Ukrainian Art Song Project sends you this gift of love ♪
We invite you to listen to a beautiful interpretation of:
In the Cold of Winter, Flowers Bloom in My Heart ~ День і ніч падуть сніги
Composer: Stanyslav Liudkevych
Poet: Bohdan Lepky
Performers: Pavlo Hunka, bass-baritone
Albert Krywolt, piano
click to download score
День і ніч падуть сніги
День і ніч падуть сніги густі,
А у мене цвітки процвітають
Рясні в душі.
День і ніч ревуть вітри буйні!
А у мене пташки все співають
Пісні в душі.
Людкевич написав цю мистецьку пісню в 1908 році. Протиставлення зовнішнього світу природи та внутрішнього світу поетових почуттів композитор втілює засобами граничних контрастів між двома розділами строфічної форми. Щира простота, навіть деяка наївність музичного втілення тут нагадують ранні пісні Шуберта.
In the Cold of Winter, Flowers Bloom in My Heart
Day and night the snows fall,
But for me the flowers are blooming
Brightly in my soul.
Day and night the wild winds howl,
But for me the birds are still
Singing in my soul.
Liudkevych wrote this art song in 1908. The contradiction between the external world of nature and the intimate realm of the poet’s feelings is conveyed by the composer through the sharp music contrast of two parts in strophic form. Sincere unpretentiousness, even some naivety of musical expression brings to mind the early songs of Schubert.
STANYSLAV LIUDKEVYCH (1879-1979)
Stanyslav Liudkevych (1879-1979)
Stanyslav Liudkevych first studied composition with his mother who herself was a pupil of Mykhailo Verbytsky, the composer of Ukraine’s national anthem. While at university, Liudkevych was a student of Mieczyslaw Soltys at the Lemberg Conservatory. In Vienna, he studied with Alexander Zemlinsky, Hermann Gradener, and Guido Adler; he also attended Hugo Riemann’s lectures in Germany.
In 1908, he succeeded Anatole Vakhnianyn as director of the Lysenko Institute. During World War I, Liudkevych was drafted into the Austrian army. Captured by the Russians, he spent time in Kazakhstan as a prisoner of war. In 1919, he resumed work at the institute in Lviv.
In 1936, Liudkevych became head of the musicological commission of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. From 1940 to 1972, he taught at the Lviv State Conservatory. Despite being a 20th-century composer, Liudkevych maintained a post-romantic palette that was later tempered by Soviet neo-folklorism. In fact, under the Soviet regime his creative output dwindled. At one of the first meetings with the Communist Party in 1939, the composer is reputed to have quipped, “liberated [by the Communists]—there’s nothing one can do about that…
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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