Ukrainian Music

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Ukraine

Music of Ukraine

Here is some traditional music from Ukraine. Mostly this is music for traditional Ukrainian dance. There are also some songs, both secular and religious.

Some recordings from September of 1991. A very emotional time, shortly after Ukraine declared independence from the former Soviet Union.

All this music was recorded live. It is full of emotion, patriotic feeling and pure enjoyment of a spectacular show of song, music and dance.

I hope you will forgive the sounds of applause from the audience, and perhaps some technical flaws. This is not going to sound like a recording from a sound-proofed studio. However, the energy and enthusiasm is hard to beat. At the original event I was totally moved with the spirit of the occasion.

I hope you will find listening to these sounds gives some picture of the rich and powerful experience as originally took place.

I hope to add more to this website in the future...

Click the button at the left of each track to listen to the Real Audio version. See the link at the bottom of the page if you don't have a compatible player. I have also included an MP3 version which you can download.

		This is a religious piece, a blessing for Ukraine.
		A song from the same session. This is a more light-hearted tune.
		From the same session, a piece starting with a whistle and other instruments. Some imitation bird sounds, then a lively dance - though mainly the rhythm is heard in this recording.
		A slower dance. The sounds of the dancers' feet can be clearly heard. You need to picture in your mind the brightly-coloured costumes of the women and men dancers as they move around the stage.
		This is a spiritual piece. Choir with a male solo voice.
		The choir sing a lively song. A bit short.
		An instrumental accompaniment to dancing. See lower on the page for more traditional dance music.
		A rousing piece, one of my favourites. But it is less than one minute long.
		Time for the Ukrainian National Anthem. What a powerful rendition!
		Followed by a passionate and serious sacred piece.
		After all that excitement a spontaneous song from the *Audience*. This took me by surprise so unfortunately I didn't catch the beginning. Then the performers respond and the atmosphere is complete.
		Time for everyone to go home now, just one more song...

The recordings below are from the same session.
I have added a few of the more lively pieces here.

		A set of lively dance tunes.
		More of the dance music. Hope you enjoy it!
		A well-known song. Another of my favourites.
		Another set of lively dance music.

The MP3 files are compatible with all players. However, in order to save download times, I have made the files smaller by encoding in the new mp3PRO format - follow the link for more details. You can download a player / encoder or just find out more information. There is also a plugin for the Winamp MP3 player.

You will need the Real Audio Player to listen to the tracks. Download one Free here.
(Not needed for the MP3 files).

Since 14th October 2001