Ukrainian baroque instrumental music in the context of European culture

Abstract

The study presents an overview of the history of instrumental music in Ukraine, where choir and solo singing has always played a prominent role. Singing was a substantive part of the church life and folklore of the city and countryside. Thus, the more prominent was the distribution of instrumental music, which embodied cultural links between Ukraine and other European countries. Instrumental music tradition, more common for Catholic and Lutheran countries, came to Ukraine and brought some remarkable examples of brilliant composers with great theoretical and performing skills. Many important names, which belong to Ukrainian musical culture, have been known in the Western Europe as ‘Russian’. For many foreign researchers ‘The Former Soviet Union’ remains a terra incognita, where the national origin of an artist is some- times forgotten. In the past, for many years the most talented Ukrainian musicians were invited or came for fame and money to other countries and became popular there. Although they often got music education in Ukraine, they were often considered as representatives of the Russian culture. For some time, Ukraine was the source of specialists for nearby countries, so it was the ‘in-between’ between the Western European and Slavonic musical cultures. Rediscovering it by research, performing and elaborating is a very important task for modern Ukrainian per- forming musicians as well as for scholars. Historically Informed Performance in Ukraine nowadays is also an important field for research and promotion among professionals and non- professionals. Achievements in the field of rediscovering of early music are often unknown in the wide circle of musicologists and performing musicians. At the same time, this knowledge can turn out useful not only for early music lovers, but also for musicians who play classical repertoire. This path easily creates many opportunities for collaboration between Ukrainian and European musicians and forms a positive image for Ukraine on the world scene. It also explains the importance of the study.