H. Maiboroda National Honoured Bandura Choir of Ukraine: History of Functioning and Priority Principles of Creativity

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to identify the leading trends in the activity of one of the oldest professional creative teams – the H. Maiboroda National Honoured Bandura Choir of Ukraine in the context of the development of academic folk vocal and instrumental art. The research methodology is determined by general philosophical, dialectical and historical principles, systematic and comparative approaches, as well as special musicological methods for the study of bandura instruments, concert and touring activities, repertoire formation trends, and personological aspects of musical creativity. The scientific novelty of the article is a systematic analysis of the creative activity of the H. Maiboroda National Honoured Bandura Choir through the prism of academicisation of folk vocal and instrumental art, development of ensemble bandura performance, selection and optimisation of bandura instruments, formation of repertoire principles, contribution of leading directors and conductors of the band to its professional formation, cooperation with composers and soloists, and the thematic principle in organising concert and touring programmes. Conclusions. The H. Maiboroda National Honoured Bandura Choir of Ukraine is a unique collective with a rich history, accumulation and synthesis of both folk music traditions – kobzarism and academic choral traditions. More than a century of the choir's functioning has become an expression of the cultural peculiarities of the time periods of bandura creativity and performance: at the level of improving the instrumentation, involving other folk and academic instruments in banduras, selecting male voices, choosing the texture of choral singing and instrumental playing, genre and thematic directions of the repertoire, collaborating with soloists and conductors, and a wide geography of concert and touring activities. The priority directions of the repertoire of the choir are folklore samples in a cappella and vocal-instrumental representation and composer's elaboration, original works and arrangements of Ukrainian and foreign composers, covering historical, Cossack, lyrical, humorous, riflemen's songs, Shevchenko's songs, UPA songs, and modern patriotic works.
 Keywords: bandura art, folk vocal and instrumental art, collective folk and instrumental art, bandura ensemble, bandura chapel, academisation, repertoire, composers' works, concert activity.