СREATIVE PORTRAIT OF PROMINANT VIOLINIST (IN MEMORY OF SERHIY OREL)

Abstract

Serhiy Orel (1952–2017) – an outstanding violinist, original composer, Carpathian folklore interpreter, teacher, organizer of musical work, born in Kolomyia in the family of a choral singing teacher and multi-instrumentalist Stepan Orel. He studied at the Lysenko Musical Institute Branch since the age of six years in Matviy Ruzichner’s violin class. He proved himself as a gifted improviser, while gaining universal academic violin education. In his student days at D. Sichynsky College in Ivano-Frankivsk he began composing music and orchestrating his favourite classical works. He deeply immersed in folklore, collaborated with well-known Hutsul virtuosos-performers on the flute traditional instruments – Vasyl Popadiuk (1940–1991), Mykhaylo Tymofiiv (1944), violinist Petro Terpeliuk (1941–2012), cymbalist Vasyl Myroniuk. He gained performance experience while serving together with them Huzul wedding ceremonies in a manner aimed at folk authentication and adopted traditional huzul folklore repertoire using oral method. At the time of obtaining higher education at the Kyiv Institute of Culture (specialty of folk bandmaster), S. Orel already had a two-year record of the soloist and bandmaster of the Hutsul song-and-dance ensemble of the Ivano-Frankivsk Philharmonia, as well as the experience of Kolomyia musical bands director. Musician’s move to the village of Deliatyn, Nadvirna district of Ivano-Frankivsk region in 1977 became fateful major shift, where he, having taken a position of the musical school director, founded together with his wife – singer Liubov Orel (Bilinkevych) the Arkan orchestra. Having rallied first nine participants he created his music piece – musical adaptation of Arkan Hutsul dance. Subsequently, the entire band’s repertory was developing of personal orchestrations and musician’s own works. The general features of his orchestral style include the improvisatory enriched themes of the violin-solo part, main texture load on the string group (violin solo, three parts of violin, viola, cello, contrabass), fipple flute and cymbal second parts, accordeon’s chordal and harmonic functions, tambourine rhythmic patterns, which highlight melody features. A year later, the orchestra gained “folk” title and represented Hutsul region in contests and festivals taking winner awards. Today, about 3,000 S. Orel’s note developments are known, including his own vocal and instrumental works, numerous orchestrations of Ukrainian and multi-ethnic folklore, interpretation of famous composer miniatures, church choral works, author’s music for children’s performances and theatrical productions, genre music pieces for violins and cymbals with orchestra. The phenomenon of the violin-interpreter had an impact on a style of play of presently municipal Arkan folk music orchestra founded by Serhiy Orel, which represents in complex the creative achievements of its artistic director across different scenes of Ukraine and worldwide.