Lesson 7

CULTURE IN UKRAINE

Match the words with their Ukrainian equivalents.

folk art	низькопробна музика
embroidery	iкони
wood carving	рiзьблення по дереву
ceramics	ткацтво
weaving	керамка
diversity	різноманітність
musical trash	вишиванка
church choirs	лялькові п'еси
contemporary	народні ремесла
jewellery	аматорське мистецтво
icons	вплив
amateur art	гончарне мистецтво
puppet plays	народна творчість,фольклор
crafts	сучасний
influence	церковні хори
pottery	прикраси

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Since the introduction of Christianity in the 10th century, the beauty and miraculous power of Ukrainian icons were recognized by many nations of the world, and some neighbours of Ukraine even «borrowed» the best of them to decorate their own churches or cathedrals. The mosaics and frescoes of Kyiv churches, St. Sofia's Cathedral in particular, and the icons of the Ukrainian school in Galicia are particularly noteworthy.

Ukraine was the birthplace of many outstanding artists of the past: the sculptor Ivan Martos, the portraitists Dmytro Levytsky and Volodymyr Borovykovsky were the leading figures of St.Petersburg school of painting in the 18-19th centuries. Classical and realistic trends in the 19th century art were represented by the works of the poet-painter Taras Shevchenko and the artist Ilya Repin; later new art movements were evident in the pictures of Ivan Trush, Mykola Burachek, Oleksander Murashko, Mykola Hluschenko, Oleksander Novakivsky, Oleksa Hryschenko and Anatoly Petrivsky. The early 20th century Ukrainian representatives of avant-garde including Mykhaylo Boychuk, Ivan Padalka, Vasyl Sedliar, Alia Norska, Opanas Zayavkha and Feodosy Humenyuk successfully combined the new trends in art with Ukrainian national traditions.

A number of Ukrainian artists have won considerable renown in the West, among them the painters Oleksa Hryschenko and Jacques Hnizdovsky and the sculptor Oleksander Arkhypenko.

Musical traditions in Ukraine

Folk music in Ukraine has rich cultural traditions. Ritual songs, ballads and historical songs (dumy) may be sung a cappella or accompanied by folk instruments, of which the multistringed bandura is the most popular. Ukrainian church choral music reached its peak in the works of the 19th century composers Maksym Berezovsky, Dmytro Bortnyansky and Artem Vedel. The end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries witnessed the birth of the best Ukrainian operas «Zaporozhets za Dunayem» («A Cossack Beyond the Danube») by Semen Hulak-Artemovsky, «Katerina» by Mykola Arkas, «Natalka Poltavka», «Utoplena» (The Drowned Girl»), and «Taras Bulba» by Mykola Lysenko, compositions of Petro Nishchynsky and Mykhaylo Verbytsky, Kyrylo Stetsenko and Mykola Leontovich. In the middle of the 20th century the most talented and popular Ukrainian composers were Lev Revutsky, Boris Lyatoshinsky, Stanislav Lyudkevycfy Kostyantin Dankevich, Yuly Meytus, Yury and Platon Mayboroda.

Ukraine has six opera theatres, numerous symphony orchestras, academic and folk choirs, and other performing ensembles. Amateur groups of song and dance are very popular.

Special praise should be given to Ukrainian folk love songs that unite beautiful melodies with poetic lyrics. These songs may be sad and heart-touching, about the lost love or parting with the beloved, or they may be jolly and vigorous tempting you to dance with the music. A lot of Ukrainian folk songs are extremely popular nowadays, sung and loved by millions of people both in Ukraine and beyond its borders.