Ukrainian Folk Instruments

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 established in Ukraine and gained popularity.

During the Soviet era, music was a controlled commodity and was used as a tool for the indoctrination of the population. As a result, the repertoire of Ukrainian folk music performers and ensembles was controlled and restricted.

Vocal music

Authentic folk singing

Ukrainians, particularly in Eastern Ukraine have fostered a peculiar style of singing – The White voice ( uk, Білий голос). This type of singing primarily exploits the chest register and is akin to controlled yelling or shouting. The vocal range is restrictive and in a lower tessitura. In recent times vocal courses have been established to study this particular form of singing.
Among the most popular exponents of traditional Ukrainian folk singing in the modern era are Nina Matviyenko and Raissa Kyrychenko.

Singing ensembles

Ensemble singing in 3 and occasionally 4 part harmony was one of the features of traditional village music in Ukraine. The multi-part singing used in Central Ukraine was thought to have been unique at the turn of the 19th century. Numerous folk choirs were established ( Okhmatinsky choir) and studies published of the style of choral singing.

It was supported in the Soviet period in opposition to church music, as village song was viewed by the authorities as being more proletarian.

In recent times (post 1980s) there is a movement toward authentic ensemble singing particularly in eastern Ukraine with the establishment of various ensembles and festivals there focusing on this style of music. Notable groups who perform in this tradition are Dyke Pole and Bozhychi.

Folkloric ensembles

The first such ensemble in Ukraine was the Okhmatynsky Village Folk Choir organized by Dr Mykola Demutsky in 1889.
Ethnographic ensembles became popular in the 20th century. These were usually choirs often with orchestral accompaniment and sometimes a group of dancers. They originally performed works based on the ethnic folk music of the area, however over the past 40 years they have become more academic regarding their performance style and material.

The most prominent professional groups are:
* State Academic Merited Ukrainian Folk Choir named after Hryhory Veriovka (established 1943)

Regional groups include:
* Veselka – (now known as Poltava) (est. 1987, Poltava)
* Donbas – merited miners ensemble of song and dance (est. 1937 Donetsk)
* Podolianka – ensemble of song and dance (est. 1938 Khmelnytsk)
* Bukovina merited ensemble of song and dance (est. 1944, Chernivtsi)
* Transcarpathian merited folk choir (est. 1945, ( Uzhhorod)
* Verkhovyna – merited Carpathian ensemble of song and dance (est. 1946, Drohobych)
* Lionok – Polissia ensemble of song and dance (est. 1970, Zhytomyr)
* Tavria – Women's vocal-choreographic ensemble (est 1971, Simferopol)
* Slavutych – ensemble of song and dance (est. 1972, Dnipropetrovsk)
* Volyn Folk Choir (est. 1978, Lutsk)
* Zoria ensemble (est. 1987, Rivne)

Characteristics of these choirs was the use of chest register singing (particularly in Eastern Ukraine) and the use of Ukrainian folk instruments in the accompanying orchestras.

Art singing

In the 20th century, popular operatic singers like Modest Mencinsky and Solomea Krushelnycki included Ukrainian folk songs in their concert performances. Other prominent Ukrainian singers include Ivan Kozlovsky, Borys Hmyria, Anatoliy Solovianenko have also propagated the singing of Ukrainian folk songs and romances. In the United States Kvitka Cisyk also promoted art song.

Choral art singing

Choral singing has a rich tradition in Ukraine. While the Catholic West developing sophisticated vocal instrumental works, the Orthodox church frowned on the use musical instruments in sacred music and ''a cappella'' choral music was the only genre that was actively supported.

In the 20th century notable Ukrainian a cappella choirs have included the Ukrainian National Choir, Dumka (choir), Kiev frescoes and Boyan which is the touring choir of the L. Revutsky Capella of Ukraine.

Notable choral conductors include Olexander Koshetz, Wolodymyr Kolesnyk, Nestor Horodovenko, Dmytro Kotko.

Accompanied singing

In Ukraine there existed a class of professional musicians who sang to their own instrumental accompaniment. These professional musicians were often known as kobzari or lirnyky. This category also includes players of the torban and bandura.
The repertoire of these itinerant musicians differed considerably from that sung by the folk including the performance of '' dumy'' (sung epic poems).

In the 20th century the vocal-instrumental tradition has grown into a movement where ensembles and whole choirs sing to their own accompaniment on these instruments. Notable examples include the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus, The Canadian Bandurist Capella and the Kiev Bandurist Capella.

Traditional instrumental music

Ukrainians have a wealth of folk instruments and a well-developed tradition of instrumental music. This is particularly because the Soviet government strongly discouraged the population away from religious music and encouraged "proletarian" forms of musical performance.

The bulk of the ethnic Ukrainian population lived in a village setting and did not share the urban culture of the city based elite that controlled the country. As a result, traditional village music was encouraged and fostered.

Scholarship

The first significant scholarship dealing with authentic Ukrainian folk instrumental music traditions is ascribed to the Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko and his publications starting in 1874 was dealing with the bandura and other Ukrainian folk instruments.

Further scholarship was undertaken in the early 20th century by enthno-musicologist Filaret Kolessa and Klyment Kvitka. Publications in the new science of organology were undertaken by Hnat Khotkevych with his 1930 monograph "Musical instruments of the Ukrainian people". It was banned by the Soviet authorities in 1934 because it studied the phenomena of folk instruments from a national perspective.

After WWII scholarship was continued by Andriy Humeniuk

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