On Dec. 20 the Actors’ Building in Kyiv hosted Tempora Publishers’ gala concert program Sribna nyzka spivu (Silver String of Songs) attended by its many partners, supporters, and readers. “For a number of years, toward the end of the summer and on New Year’s Eve, our friends have traditionally gathered at the publishing house to socialize with friends and colleagues, to sing and dance,” says director Yulia Oliynyk. “Before it was a spontaneous event; now that we have a steadily increasing number of people in attendance, our offices were too cramped. So we invited the guests here.” Another reason for getting together this year was the release of the CD “Hei, Rizdvo! Shchedryi vechir!” [Merry Christmas! Generous Eve!] by the women’s folk group Rodyna from Lutsk. Tempora specializes in memoirs, archival and historical literature, issuing unique books as well as recordings: “The Legionnaire: Roads of War and Love”; “Kyiv Sax Quartet”; “Viy”; “House at the Edge of the Village”; and Nina Matviyenko’s “We Will Plant This Golden Stone.”
Some of the compositions included in the improvised program by Rodyna are featured on the CD: the Christmas carol “Saint Barbara,” a pagan New Year’s song “In that Little House,” and a song of New Year’s greetings entitled “May You Have a Bountiful Rye Harvest.” Svitlana Iliushyk, one of the leaders of the folk group, says: “Our repertoire consists mostly of spring, St. John’s Eve, berry-picking, harvest, and winter songs. We discover and record them while traveling across our native land. For example, we know that traditional greeting songs were performed on Christmas Eve and New Year’s, but in our region, closer to the Belarusian border, they are also performed before Easter. Incidentally, we come back from our expeditions with authentic folk costumes that our soloists are wearing.” Not so long ago the folk group performed during the Days of Ukraine in Alsace and Strasbourg (France). Some of the performers later said that their children’s vertep [puppet show] “Volovi ochka” (Oxen eyes) was the greatest success. It is based on an ancient Volyn legend about the animals and birds preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
The folk group Huliaihorod, whose members hail from Kirovohrad oblast, also performed the children’s carol “Struinom, struinom po vsim sviti (Streaming, streaming throughout the world), a merry song called “Oi, uchora u kumy” (Last night at my child’s godmother’s), and the lyrical “Oi, tam na hori” (Oh, there on that hill), and the dance “Metelytsia” (Snowstorm). For the seventh year in a year the young men and women have been recording and performing folk songs and dances originating from central Ukraine. “Unique discoveries were made during this period. For example, the Metelytsia dance, which is considered a traditionally Cossack dance, is as popular as the hopak,” says the group’s member Serhiy Postolnykov. He and his fellow countryman Volodymyr Panchenko, vice-president of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, have been contemplating the possibility of renaming Kirovohrad Huliaihorod [Makemerryville — transl.]. (The issue is being debated on the regional and national levels.) Why not?
The kobza and lyre players Volodymyr Kushpet and Serhiy Zakharets demonstrated virtuoso techniques of playing the lyre and the ancient bandura. They performed a chant about Saint George, an instrumental dance recorded by Filaret Kolessa, the distinguished music scholar. Incidentally, Kushpet’s book Itinerant Musicians in Ukraine (19th-early 20th centuries)” will be published soon.
After the concert the guests were treated to traditional Ukrainian dishes, such as varenyky, potato pancakes, herring, and homemade sausages. Small parties formed, with some people eager to talk, sing, or eat and drink. Maria Kachmar from Canada was on her second visit to Tempora Publishers and said that such gatherings remind her of parties that Ukrainians in Canada organize for various occasions.
As for me, this get-together was like a small island on which everything was orderly and marked by a keen sense of style and good taste. Obviously, this island is inhabited by wonderful Ukrainian people. A similar festive atmosphere is found in Oleh Skrypka’s vechornytsi parties and the festival Krayina mriy (Land of Dreams). The next party will be held in January, announced the leader of VV. There are many of these islands. In fact, The Day’s journalists are trying to get these islands united into an archipelago.
