"Is the master of this house home?" "The candles -- they lit themselves for her "A fiddle play for me, for I'm in a foreign land "I'll strike my palms till they ache... till the rusalki hear and depart" "Where is the mother, who will have us take the ribbons from such a young bride?"

Chornobyl Songs Project

Village Songs from Ukraine performed by Ensemble Hilka (NYC)
led by music director & song collector Yevhen Yefremov (Ensemble Drevo, Kyiv)
with projected images by Jim Krantz and Mykola Seminoh
assembled by Virlana Tkacz and Mikhail Shraga of Yara Arts Group

Hilka Ensemble
Suzanna Dennison, Brian Dolphin, Cherrymae Golston, J.R. Hankins,
Julian Kytasty, Eva Salina Primack, Ethel Raim, Willa Roberts,
Caitlin Romtvedt, Maria Sonevytsky, Nadia Tarnawsky, Shelley Thomas,
and Yevhen Yefremov

A Year in Song

by Virlana Tkacz

Winter
Koliada is a winter ritual that now coincides with Christmas, but is much older in origin and symbolism. Some say the winter song singers are the ancestors who descend to earth during the winter solstice and sing magical incantations to each member of the family. Led by a fiddler, the winter singers stand outside the house and sing: "Is the master of this house home? Set the table, for three guests from the heavens are coming to visit you…"
Then the men sing "The Waters of the Jordan River," a church Christmas carol about the Blessed Virgin bathing the Christ Child.

Calling Spring
As the winter freeze loosens its grip, young women gather on a hill to call out spring: "Oh Lord, let spring begin! Hey!" Their calls resound from village to village.
Spring warmth arrives with lightning storms, rushing waters, and the pale green of new grass.
The rites of spring include round dances, and a dance that traces a meandering pattern. "A bolt of lightning flies through the village and strikes down a young man. Oh Lele, the spirit of spring, water rushes around… Only the widow Domna can approach. She lifts the body and carries it to the church. The doors -- they open themselves for her. The candles -- they light themselves for her."
Lyrical song: "A red berry tree was bent by the wind; a daughter changed so much her mother did not recognized her. 'I now have three great worries: a young child, a harsh mother-in-law and an impulsive husband.'"

April 26, 1986
excerpt from "May" by Natalka Bilotserkivets
translated from Ukrainian by Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps

Soldier's song: "A young major rides on a raven black horse. 'Oh fiddle, play for me, for I'm in a foreign land.'"

Late Spring
Once the wheat fields start to sprout the women lead the rusalki, dangerous female spirits, out of the village and the fields back into the rivers and forests. "I will lead the rusalki to the river's ford, and then I'll return home alone… Hey, rusalki, here is a spray of herbs, don't come to me in my dreams." And "I'll strike my palms till they ache…I'll clap so that the rusalki hear and depart."
Lyrical song: A sister visits her brother. "Brother don't hide the bread and salt… I've eaten my fill and just want to sit with you."

Harvest
Fragments from field songs: "I stayed up all night waiting for my beloved." "Don't cry, girl. I'm getting married, but not to you." "I love you and always have, but there aren't any cows in my dowry." "Beloved, don't be angry, don't tear the sheets. Why won't you look at me or our children?" "Get up daughter-in-law, or may you never rise. Go milk those miserable cows you brought from your father." "Oh Lord, help us make it from this end of the field to the other." "The mowers cut the green grass till blood poured down with their sweat, as a salt trader sat in the shade and laughed at their hard work."

Wedding
During the wedding ritual the matrons undo the bride's braids and roll her hair up under a kerchief, worn by all married women. The maids fight them off in a set of ritual songs and bemoan the loss of a friend.
Matrons: "Where is the mother, who will have us take the ribbons from the hair of such a young bride?" Maids: "That snake pulled my hair, sisters shed tears." "Girls, take up sticks and defend my long braids." Matrons: "May you be as pure as water. May you be as rich as the land." Maids: "These bitches have hidden my long hair."
Lyrical song: "The sun shines from over the hill right into my garden….The grass rustles as a girl lies with a boy, lifting her hand to embrace him… "When I don't see you, I cry forty times a day." What a stupid girl, she gave her love to a boy, then had to be married off to a widower.
Matrons: "We've done what we set out to do: we transformed a girl into a young woman." Maids: "If we really wanted to, we'd undo her hair and take her dancing." Matrons: "Let them live and love. Let them kiss just like us." "Everyone was amazed how the matrons from the two sides kissed." "Bring out the vodka, father."
Lullaby: "Kit, kit, kitty sitting in the corner …"

Winter
"Is the master of this house home? Set the table, for three guests from the heavens are coming to visit you…"

for more information on: the Chornobyl Song Project Dec 2011 in New York, Princeton, Washington & Philadelphia
for pictures and reviews
for Hilka's performance in Jan 2012 at Yara's Re-Imagine:Ourselves Festival

projected photos by Jim Krantz (c) and Mykola Seminoh (c)
photos of the show by Virlana Tkacz (c) 2011 Yara Arts Group; all rights reserved.