as our gift of song
to you ♪
The Ukrainian Art Song Project invites you to listen to a beautiful interpretation of
Пливе човен ~ A Boat Drifts On
Mykola Lysenko: Composer
Performers:
Isabel Bayrakdarian: Soprano
Allyson McHardy: Mezzo-Soprano
Serouj Kradjian: Piano
Folk text
Translation: Maxim Tarnawsky
andUliana Pasicznyk
The boat sails, full of water,
But it’s always rocking.
The kozak heads for his girl,
But he’s always stopping.
The boat sails, full of water,
And covered with leaves.
Don’t boast, fair maiden,
Of your fine necklace.
Don’t boast, young kozak,
Of your curly forelock.
The boat sails, full of water,
May it not capsize!
Lysenko transforms a folk song into a barcarole for twofemale voices in the best tradition of Mendelssohn’s “Lieder ohne Worte” (Songs Without Words). This is probably the most popular and best-loved Ukrainian art-song duet. It is dedicated to two famous opera singers,
M. Zotova and N. Yermolenko.
Cлова народні
Пливе човен, води повен
Та все хитається,
Іде козак до дівчини,
Та все спиняється.
Пливе човен, води повен,
Та й накритий листом,
Не хвастайся, дівчинонько,
Та й добрим намистом.
Не хвастайсь, козаче,
Своїм кучерявим чубом,
Пливе човен, води повен,
Коли б не схитнувся.
Лисенко перетворює народну пісню в баркаролу для двох жіночих голосів у кращих традиціях“Пісень без слів” Ф. Мендельсона. Цей дует є, мабуть, найпопулярнішим і найулюбленішим з усіх творів даного жанру. Лисенко його присвятив двом видатним оперовим співачкам
– М. Зотовійі Н. Єрмоленко.
MYKOLA LYSENKO (1842–1912)
Mykola Lysenko is the father of modern Ukrainian classical music. His prolific life’s work laid the foundation for the further development and expansion of Ukrainian musical culture. He influenced a large group of Ukrainian composers, including Stetsenko, Stepovyi, Leontovych, Koshyts, and Liudkevych. A compilation of Lysenko’s works in 22 volumes was published in Kyiv in 1950–59.
Lysenko was a composer, ethnomusicologist, pianist, and conductor. He studied at the Kharkiv and Kyiv universities and, later, at the Leipzig Conservatory under Reinicke and Richter (1867–69). From 1874 to 1876, he studied orchestration under Rimsky-Korsakov in St. Petersburg. In 1904, he founded his own School of Music and Drama in Kyiv.
The list of Lysenko’s operatic compositions includes Black Sea Cossacks (1872), three operas based on the works of the Ukrainian writer Mykola Hohol – Christmas Night (1873–82),
The Drowned Maiden (1883) and Taras Bulba (1890); and the operettas Natalka from Poltava (1889) and Aeneas (1911). Himself a well-known pianist, Lysenko composed a piano sonata, two rhapsodies, a suite, a scherzo and a rondo, as well as an abundance of smaller pieces, including songs without words, nocturnes, waltzes and polonaises. He also wrote a number of works for strings. Of the Ukrainian composers, Lysenko was the most committed to the art song genre. Lysenko’s 133 art songs (lirychni pisni in Ukrainian) relate a wonderfully descriptive and passionate story of 19th- and early 20th-century European life.
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The Ukrainian Art Song Project has been bringing Ukraine's musical treasures to light since 2004. With your support, we will continue to bring Ukraine's finest composers and their masterpieces to the world stage, where they belong.
Проєкт "Українськa Мистецькa Пісня" поширює найкращі зразки української музики з 2004 року. З Вашою підтримкою ми продовжимо презентувати найкращих українських композиторів та їх шедеври, які належать до світової музичної спадщини.
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