as our gift of song
to you ♪
We invite you to listen
to a moving interpretation of
Вечір - Evening
Composer: Yakiv Stepovy
Poet: Yakiv Shchoholiv
Performers:
Isabel Bayrakdarian: Soprano
Krisztina Szabó: Mezzo-Soprano
Albert Krywolt, piano
Yakiv Shchoholiv
Translation: Uliana Pasicznyk and
Maxim Tarnawsky
Evening falls and it grows dark
A haze rolls out over the earth
The silver moon will not rise
A cloud has covered the skies.
Blow a breath, my love
On the glass in the window.
See how the snow sweeps over
The church and the whole village.
It will blow on our house as well
On the straw roof and into the chimney.
It will sweep up into
Hills both tall and wide.
It will get cold outdoors,
And woe to him who
Gets caught alone
In the fields in a storm.
But don’t worry, my dove,
About the coming night.
I’ll bring hay and kindling,
And light a fire in the hearth.
The dry twigs will crackle,
The fire will grow and shine—
And then let the wind outdoors whistle,
And let the haze cover the earth.
In addition to the solo art songs and trio of his ‘Barvinky’ (Running Myrtle) series, Stepovy wrote this vocal duet. It describes an idyllic winter evening in a peasant home. There’s a snowstorm outside, but the music is calm and peaceful, as the house is warm and cozy inside.
Яків Щоголів
Вечоріє і темніє,
По землі лягає мла,
І не зійде срібний місяць:
Хмара небо залягла.
Гукни ти, моя дружино,
У віконечко на скло:
Подивись, як замітає
Сніг і церкву, і село.
Він подме й на нашу хату
І по стрісі до труби
І широкі, і високі
Понамітує горби.
Стане холодно надворі,
І біда тому, кого
Хуртовина в чистім полі
Та й настигне одного!
Тільки ти, моя голубко,
Не журись, що зайде ніч:
Я внесу соломи й хмизу,
Затоплю у хаті піч.
Затріщить сира ліщина,
Розгориться, запала, –
І нехай тоді надворі
Свище вітер, пада мла!
Крім сольоспівів та вокального тріо у його серії “Барвінки”, Степовий написав ще цей дует, змальовуючи момент ідилії. Зима, вечір, селянська хата... Надворі заметіль, але музика спокійна й лагідна, бо в хаті тепло і затишно.
Yakiv Stepovy (1883 - 1921)
From Imperial choirboy to Soviet composer, much of the life story of Yakiv Stepovy is lost in the historic upheavals that ravaged Ukraine in the 20th century. Even so, Stepovy’s legacy of art songs, piano pieces, and other vocal works survives almost intact. It reveals a composer who could adapt to changes in politics, culture, and society. His eclectic preludes and other ephemeral piano pieces give way, after WWI, to revolutionary mass songs and arrangements for bandura, a lute-like Ukrainian folk instrument. But there was one constant in Stepovy’s life: the art song. Each one is an uncompromising declaration of the composer’s artistic ideal. Stepovy was one of the first modern Ukrainian composers to avoid the direct use of folk material. He sought to transform the traditional language of music into a new modernist idiom and thus create a new national identity.
Yakiv Yakymenko (pseudonym Stepovy) was born in the city of Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. His father was a poor, retired non-commissioned officer. In 1886, Yakiv’s older brother, composer Fedir Yakymenko (aka Theodore Akimenko), was sent to the Imperial Chapel as a choirboy. Nine years later, Yakiv joined him there in St. Petersburg. Within three years, Yakiv's voice broke, and he was forced to leave the choir. Somehow he managed to continue his music studies. A year later, in 1899, he composed the liturgical Cherubic Hymn, opus 1. Then, in 1902, Fedir arranged an interview for his younger brother with Alexander Glazunov and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Both Russian composers were so impressed with Yakiv’s talent that they allowed him to study part-time for free at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. The studies lasted for twelve years, until 1914, when Stepovy finally graduated....
CD Box set
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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