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[WHAT TO SING IN A NAZI-HELD LVIV?] Slava vo Vyshnykh Bohu! Zbirka Koliad i Shchedrivok dlia Mishanoho Khoru [i.e. Glory to the God in the Highest! Collected Carols and Shchedrivki for the Mixed Choir]

Liudkevych, S[tanislav] (ed).

Item #2322

Lviv: ZKW Druckereibetrieb II for UTSK Viddil Kulturnoi Pratsi, 1943. 48 pp. 24 x 17 cm. Publisher’s illustrated wrapper. In Ukrainian. Overall good condition. Soiling, minor damage of both front and back covers. A 3 cm tear of the lower left part of the front cover. Paper loss and a tear to the back cover. Rust on staples. A selection of songs is listed on the back cover in period violet pencil.

The edition was prepared by Instytut Narodnoi Tvorchosty [i.e. Folk Art Institute]. Active from 1941, Instytut was a crucial administrative body providing aid for a variety of artistic activities during the Nazi occupation of the region. In a sense, it was a research library, a ministry of culture and a concert hall all combined under single management. Instytut was led by rev. Severyn Saprun (1897 — 1950). Saprun organised various theatrical, music, artistic events with an aim to energise and invigorate grim and depressive wartime conditions. Under one roof traditional folk choirs and bandurist class were active together with incorporated modern Western traditions, like a jazz ensemble and a dance class.

One big event in the Lviv cultural life was a choir contest of 1942 commemorating the 100th birthday of musicologist and folklorist Mykola Lysenko (1842 — 1912). It was a huge event, attracting over 450 contestants. This Zbirka together with a similar 1943 songbook for men’s choir Khrystos Rodyvsia, Slavite! Zbirka Koliad i Shchedrivok dlia Cholovichoho Khoru were most probably compiled of material collected in the preparations for the choir contest.

The present collection includes 27 hymns mostly in three voices with both verses and musical notation provided. They come from Western Ukrainian Catholic Christian tradition. Both
koliadki and shchedrivki were sung outside the ritual sermon sequence. As a genre, shchedrivki combine magical well-wishes with Christian motifs. Eastern European koliadki combine Christian, traditional rural and pagan elements in their motifs and verses and are sung by the guests coming to greet neighbours around Christmas.The editor of the present song collection is Stanislav Liudkevych (1879 — 1979). Liudkevych, being a prolific folklorist, choir conductor and musicologist, had a lifelong career and managed to live for astonishing 100 years. For the region and the era, it was an unprecedented lifetime, spanning through two world wars, a civil war and a period of occupation. During his youth, Liudkevych spent years extensively educating himself and combining classical Western musicological studies with his innate love of folklore. His own artistic heritage includes operas, canantas, but also many choir pieces that he started to compose as early as 1902. Many pieces of his were inspired by national Ukrainian motifs. Compared to Filaret Kolessa (1871 — 1947), Liudkevych was less into research and accurate reconstruction and more into liberating artistic interpretation. He also was more inclined to use local Galician music material
and even compiled the first extensive Galician folk song collection Halytsko-Ruski Narodni Melodii in II vols (Lviv, 1906-1907). Occupational editions, especially ones for children and mass gatherings like choirs, were subject to extensive wear and tear. But this copy saved an attractive b&w unsigned cover art, although it was printed using fragile low-grade recycled paper.

Rare. Not in WorldCat. Not in KVK.
A handwritten version made from a copy of this edition is found in Sluzar Music Score Collection at University of Alberta. A copy is held at Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine in Lviv.

Price: $650.00