Danylo Fedorovych Pika (1901–1941) was one of the founders of the

Poltava Bandurist Capella The Poltava Bandurist Capella was vocal-instrumental ensemble who accompanied themselves on the multi-stringed Ukrainian bandura. It was initially established in February 1925, based on a male church choir who sang in the Ukrainian Autocephalous O ...

. Initially he learned to play the

bandura A bandura ( uk, банду́ра) is a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often referred to by the term kobza. Early instruments (c. 1700) had 5 to 12 strings ...

from

Opanas Slastion Opanas Heorhiiovych Slastion ( uk, Опанас Георгійович Сластіон, – September 24, 1933) was a Ukrainian graphic artist, painter, and ethnographer. He was born in the port town of Berdiansk (now Ukraine) on the Berdyans ...

Myrhorod Myrhorod ( uk, Ми́ргород, ) is a city in the Poltava Oblast (province) of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Myrhorod Raion (district), the city itself is administratively incorporated as a city of oblast s ...

. Pika was one of the more talented players of the capella and also wrote out a number of interesting arrangements. Pika became the assistant director to

Mykola Mykhailov Mykola Mykolayovych Mykhailov (1903 – June 16, 1936) was a Ukrainian bandurist, composer and arranger. Biography Born in 1903, Mykola Mykolailovych Mykhailov completed his studies at the Kiev Muz-dram Institute in 1929. He joined the Kiev B ...

in the

Combined Kiev Bandurist Capella Combined may refer to: * Alpine combined (skiing), the combination of slalom and downhill skiing as a single event ** Super combined (skiing) * Nordic combined (skiing), the combination of cross country skiing and ski jumping as a single event * T ...

. In 1941 he was mobilised to the front where he died in the first weeks of battle. Pika was one of the stronger players in the Capella. He performed in a bandura quartet with Serhiy Minialo, Yakiv Kladovyj and O. Kostetsky and recorded a Hopak (his arrangement), "Stukalka" (his arrangement) and "Kucheriava Kateryna" in 1937. The Capella also recorded his arrangement of "Vziav by ya banduru" with Ivan Patorzhynsky in 1937 and Hrechanyky. "Oj hop ty-ny-ny" often accredited to Pika is marked as being arranged by Lysenko-Kropovnytsky and conducted by Pika in 1939. Pika became artistic director of the

after the arrest of

Volodymyr Kabachok Volodymyr Andryievych Kabachok (July 15, 1892 – June 15, 1957) was a well-known bandura player and educator in Ukraine. Biography Born in the village of , in the Poltava region, Kabachok became a singer in the Archbishop's choir in Poltava unt ...

in early 1934 until the group was disbanded in mid 1934. During the period of his directorship the members of the Poltava Bandurist Capella were not paid. He was the strongest bandurists in the group and probably the first to have played bandura in the group having initially converted the singers to bandurists and then initially teaching them. He always had directorship aspirations but not the administrative skills. He is thought by some to have been a

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

informer and had informed on V. Kabachok and caused his subsequent arrest. He became a director of the

Kiev Bandurist Capella The Kyiv Bandurist Capella ( uk, Київська капeла бандуристiв, translit=Kyivs’ka kapela banduristiv) is a male vocal-instrumental ensemble that accompanies its singing with the playing of the multi-stringed Ukrainian fo ...

for a short period of time. He died during the first two weeks of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on the front lines. Pika signed his name to numerous arrangements by Khotkevych (Od Kyiva do Luben, Oj Dzhygune,) - Khotkevych's arrangements were banned from being played after 1934) and other accredited to being the composer of Tripak - Oi Hop ty-ny-ny (original recorded by Sadowsky's choir in 1911 an arrangement of Kropovnytsky's). (Kabachok's son (in Bashtan's editorship of Memories of Kabachok K.1995) states that the person in the Poltava Capella who was a negative informer for the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

had migrated to Canada. None of the members of the Chorus moved to Canada. Nazarenko, Miniajlo and Panasenko moved to the United States. I feel from the evidence shown to me that the informant was probably Pika and that he also informed on Kabachok in 1937 after their tour of the Combined Bandurist Capella to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

References

* ''Мішалов В. і М.'' Українські кобзарі-бандуристи — Сідней, Австралія, 1986 — 10 6с. * ''Литвин М.'' — Струни золотії — «Веселка», К.:1994 (117 с.) * '' Самчук Улас'' — Живі струни — Детройт, США, 1976 (468 с.) * Черемський, К. П. Повернення традиції / К. Черемський. – Х.: Центр Леся Курбаса. – 1999. – 288 с. * Черемський, К. П. Шлях звичаю / – Х.: Глас. – 2002. – 444 с. * Kuromiya Hiroaki, The Voices of the Dead — Yale University Press, London 2007 Bandurists Kobzars 1901 births 1941 deaths {{ukr-music-stub