Ukraine: Sacred Choral Concerti - Calgary - September 27th and 29th, 2013

For over 200 years, a veritable musical treasure, composer Artem Vedel's original manuscripts of liturgical and concerti gathered dust in various museums and libraries. Priceless, yet inaccessible, the true value of this musical legacy was hidden from view.  This horrendous silence was exacerbated by intentional destruction, "editorial correction", and "fixing" by "imperial admirers".  Yet in 2000 the first complete published edition of the autograph manuscript appeared directly as a consequence of the Ukrainian Music Society of Alberta and others, edited by Wolodymyr Kolesnyk (formerly the conductor of the Kyiv Opera) preserving the authenticity of the composers' intent.

Artemi
 Luk'ianovych Vedel' - 1767-1808, was one of Ukraine's most gifted composers privileged to have been able to pursue his musical career in his homeland, unlike many of his peers.  His life coincided with a particularly tragic period in Ukrainian history, the time when Catherine II of Russia destroyed the Hetmanate, the Zaporozhian Sich,  and forced re-enserfment (slavery) of normal people like you and me.  Vedel's life was therefore a never-ending search for truth and justice, which he expressed so eloquently through his captivating contributions to Ukrainian musical culture.

Vedel's style is a synthesis of classic, baroque, and sentimental elements drawn from folk songs, kanti on religious themes, traditional liturgical chant, partesny polyphony, and early classical contemporary practices in Western European music.  One can hear the subtle grace of his contemporaries, Mozart and Haydn, in Vedel's music.  It is organically tied to texts, rhythms, an abundance of melodic invention and sophistication, all requiring considerable vocal skill.   Its artistic merit cannot be denied; the repertoire is innately dramatic, refined, nuanced and expressive.  

Western Canada, it seems, has many admirers of Artem Vedel's works.  Through the forethought of the Ukrainian Millennium Foundation - the group that was formed way back in the 1980's to celebrate the Millennium of Ukrainian Christianity in Edmonton, a special event is in the making. Through their initiative and sponsorship, Calgary's own award winning Spiritus Chamber Choir is blazing a new, visionary path for their first performance of the 2013-14 season.  The ambitious project involves performing several of Artem Vedel's works, in musical juxtaposition with the more recent works of Canadian composer Roman Hurko.

Roman Hurko is a Toronto born (1962) Ukrainian Canadian composer whose works have now been published and recorded to wide international acclaim.  Influenced by his Byzantine Christian ancestry, among Hurko's works are at least three Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrystostom (in English and Ukrainian) and a Panachyda/Requiem for the Victims of Chernobyl (2001), both of which will feature in Calgary's performances at the end of September 2013.  

Spiritus Chamber Choir has had a tremendous artistic trajectory with international recognition and prize winning choral competitions both in France and Canada.  Led by conductor Timothy Shantz, the Calgary ensemble has been winning audiences over for nearly 20 years with a considerable amount of new choral music, commissioned and premiered works, intriguing collaborations, and creative initiatives. Adding to its collection of recordings, Spiritus Chamber Choir's newest ambition to record these and other Ukrainian Sacred Choral Masterpieces is a project which will blossom over the next years.  More news to come on that front!!

Spiritus Chamber Choir's performances of Ukraine: Sacred Choral Concerti is bound to bring great joy and satisfaction to its diverse audience of listeners and admirers.  See you there!

UKRAINE: SACRED CHORAL CONCERTI
(sponsored by the Ukrainian Millennium Foundation)
Friday, September 27, 2013 at 8pm
St. Stephen Protomartyr Ukrainian Catholic Church
4903-45 St. SW, Calgary
TICKETS:
$25 Adults/$20 Students/Seniors
AND
Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 2:30pm
St. Mary’s Cathedral
219 – 18th Ave. SW, Calgary
TICKETS:
$25 Adults/$20 Students & Seniors

988-2013 makes 1025 years!

The year 2013 will mark the 1025 year of Christening of the Kyvian Rus' Ukrainian State - 988 to the present. I'm hoping to get to Ukraine to catch a glimpse of how they might celebrate the date!  And here in Calgary, Ukraine's King Volodymyr is well represented by the impressive church on the hill in Bridgeland overlooking Memorial Drive.

By 980 King of Kyivan Rus', Volodymyr Sviatoslavich Rurikovich (958-1015) had consolidated his empire from Ukraine to the Baltic Sea, solidifying frontiers from any incursions. King Volodymyr established amazing international relationships with neighboring royal courts. Royally commanded, his boyars brought envoy delegations from the great religions of the world for Religion 101 - Comparative Studies (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) By 987 Volodymyr was drawn to Eastern Christianity, for the full festive ritual of the Byzantine church, the beauty, majesty and awed because "God dwells there.....". Bringing the Byzantine world closer through this relationship of faith was impressive.

Legend has it that Saint Andrew, the first Apostle of Christ, traveled over the Black Sea to the ancient Greek colony of Chersonesos, (literally peninsula - an ancient city and now an archaeological site near Sevastopol in the Crimea, Ukraine ) where the faith was accepted by many thousands. This video tour of Ancient Chersonesos is one of the sites on the Black Sea Odyssey tour, a place commemorating the place of Volodymyr's Christian Baptism.http://www.360cities.net/image/ancient-ruins-of-chersonesos-sevastopol#306.10,5.50,78.8

Saint Andrew is said to have traveled north up the Dnipro River to a place where Kyiv would in time be celebrated for its thousand golden domed temples. This ancient place retained its status in Eastern European Christianity from Saint Andrew's time.  The Christian Baptism of King Volodymyr the Great, and Kyivan Rus' made it a Metropolitanate of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

Newly Christened, King Volodymyr received the Princess Anna of Constantinople in Christian marriage and initiated a campaign of Christianization in his nation of Kyivan Rus' (Ukraine). Removing pagan idols, deposing pagan wives, and adopting a new convert's zeal to the tasks before him, he compelled his household, court and officials to submit to a memorable Christian Baptism by immersion in the Dnipro River flowing through his city of Kyiv.

In 988 King Volodymyr's people walked into the water in the Obolon' area, a part of right bank Kyiv that is a floodplain between the River Dnipro and Pochaina.  Podil Raion (Lower City)  just above the floodplain contains construction dating back to at least the 9th to 11 centuries making it the oldest neighbourhood of the city of Kyiv and its historical center. A family member toured me through the  prestigious district years back, to The St. Elijah church (Ilinska Tserkva), the first Orthodox parish in Kyivan Rus'.  Records show that in 945 AD a Liturgy was served at the already built Church of Saint Elijah by the flowing river Dnipro.  Pagan warrior Princes of  Kyiv, Askold and Dir are said to have witnesses a miracle, and initiated its construction. Imagine a full immersion Christening in the Dnipro River, and appreciating the dry land ceremony of presentation in the temple of Saint Elijah only 1025 years ago!  

Rus' newly minted Christians took to their new moral code with enthusiasm, and trepidation. King Volodymyr set an admirable example for his people by freely giving money to the church, the poor, and hesitated to repeat his war craft or inflict capital punishment for fear of bearing sin. A role model, he generously funded the building of beautiful churches. Volodymyr directed clergy who remained in each newly Christianized city to teach spirituality, literacy, culture and economics in the accompanying schools built by his royal decree. Culture flourished. By 1015 he had calmed the spirits of many doubters.

So many historical references can be drawn from seeing the beautiful temple in honor of St. Volodymyr - Equal to the Saints, ideally situated with its panoramic vista of the Bow River in Calgary.  Enjoy!  http://www.beautifulalberta.com/ed-panoramas/st-vladimirs-ukrainian-orthodox-church-in-calgary/

Pra-Did's Language

Unabashedly Canadian, my ancestral lineage nonetheless derives from Ukraine.  Though my family has been here over a century, we strive to maintain our language, culture and traditions.  It is so normal for us, however I know that other families have experienced other forms of assimilation in Canada.  Perhaps my family just stubbornly called it "who we are".

So when meeting new Canadians, new arrivals from the ancestral lands of Ukraine, it continues to strike me so odd that some of them carry perceptions of their homeland that are so different from mine.   Call me naive, but it seems that if a person grows up in a country with such a vast and impressive treasure of history one would feel proud to speak the language and revel in its beauty.  I love speaking English too.  But it doesn't deter me from wanting to retain Ukrainian for my - hopefully - children's children....etc.  There is just something delicious about singing the baby songs, praying in pra-did's language, and knowing this honors the ties that go back centuries.  The smells, the tastes, the fabric of time - these things bring me great joy.

Many people of Ukraine have suffered, it is true, due to the political acts of the "rulers".  It is not even subtle.  Forcing generations of Ukrainians to assimilate into a fabricated culture - the Soviet culture - all while stripping them of their spirituality, the heroic stories of history,  ancestral memory, and language of their forefathers is just beyond me.  Dishonorable if nothing else.  There is a dehumanizing sense about it all - that certain people have less worth, that robbing people of their dignity, their spirits, their property, their land, their culture is ....  Usurping historical truths, it is like a bully who believes the louder the noise, the truer the lie.

On the other hand, I know of wonderful people who have performed mission work the world over, working to preserve ancestral songs, rebuild communities whose domestic way of life has been shattered through no fault of their own.  Good people doing good work for a world that needs help.  It is time to speak truth to power.  Thank heavens for people of moral conviction.

Did you know that in the 2013 year, Ukraine could celebrate the 1025 year since its baptism into the Christian faith?  That is a ridiculously important idea too.  Imagine, Ukraine existed that long ago as a unified  nation, and the faith was accepted as the state religion that long ago, the kings and queens were welcomed in houses of European royalty, and ... Well, what historical truths have been intentionally twisted? Whose loud stories have we been suckered into hearing?   Who owns history?  What bully in our midst has asserted, postured, manipulated and usurped?  Well, truth has a subtle way of expressing itself - quietly, quietly, it simply is.

I wonder what the Ukrainian Christian community in Calgary is planning for the 2013 year?