Arrangement of Choral Folk Songs in the Works of Mikhail Hayvoronsky

Abstract

The article is devoted to the genre of arrangement of choral folk songs in the works of Ukrainian composer Mikhail Hayvoronsky (1892–1949). The relevance of the study has been inspired by the growing attention of art critics, folklorists and choral conductors to the little-known in Ukraine works of diaspora composers. The purpose of the article is to draw attention and get acquainted with Mikhail Haivoronsky’s cultural heritage as one of the outstanding Ukrainian living in the USA. The works of the composer were studied by diaspora musicologists (Vasyl Vytvitsky, Roman Prydatkevich, Antin Rudnytsky, Fedir Steshko) as well as Ukrainian experts (Boris Kudryk, Ksenia Kolessa).It was emphasized that the folkloristic work of famous ethnomusicologists, folklore collections and correspondence with famous folk music experts have provided the foundation for the work of Mikhail Haivoronsky. The composer has worked out folklore samples of the representatives of various ethnographic regions of Ukraine as well as Slavic (Belarusian, Croatian), American and Canadian peoples.Mikhail Haivoronsky’s innovations in the field of arrangements of folk song for choral performance find expression in the establishments of the choral course, precedence in Hutsul folklore, appliance of sound imaging (imitation of church bells in carols), development of Ukrainian national music style, and formation of the individual composer style.The high artistic level of Mihail Haivoronsky’s arrangements confirms their foregrounding in the performing practice of Ukrainian and Belarusian choirs and in the publications in foreign collected works. His evolutionary development as a composer and the importance of his creative contribution to the treasury of Ukrainian choral music has been emphasized.