Polissia| Poltavshchyna| Podillia| Donechchyna| Carpathians| Slobozhanshchyna| Bessarabia
I was a piano student at the Lviv Music College. It was the first hike in the mountains that my mother, an artist Kateryna Nemyra, organised for me and my friends.
It was an ordinary hike, with backpacks, tents, cooking over a fire and other adventures. I remember it like a dream - after a long hike, we stop on a mountain, ask for water and a moment of rest. It is a warm summer day, and the sun is shining all around us, and a woman is sitting on the porch of her house singing. I listen to her singing and realise that I don't understand anything. Where does this voice come from? It's soft, warm, as if woven from sunny gold. What is this rhythm? What are the ornaments? I pull out my notebook, draw a musical scale, and start trying to write a ‘dictation’, to catch, record, and understand this singing. Of course, what I wrote down has not been preserved. I don't remember where it was or who was singing. I have only a dream-like memory and some inexplicable desire to return to this well. And again and again.
I managed to return thanks to the invitation of the Gardzenice Theatre, during their trip to the Hutsul region in 1991. That's when I learnt that it was possible not only to collect materials, but also to organise improvised meetings, ‘gatherings’, ‘evening parties’, where we regaled each other with singing, dancing, and stories.
Until 1993, I did not have my own recording devices, so the only recordings I have today are films made by the English director Tony Hill and the Polish director Jacek Petrycki.
The rest of the recordings, the richest material, are kept in the archives of the Gardženice Theatre. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to make own recordings during my travels with the Gardženice Theatre. I have most of the material only in the form of notes, while the recordings themselves are kept in the theatre's archives and, I hope, can be made available to those who are interested.
Lemko songs were one of the favourite songs in the repertoire of the Cheremosh choir of Lviv University. It was in Cheremosh that I learnt the now iconic ‘Piyemo, piyemo’, as well as ‘My sweet shudry-tudry’, ‘How I picked green herbs’, and ‘And you, girl, how are you’.
I was able to go to the Lemkivshchyna many years later, also with the Gardzienice Theatre. During one of my trips, I met the legendary Lemko singer Yulia Doshna.
Later, while working on the ‘Sklavy. Songs of Emigrants’ project in Prague, I met the unique Poliana band from the village of Oryabyna, led by Anna Derevianikova.
I also went to Pokuttia on a trip organised by the American director Virlana Tkach. By the way, it was thanks to Virlana that many of my expeditions became possible, she was the first to teach me how to systematise my records, she and the poet Wanda Phipps translated songs, and she organised workshops in New York, making Americans fall in love with our ancient culture.
While collecting material for the ‘SONG TREE’ project, ethnographer Yaryna Turyanska organised trips to the villages of Potichok, Utoropy, and Sarny. Cinematographer Andrea Odezhynska later made a wonderful documentary about a molfar grandmother we met in the village of Utoropy.
Follow this link to listen online or download from Google Drive (in parts or separate folders).
Follow this link to view or download all the photos from the region.
Polissia| Poltavshchyna| Podillia| Donechchyna| Carpathians| Slobozhanshchyna| Bessarabia