The Poltava Bandurist Capella was vocal-instrumental ensemble who accompanied themselves on the multi-stringed Ukrainian

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 ...

. It was initially established in February 1925, based on a male church choir who sang in the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Cathedral in Poltava under the direction of Fedir (Khvedir) Popadych. The ensemble was disbanded in October 1934.

History

Initial set up

The Capella's first rehearsals as a bandurist ensemble were sponsored by the HubSelBud (Regional Village Housing organization). The formation of the Poltava Bandurist Capella was inspired by a visit to Poltava by the ''

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 ...

'' (itinerant Ukrainian bard) Ivan Kuchuhura Kucherenko who was also their first instructor. It was also inspired by a performance by the Kyiv Bandurist Capella which had performed in Poltava and also information in the press of the establishment of a bandura school and Bandurist Capella in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. Initially the members of the group played on borrowed instruments. One of the major problems of these instruments was trying to keep them in tune as many had wooden tuning pegs which were not reliable and were difficult to finely tune the instrument. Initially they performed part of their concerts without bandura accompaniment, sometimes accompanied by the piano. The only member of the Capella who had prior experience with the bandura was Danylo Pika who had taken some bandura lessons 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 Berdya ...

. From 21 December 1926 until 1 October 1928, the ensemble was known as the "Bandura Studio of the Poltava Region Bureau of Political Education". Its first performance took place at the opening of the

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukrainian poet, wr ...

monument in Poltava in 1926.

Professional status

After a successful performance in Odessa the eleven members of the Capella ordered new banduras and in 1927 received new semi-chromatic Kiev type instruments made by Poltava bandura maker M. Domnenko. In 1928, despite the amateur status of the Capella and the fact that they could only perform in their free time from work, the Capella had some 85 works in their repertoire which they accompanied by bandura and piano. The ensemble gave 249 concerts before 122,825 listeners performing in Poltava and regions, the Donbas, Odessa,

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.Kremenchuk Kremenchuk (; uk, Кременчу́к, Kremenchuk ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnipro River. The city serves as the administrative center of the Kremenchuk Raion (district) in Poltava Oblast (pr ...

, Romny, Kherson and

Mykolayiv Mykolaiv ( uk, Миколаїв, ) is a city and municipality in Southern Ukraine, the administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv city, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, is the location of the most downriver brid ...

Studio under Hnat Khotkevych

On 1 October 1928, the Capella was chosen by the

People's Commissariat for Education The People's Commissariat for Education (or Narkompros; russian: Народный комиссариат просвещения, Наркомпрос, directly translated as the "People's Commissariat for Enlightenment") was the Soviet agency charge ...

to work with bandura specialist

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 ...

to form a special experimental studio for the development of bandura technique and repertoire. The members switched over to diatonic

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.Hryhory Paliyevetz. The Capella had its name changed to the "Exemplary Bandura Studio of UKRFIL". The eleven members of the Studio were joined by a twelfth - Ivan Boretz in 1928, who came to study at the studio from the Kharkiv Bandurist Capella. The studio functioned for 18 months. Each week Volodymyr Kabachok would travel to Kharkiv from Poltava to pick up the weeks assignments from Khotkevych. Khotkevych would visit once a month to review the progress of the students. The technique of the members of the Capella grew considerably and the new repertoire composed and arranged by Hnat Khotkevych opened up new aspects of the bandura previously never explored. Over 20 new pieces were prepared. These included such works as the "Poem about Bayda", and the "Duma: Storm on the Black Sea". At the completion of the studio period with

the group had a concert examination in Kharkiv at the

Korolenko Library Korolenko (Ukrainian: Короленко) is a Ukrainian surname. The root of the word ''Korol'' means ''King'' in English, ending of ''-enko'' refers to the smaller version of the root while in meaning also refers to an heir (son) of. The derivativ ...

Auditorium on 22 January 1930, attended by musical dignitaries of Ukraine. After a successful performance the members began to work professionally as artists in a full-time capacity. After the performance the Capella was renamed "The State Exemplary Bandura Capella of the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

". In 1930 concerts were planned with the Capella being accompanied by a

symphonic orchestra A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning co ...

. Khotkevych made preparations composing a number of works for the Capella with full symphonic accompaniment. The performance however did not take place. This period coincides with a growing period of anti-Ukrainian actions by the Soviet government.

Concert exploitation

In 1931, after a successful performances in Moscow, the ensemble was chosen to be the first artistic group from the Soviet Union to tour North America. In order to prepare for a tour of the United States the received new instruments with tuning mechanism and dampening mechanisms made by Hryhorij Paliyevetz. Despite a deposit of $15,000 being paid, the announced tour did not take place. Instead, the group was exploited by UkrFil (The Ukrainian Philharmonic concert organization) giving some 28 concerts a month. Most of the concerts seemed to take place in areas which had little interest in the bandura and bandura music. Severe restrictions were also place on the repertoire redirecting the group away from historic repertoire and focussing more on Soviet mass songs. For a brief time however, the ensemble became extremely popular and demonstrated the direction for further development of the bandura for many years to come.

Persecution

In 1932

fell out of favour with the authorities. His compositions and arrangements were removed from the list of allowed works for performance in Ukraine. The members of the Capella also came under considerable pressure, being repeatedly taken for questioning by 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. ...

(the Soviet secret police). In January 1934 the artistic director, Volodymyr Kabachok, was arrested after a concert by the Capella in Kiev and did not return to the group. With his arrest most of the scores used by the Capella which included many original handwritten manuscripts composed and arranged by Hnat Khotkevych specifically for the group were confiscated. With Kabachok's arrest the directorship of the Capella fell to Danylo Pika, who was not as strong an administrator. After many months of not being paid (from January–October) the Capella was forced to disband in October 1934. In 1935 some of the members moved to Kiev and worked under the protection of the Dumka Chorus and its conductor - Nestor Horodyvenko. In March 1935 some of the members of the Poltava Bandurist Capella participated in the formation of a new larger

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 ...

under the direction of Mykola Mykhailov.

Recordings

Under the direction of Volodymyr Kabachok the Poltava Bandurist Capella recorded a number of records. In 1933 the following songs were released in editions of 2500 copies: * Pip ta Popadia - arr. by H. Khotkevych #2578 * Na horodi Verba riasna - arr. Demutsky #2582 * Horlytsia - #2379 * Oi ty ziron'ko vechirniaia - arr. Lysenko #2580 * Ohirochky - arr: Studnytsky #2581 * V misiatsi ilui vypala porosha arr. H. Khotkevych - #2583 These same recordings were re-issued in 1934 in 2000 copies.

Legacy

Despite its short history, the legacy of the Poltava Bandurist Capella is significant. It pioneered the Kharkiv style of playing the bandura within a bandurist capella which allowed the use of unique technical devices not possible on other instruments. The repertoire was symphonic in its concept and implementation. Refinements in instrument construction developed by members of the Capella can be seen in instruments being constructed today.

Membership

# Volodymyr Kabachok - arrested in 1934, sent to Kolyma #

Hryhory Nazarenko Hryhory Pavlovych Nazarenko (13/X/1902 Poltava, in the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire, in present-day Ukraine - 1997 Detroit, United States) was a bandura player. Hryhory Nazarenko was one of the founding members of the Poltava Ban ...

- emigrated to USA # Ivan Boretz, (1929–31) - shot in 1937 # Oles Buldovsky,(1925–34) - died on the front # Yakiv Kladovy, (1925–34) - arrested in 1938 # Yuri Kolesnykiv, (1925–34) - member of the UBC # Andriy Kononenko, (1925–34) - member of KBC # Tymofiy Medvediv, (1932–34) - died on the front in 1943 # Pavlo Minialo, (1925–34) - member of the UBC # Serhiy Minialo, (1925–34) - member of KBC # Yosyp Panasenko, (1925–34) - member of the UBC # Danylo Pika, (1925–34) - died on the front in 1943 # Yakiv Protopopov,(1925–34) - died in Germany 1944 # Oles Shramko - arrested in 1928

References

*Борець, І. Показова кобзарська капела Укрфілу // Музика масам, 1930, No.11-12, - С.41-42 *Довженко, В. Заходи "Укрфілу" в справі переорганізації кобзарського мистецтва // Музика Масам, 1928, No.10, - С.7-8 *Кононенко, А. (К-ко, А) Полтавське окружна Капела Бандуристів // Музика, 1928, No.10-11. - С.43 *Панасенко, Й. До історії розвитку Капели бандуристів ім. Т. Шевченка (1923-1963) // Вісті, No.7, Грудень, 1963 - С.14-20 *Перспективи дальшого існування Полтавської Капели - ІМФЕ, Ф.46-2 зб. 40 *Репертуар Полтавської капели бандуристів - Фонди ІМФЕ АН України Ф. 46-2 од. зб. 93 {{authority control Kobzarstvo Bandura ensembles Ukrainian choirs