“Semenko, beat! Drum, Snail!” The bohemia of our 1920s came to life at “Book Country” – Publications

On September 26, the second book festival “Bookland” started at the VDNG in the capital. In the variety of events of the festival attention UP. Culture attracted musical and literary performance “Our twenties. Word. Music”. Music columnist Natalka Pysanka saw him and testifies: Mykhailo Semenko would have liked it.

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The first day of the “Book Country” began with several air alarms, but in the evening at the former Soviet “Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy” calmness and almost home comfort reigned. The advantage of the evening was that it hid Soviet symbols, of which there are still quite a few on the territory of the Expo Center.

By the way, locals (and I am among them) call the complex simply “exhibition”. Despite the relatively late hour, it is crowded here, although not bustling: the public strolls around, willingly takes photos near the book exhibits of the festival, enters the publishing houses, and lively discusses something. “Have you heard about the new Kidruk publishing house? There is such a story…“

I did not find out what happened next, because I was in a hurry to hear other stories – about our 20s: bohemian gatherings of writers, searching for new paths in music. By the way, I am thinking, what is the magic of the 20s of the last century? Why does this era, like a magnet, attract the attention of modern artists? Why do projects dedicated to futurists become so resonant – be it the “Futuromarenya” of the Art Arsenal, or the rap musical MUR, or the sung poems of the poets of those times from “Pie and the Whip”.

A few years ago, I became a fan of Ukrainian literature of the 20s after a conversation with a literary critic, one of the moderators of this evening Yaryna Cymbal.

10 minutes on foot from the central entrance to the VDNG Orangery. Semenko would definitely like the venue: isn’t it original to read poems in a greenhouse with round fluorescent lamps instead of the usual chandeliers? I think Johansen, a lover of nature, would also be fascinated by the abundance of greenery around, albeit in a glass cap. More about these heroes later.

The musical and literary evening begins with an address by the moderators, in which an allusion to a quote from Mike Johansen’s novel is immediately recognizable: “Congratulations, our dear listeners and even dearer listeners!“

Literary scholar Yaryna Tsymbal and culturologist Oleksandr Ostrovsky it is not the first time that they greet the public in this way, as three hours ago there was already one meeting. The literary part has remained almost unchanged since then, but the musical part has differed. At 5 p.m., performed by an ensemble NotaBene Chamber Group the Second String Quartet by Boris Lyatoshinskyi (1922) was played. And at 8 p.m., after the literary part, the Third String Quartet (1928) was announced

But first there was Yarina’s fascinating story about the literary parties of Kyiv and Kharkiv at the end of the 10s and in the 20s of the last century: names, places, interiors, visitors. Just then, word got out on the stages of theaters and other concert venues. Ukrainian word.

A vivid picture immediately appeared in front of my eyes: the hall of the Great Kyiv Theater, filled to the brim. Despite the late hour (because the events usually started at 9 p.m.), the heated audience, which was expecting a fight between visiting writers from Kharkiv and local Kyivans, shouted from distant corners of the hall: “Semenko, fight! Drum roll, Snail!Or debates about the future of literature, for which tickets were sold for all the money in the world in anticipation of seeing battles between neoclassicists and futurists.

Report from “Our 20s” by Iryna Taranovska

Report from “Our 20s” by Iryna Taranovska

Report from “Our 20s” by Iryna Taranovska

Report from “Our 20s” by Iryna Taranovska

Report from “Our 20s” by Iryna Taranovska

Report from “Our 20s” by Iryna Taranovska

Report from “Our 20s” by Iryna Taranovska

“Bunnies and bugs of panfuturism” (as they were called) such events were ignored, because they had their own parties where they were successful. And did you know “dear readers and even dearer readers”that Mykhailo Semenko played the violin, dreamed of becoming a musician and sometimes measured his creativity in percentages – how much is he a poet today, and how much is music?

Personally, this information did not come as a surprise to me. But Johansen’s attitude to music was surprising: according to Yuri Smolich’s recollections, any music – whether major or minor – brought tears to Mike’s eyes. So Mike didn’t go to concerts, because he was bound to cry there.

But Pavlo Tychyna is, of course, most associated with both music and literature. It is not only about his collection with the musical title “Solar Clarinets”, or a song based on his poem “The groves are making noise…”which today is an undoubted hit performed by the “Cake and Whip” band. Tychyna worked as a choir conductor, was friends with composers, in particular, with Borys Lyatoshynskyi, corresponded with musicologist Arnold Alshwang and was a kind of connecting link between the artists of Kyiv and Kharkiv.

Actor Gennady Popenko

Photo by Iryna Taranovska

Yaryna’s inspiring, rich and at the same time concise story lasted less than 20 minutes, but vividly depicted the atmosphere of our 20s. Then the actors who played in Taras Tomenko’s popular film “The House of the Word” took the floor (the director also attended the performance). Gennady Popenkothe performer of the role of Mykhailo Semenko, announced with a quote from his hero that he plans to “burn Kobzar”, that is, to move away from the established view of the poet.

The actor not only recited poems, but also told historical facts in parallel and tried to compose a portrait of Semenko from the fragments: what did the poet feel? What was his civic position?… It seems that the answer to these questions was sounded in the last poem read by Popenko, where the poet addresses his daughter.

He spoke next Roman Yasinovskyi (in the film – Hryhoriy Epik) with poetry by Mike Johansen:

“In his poems, in prose, and in theoretical articles, he relentlessly tried to raise the Ukrainian word to the European level.” There were many passions in Johansen’s life: hunting, beautiful landscapes, women. Each of these passions was illustrated by a poem. “But most of all, Johansen loved life and had plans even after it“, Yasinovskyi summed up. Johansen’s last poems, performed by the actor, were resounding, they were so consonant with the present.

Actor Roman Yasinovskyi

Photo by Iryna Taranovska

The last accent of the literary and musical performance was put by the culturologist Oleksandr Ostrovsky. He mentioned the Leontovych Music Society, founded 10 days after the composer died at the hands of a Bolshevik.

For some time, Pavlo Tychyna was the secretary of this society. Events organized by the society were also actively attended by poets. And in order to financially support Ukrainian composers, a kind of flash mob was arranged: someone donated to the publication of sheet music and challenged another.

For example, Tychyna called Petro Pancha, then Pidmogilny and Khvylovy picked up the baton. The society was not limited only to Ukrainian music, the latest musical news was discussed here and the works of modern world composers were performed. Subsequently, all these connections and advanced attitudes were cut off by the Soviet authorities, who set composers the task of writing music, “understandable for ordinary people”.

Ostrovsky compared Lyatoshynskyi’s Third String Quartet with Munch’s paintings and Semenko’s work, because in his music one can feel the admiration for urbanism. And to explain his words, Alexander asked the musicians, who were already sitting on the stage, to illustrate individual fragments of parts of the Quartet. In the parts of the instruments, the living and the inanimate are intertwined, as if tapping out Morse code, and here we are subconsciously trying to find a rhythmic support, and the composer does not give it to us…

Lyatoshinsky’s third quartet for an untrained listener can be a sound shock and cause reluctance to listen to the classics in general. This music is expressionistic, full of dissonances. However, after Oleksandr’s apt explanations and the flawless performance by the NotaBene ensemble of Lyatoshinsky’s Third Quartet, all that remained was to exclaim “Bravo!”

Tatyana Gomon, musicologist and co-founder of the Lyatoshynsky Foundation, listened to both quartets and shared her impressions: “I did not expect that the Third Quartet would evoke such emotions. I am glad that Lyatoshinsky’s music has found its ideal performers.”

The musical and literary performance ended, but interest in the era of our 20s only increased. What kind of music did Semenko write – neoclassical or futuristic? A dozen measures, left by the poet in the notes, are still waiting to be read.

To what percentage was Tychyna a musician? Why did Johansen cry at concerts? Did Lyatoshynskyi like fashionable literary and musical parties? What literary works mention the popular music of that time? These questions are still waiting to be answered by readers, listeners and musicians.