Soiva kieli vocal music series: Songs for Ukraine

Autumn’s first Soiva kieli concert

Sibelius Academy students of voice and piano perform a concert exploring Ukrainian art song and the interesting relationships and shared connections between Ukrainian song and other European song cultures.

Performers:

  • Yolanda Harding and Ruthmariia Lehmuskoski
  • Júlia Pérez and Kumi Shimozaki
  • Maija Turunen and Lambis Pavlou
  • Joel Bonsdorff and Aino Mankkinen

Programme

Mendelssohn/Heine – Ich wollte meine Liebe ergossen, op.63 no.1
Stepovyi/Mey – Khotel bi v edinoye slovo
Mussorgsky/Mey – Khotel bi v edinoye slovo
Tchaikovsky/Mey – Khotel bi v edinoye slovo

Tchaikovsky/Mey – Otchevo?, op.6 no.5
Lysenko/Ukrainka – Chogo tak poblidli ti rozhi jasni
Hensel/Heine – Warum sind denn die Rosen so blass, op.1 no.3

Schumann/Heine – Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (From Dichterliebe)
Lysenko/Ukrainka – Koli nastav chudovij maj

Liudkevych/Heine – Du bist wie eine Blume
Rachmaninoff/Pleshheyev – Ditya! Kak tsvetok ty prekrasna
Schumann/Heine – Du bist wie eine Blume, op.25 no.24

Schubert/Heine – Das Fischermädchen, D957 no.10
Meyerbeer/Heine – Komm!
Lysenko/Ukrainka – Divchino, ribalon’ko ljuba
Lachner/Heine – Das Fischermädchen

Schumann/Heine – Ich grolle nicht
Lysenko/Ukrainka – Ne zhal’ menі
Ives/Heine – Ich grolle nicht

Lysenko/Ukrainka – Tebe, moja ljubko єdina
Mendelssohn/Heine – Auf Flügeln des Gesanges, op.34 no.2
Delage/Labrunie – Intermezzo

Barvinsky/Krymsky – U mene buv kokhanij rіdnij kraj
Rachmaninoff/Pleshcheyev – Son op.8 no.5
Sichynsky/Krymsky – U mene buv kokhanij rіdnij kraj
Ives/anon – My native land

“This evening’s recital introduces the song repertoire of Ukraine, which is largely unfamiliar to most performers and audiences outside of the country. The ongoing invasion of Ukraine prompts questions about the role of art and artists, music and musicians, at times of war. Whilst we can often feel helpless, we can also take the opportunity to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Ukraine and, in particular, draw out and strengthen those aspects of Ukrainian culture which tie themselves to the West and to a larger central European aesthetic.

The large body of Ukrainian song music for voice and piano includes many settings of poetry by non-Ukrainian poets, including a great many settings of the poetry of Heinrich Heine. Heine is one of the key poets of the German Lied tradition, and his poetry was already being translated into Ukrainian in the second half of the 19th century. Spearheaded by Mykola Lysenko, widely regarded as the most important Ukrainian composer and the father of the Ukrainian ‘national’ style, Ukrainian song composers have turned again and again to the poetry of Heine, working with his texts in its original German, as well as in Ukrainian and Russian translations.

This programme brings a selection of Ukrainian settings of Heine’s poetry and places them alongside other settings of the same poems by composers living in Germany, Austria, France, America and Russia. It is always interesting to compare how different composers respond to the same words!

And, by placing the Ukrainian art song culture in the wide context of European vocal music, I hope to welcome it into our repertoires as an important part of our musical and cultural education.”

Artistic Director Keval Shah, lecturer in Lied

Soiva kieli

In Sibelius Academy’s Soiva kieli vocal music series, four lied concerts are performed each year by vocal arts and piano students. The Artistic Director of the series is Keval Shah, lecturer in Lied.

Further information: Matti Leisma, matti.leisma@uniarts.fi

Time

12.10.2022 at 19:00 – 20:10

Location

Camerata

Mannerheimintie 13a

00100 Helsinki

Helsinki Music Centre

Tickets

6,50–11 €

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