polyphony, such as in the song with ritual roots “Kosari Kosiat” (“The Haymakers are Mowing” (no. 13). There is a movement in thirds, fifths and octaves decorated with frequent glissando (no. 11) in two-part singing. The polyphonic correlation of the voices (no. 12) acquires significant importance in the folk ballad “Oi pidu ya v lis po drova” (“Oh, I’ll Go to the Forest for a Firewood”).

The village of Pysarivka in Zolochiv (now it is Bohodukhiv) district has become the last place of recording. The group of singers has performed a number of folk ballads and songs from everyday life lyrics, mainly on love themes. The polyphony is more modest in the ballads (no. 14), in the family and everyday life lyrics the solo opening song has an extremely capricious intonation content (no. 15), a three-part texture and only occasionally abundant word interruptions and concatenations, typical for the stunted singing style of the Over Dnipro Lands region (no. 16).

Thus, a modern cross-section of the performing tradition of different districts of the Kharkiv region in non-ritual song lyrics and lyric epic is submitted in the recordings of the “Polyphony” project. The preservation of ancient genres and works of folk song art, the existence of the typical Central Slobozhanshchyna type of group singing in its various manifestations are confirmed.

Keywords

Kharkiv region, “Polyphony” project, multi-channel recording, polyphony, tradition, current state.