Ivan Taranenko: The music of the Ukrainian land has a powerful foundation that is more than 2000 years old

Music is an elusive form of art. Painting, architecture, antiquities can be seen and felt by touch, and a melody sounds – and disappears in time and space.

At the same time, if buildings, canvases, things do not change their authorship, in music the performer, following the score, still contributes something of his own – formally you cannot call it co-authorship, but listeners always note and appreciate such nuances.

Ukrainian music preserved and absorbed almost everything – from the famous church singing of Byzantine melodies, quickly transformed under the influence of Russian folk song traditions, and unique bell music; from music from the frescoes of Sophia of Kyiv and folk songs that were sung in every house and carried around the world by bandurists and lyre players – and further, to Ukrainian musical baroque, original cantos and Ukrainian romance, where Skovoroda played the first violin; then – to classics (vocal-choral, chamber-instrumental, symphonic) and modern contemporary music…

This is the path of Ukrainian music, which began, perhaps, with a 20,000-year-old rattle found on the outskirts of Chernihiv from the tusks of a mammoth, or with its contemporaneous flute from the Molodove parking lot (Chernivets region).

But is this legacy interesting in times of war? How to encourage people to listen to listen, and is it possible to create a work that would “unite” the scores of different musical genres and directions and their uncompromising supporters?

We talked about this with Ivan Taranenko, a Ukrainian composer, performer, teacher, laureate of numerous awards, director of several music festivals, all-rounder in music and an ardent supporter of jazz – until the creation of IvanTaranenkoMUSCLUB.

– Can cannons silence the muses?

– It is unlikely that an unequivocal answer to this question can be completely sincere. There are artists of action – they react instantly, but it is impossible to keep a high note all the time.

Others need time to think and process the realities to be precise – but then they will be heard by all. But in any case, art during the war finds the forms and manifestations that people need right here and now.

Perhaps some works will not belong to the “great cultural heritage”, but they will play their role. Art is not something static, it is a social phenomenon, it arises when people interact – with each other, with the past, with the present.

Music in this sense of interaction has acquired almost unlimited possibilities due to the development of modern gadgets: now it can be listened to 24/7 without territorial and time restrictions.

Modern Ukrainian culture, and music as well, has become more mobile, reacts more precisely to events, to war, to changes in the condition of people – and changes itself. This also applies to academic music.

– Then what can be interesting to the world about Ukrainian music, except for the phenomenon of “Schedryka”?

– We have a powerful foundation that is more than 2,000 years old, which has survived despite all the influences that appeared on our territory, despite all the invaders’ attempts to ban and destroy Ukrainian – either by decrees of the king or with weapons, as is happening now.

I am talking about a Ukrainian song. Ukrainian song culture comes from the people, and there is not even an iota of pathos in these words. It significantly influenced and influences other musical genres – from ancient church hymns to modern academic and pop works.

And this is what makes our music stand out from the rest, and therefore recognizable.

I have a seven-volume collection of Ukrainian songs published in America. There are more than 10,000 songs (and in total, I think, more than 20,000). Some of our songs were “appropriated” by some, but we know for sure that they are Ukrainian – like “Schedryk”.

Therefore, Ukrainian music is clearly in the tradition and context of world culture, primarily European.

Ukrainian musicians are professionals, we have a wonderful school and amazingly talented young people. That is why we are competitive and modern.

But there is a lack of support from the state, patrons – we still do not have the conditions to earn and be self-supporting in Ukraine, and it is a pity when talented musicians choose to go abroad, and come home from time to time with concerts.

It’s even more of a pity that we tell the world very little about ourselves – we don’t have this tradition.

In the United States, the state subsidy to music groups does not exceed 10% – the rest they earn themselves, receive from patrons. For our Polish friends, culture and music are not just earned for themselves – they invest in their own development, in communication, in enlightenment.

And because of this, they are also known in the world, they are interesting to producers, broadcasters – we are just mastering this approach, but we are learning quickly.

– Even in times of war, the European Union supports Ukrainian culture – and not only in order to add resources, but also to open up more opportunities for contacts, interaction of artists, promotion outside of Ukraine. How did the received EU grant affect the implementation of your project “Music of the Ukrainian Land”?

– The first concert with this name took place in the small hall of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine in 2000. Actually, in that program I tried to apply the elements of the fusion direction known since the 60s, in which rock musicians and jazzmen combined rock and jazz in their collaborations, which gave birth to such a stylistic feature as jazz-rock.

I, for my part, nevertheless decided to slightly expand the range and apply, in addition to elements of jazz and rock, also authentic Ukrainian folklore and classical music. Fusion is translated from English as “alloy, merger”, so I experimented in this direction: creating harmony from a mixture of different styles and instruments.

It was a different look at music, a difficult and interesting way to a new level of creativity.

The EU4Culture grant gave me the opportunity to prepare for the “Fusionfonia_Muzyka ziemi ukrainskiej” concert project, which took place at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw on November 26, 2022 as part of the IV International Music Festival of Central and Eastern Europe “Eufonie”.

Together with my Polish colleagues, the computer trio Tonus Finalis Ensemble, we developed an algorithm for the use of electronic music in the score of the entire project, and previously decided on the form of the project.

As a result, we presented the work in 4 parts with three interludes, and each of the three Polish composers – Marcin Rupoczynski, Stanislav Krupowicz, Marcin Bortnowski – wrote one interlude for the concert project “Fusionfonia_Muzyka ziemi ukrainskiej”.

Even later, I worked on a score for a concert project, where I tried to mix folk, jazz, elements of rock, classical and electronic music.

I am happy that it was possible to combine the timbral-instrumental and genre-stylistic musical components of the concert project in a brilliant performance by the Ukrainian fusion band IvanTaranenkoMUSCLUB, the Polish computer trio Tonus Finalis Ensemble and the Warsaw Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.

The very names of the works speak for themselves: “Kolomyika-Roksolana”, FunkHopak, Shchedruvalna…

I cannot imagine whether it would have been possible to raise this project without the participation of the unique conductor and composer Robert Kurdybacha. And, of course, my most important partner in the implementation of this project is my good old friend, the famous Polish composer Stanislav Krupowicz.

Naturally, we all wanted to express our attitude to the war, to the beast that attacked mercilessly and godlessly, so the motifs of “Dies Irae” (Day of Wrath) were heard and felt by each of our viewers.

Together with the Polish partners of the Tonus Finalis Ensemble workshop in the computer composition studio at the Wroclaw Academy of Music named after Karol Lipinskii, we created the electronic component of the score of the “Fusionfonia_Muzyka ziemi ukrainskiej” project.

We had the opportunity to hold rehearsals directly in the National Philharmonic, so we polished the performance, taking into account the peculiarities of the hall. We were inspired, and the long applause was our reward.

But we got even more pleasure from the comments of the audience, who noted the powerful, authentic Ukrainian motifs of the work.

The concert was a great success, it has many views on the YouTube network, and was recently shown again on the Kultura channel.

– This format of collaboration in the field of culture is familiar to European practice. How do you plan to develop this project?

The truth is that in the 21st century Europe is discovering a Ukrainian Ukraine independent of Russia. We must take advantage of this moment, so we plan to give a number of concerts in European countries.

I am convinced that we will be able to convey and open to a wide audience information about Ukraine, its cultural customs, musical and performing traditions and modern approaches. In addition, after the successful Warsaw concert, I received two commissions: one piece for piano and computer trio, and the second for choir.

The premieres of these works are scheduled for June 2023 in Katowice and Wroclaw.

– There is a point of view: Ukrainian culture has never been as strong as it is now. The war broke the barriers to the movement of Ukrainian culture, at least in Europe. As you said, it was a discovery for many that Ukrainian and Russian cultures are not the same. The world realizes that it has been under the influence of Russian propaganda for many years…

– To be honest, v therefore, it is our fault that we treated the Russian world and its desire to enslave and absorb everything and everyone for too long and condescendingly. They identified this “idea” as one of the reasons for the start of a large-scale invasion.

We learned that lesson, I hope. I hope that Europe and the world also clearly understood that Ukraine is not Russia; on the contrary, they are opposites, as history itself has shown.

And we have to forget about the inferiority complex – on the one hand, and get rid of sharovarschyna – on the other: both the first and the second make us vulnerable. And we should be proud of our cultural heritage: it is what distinguishes us from others and unites us with others.

We must protect it and multiply it.

You can find out more about EU projects and see the cultural mosaic “Together we create. Together we save” by following the link:

Author: Tatiana Voronina

#Save together #Create together

The publication was prepared with the support of the European Union. Its content is the sole responsibility of the author and does not necessarily reflect the position of the European of the Union