Hnat Tykhonovych Honcharenko (Гнат Тихонович Гончаренко, 1835–c. 1917) was one of the most renowned
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
kobzar
A ''kobzar'' ( ua, кобзар, pl. kobzari ua, кобзарі) was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment, played on a multistringed bandura or kobza.
Tradition
Kobzars were often blind and became predominantly so b ...
s (blind
itinerant minstrels) of the
Kharkiv oblast
Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhan ...
of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Biography
Honcharenko was born in the village of Ripky into a serf family. He became blind at the age of 3 or 4. He began to study the bandura at the age of 22 under the old kobzar
Petro Kulibaba. He studied for a period of four months, and continued his studies under other kobzars he later met.
After he married, he settled not far from
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.[Sevastopol
Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...]
with his son, a railway engineer. Honcharenko would spend his winters there and return to Kharkiv for the summer months.
Honcharenko had in his repertoire four ''
dumy'', epic poems set to music:
#
Oleksiy Popovych
#
The Poor Widow and Her Three Sons
#
The Sister and Brother
#
About the Escape of the three brothers from Oziv
He also sang numerous satirical-humorous songs and played instrumental dance melodies.
On the pages of the press, Hnat Honcharenko was first mentioned by
M. Sumtsov in 1885. In the January edition of "Kievan Antiquities" in the article "About a new variant of Olexiy Popovych" he wrote, that Honcharenko had visited Kharkiv numerous times and that he knew numerous sacred and humorous songs, as well as ''dumy'' "About the Escape of the three brothers from Oziv" and the "Poor widow".
The first recordings of ''dumy'' made from Honcharenko were made by
Yu. Tykhovsky in 1899. These recordings were given to the organizers of the
XIIth Archeological conference The XIIth Archeological Congress Kharkiv, 1902 was one of a number of Archeological Conferences known as Congresses held in Russian Empire. These Conferences were hosted by a different city of the Russian Empire every three years.
The 1902 the XIIt ...
, but unfortunately were not published. Tykhovsky noted that Honcharenko was quiet and unassuming, that he played very well and sang distinctly, and that "it would be very nice to record from him his melodies and the musical accompaniment of the ''dumy''".
Hnat Khotkevych
Hnat Martynovych Khotkevych ( uk, Гнат Мартинович Хоткевич, also ''Gnat Khotkevich'' or ''Hnat Khotkevych'', born December 31, 1877 – died October 8, 1938) was a Ukrainian writer, ethnographer, playwright, composer, musico ...
regarded Honcharenko's performances very highly: "he is one of the most educated of all the kobzars. His appearance leaves an impression similar to a magical feeling. He, like his colleagues, wandered from village to village, singing at marketplaces and streets, but what is first observed is his cleanliness and outward appearance.... It could be assumed that he was like this at home, that he is always like this, and not just for the observer's eye.... As a virtuoso, with a limited repertoire. He did not have messy parts in his playing. Everything was performed clearly and artistically."
In 1908
Lesia Ukrainka
Lesya Ukrainka ( uk, Леся Українка ; born Larysa Petrivna Kosach, uk, Лариса Петрівна Косач; – ) was one of Ukrainian literature's foremost writers, best known for her poems and plays. She was also an active ...
, with her husband
Klyment Kvitka, recorded on phonograph the singing of Hnat Honcharenko and these wax cylinders were sent to
Filaret Kolessa
Filaret Mykhailovych Kolessa ( uk, Філарет Михайлович Колесса; 17 July 18713 March 1947) was a Ukrainian composer ethnographer, folklorist, musicologist and literary critic. He was a member of the Shevchenko Scientific S ...
in
Lviv
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...
for transcription.
Filaret Kolessa stated:
Honcharenko's technique demonstrated true artistry. The tones from his fingers come out clearly and loudly, evenly played scalic passages changing from p to f, sounding clear chords at the end of periods and discreetly becoming quiet during his singing, giving a harmonic foundation for his recitation, or intertwining with the golden tapestry of fine fiorituras of his passages.... This is not simple accompaniment by repetition of 2-3 chords but an independent accompaniment copying the motives of the recitation, improvised in the same manner, like singing, and very lively: it gives the recitation a multicolored movement and lifted his expression of his musical declamation....
...Despite his limited repertoire, Honcharenko with his archaic method of recitation and
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 ...
playing sets himself apart from the other live
kobzars
A ''kobzar'' ( ua, кобзар, pl. kobzari ua, кобзарі) was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment, played on a multistringed bandura or kobza.
Tradition
Kobzars were often blind and became predominantly so by ...
. He sings ''dumy'' in a quick recitation, clearly defining the accents, generally in his singing musical declamation takes precedence over the melodic element, the ancient dorian mode, with two melodic centres, with fourth and fifth groupings of the melody, the ending of the melody on the second degree of the scale, these are archaic characteristics, that distinguish Honcharenko as a singer of the old school, the inheritor of the best kobzar traditions...
...Looking at the recordings of his recitations made on phonograph, with his mastery accompaniments, we have the basis to feel that both
Ostap Veresai
Ostap Mykytovych Veresai ( uk, Остап Микитович Вересай) (1803–April 1890) was a renowned minstrel and kobzar from the Poltava Governorate (now Chernihiv oblast) of the Russian Empire (now Ukraine). He helped to popularize k ...
and Hnat Honcharenko were two of the greatest kobzars that we have known.
Honcharenko died sometime around 1917. A more accurate date has not been ascertained.
Students
*Horobetz
*
Petro Drevchenko
*Erast Udiansky
*Hryhory Bajdykov
*Mykola Demchenko
*
Pavlo Hashchenko
Pavlo Ivanovych Hashchenko ( -1933) was a Ukrainian kobzar and bandura player.
Hashchenko was originally from Poltava province but lived most of his life in the village of Konstantynivka, Bohodukhiv county, Kharkiv province.
Among the kobza ...
*
Ivan Kuchuhura Kucherenko
See also
*
Ukrainian folk music
Ukrainian folk music includes a number of varieties of traditional, folkloric, folk-inspired popular music, and folk-inspired European classical music traditions.
In the 20th century numerous ethnographic and folkloric musical ensembles were ...
Sources
* Mishalow, V. and M. (1986). ''Ukrayins’ki kobzari-bandurysty'' (Ukrainian Kobzars-Bandurists). Sydney, Australia.
* Humeniuk, A. (1967). ''Ukrayins’ki narodni muzychni instrumenty'' (Ukrainian folk musical instruments), p 79. Kiev, Ukraine.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Honcharenko, Hnat
1835 births
1910s deaths
Year of death uncertain
Bandurists
Kobzars
Ukrainian musicians
Blind musicians