VII. CULTURAL LIFE IN UKRAINE

1. Study the following words and word – combinations on the topic. Use them while speaking about cultural life in Ukraine.

 

to substitute — за­міняти, заміщати, підставляти

to subjugate — токарювати, поработити, підпорядковувати

identity — справжність, особистість, індивідуальність

peculiarity — особиста якість, характерна риса, особ­ливість

craving for freedom and happiness — пристрасне бажання свободи і щастя

to imbibe — убира­ти, вдихати, поглинати

singularity — не­звичайність, своєрідність

to make a weighty contribution — внес­ти вагомий вклад

treasure trove — духовні цінності

melodious — ме­лодійний, ніжний, наспівний

ramified network — розгалуже­на мережа

process of reviving — процес відродження

newsreel — хро­нікальний фільм, кіножурнал

regular production — по­стійне виробництво, продукування

film-maker — продюсер

phenomenal figure — феноменальна (незвичайна) фігура

cinematography — кінема­тографія

motion picture — фільм

country's heroic defence — героїч­ний захист країни

to be extremely popular with — бути особливо популярним серед

to appear — з'явитися

constant creative search — постійний творчий пошук

discovery — відкриття, винаходження

to be associated with smth. — асоцію­ватися з чимось

to boast — гордитися, хвали­тися

animated cartoon — мульти­плікаційний (анімаційний) фільм

root — корінь, основа

myth — міф

performance — вистава

itinerant — мандрівний, що переїздить з місця на місце

puppet show - вистава ляль­кового театру

to stimulate the appearance and saturation of the theatrical art — сприяти появі та становленню театрального мис­тецтва

stage version — сценічна версія

adventure stories — пригодницькі оповідання

to strengthen the theatre's realistic principles — зміцнити ре­алістичні принципи театрального мистецтва

historical themes — історичні теми

gifted Ukrainian playwrights — обдаровані (талановиті) українські дра­матурги

the wave crest of national revival — хвиля національного відродження

its current membership approaches 6,000 — нараховує 6000 членів

folk dances - народні танці

rooted deep in the misty pre-Christian times — корінитися в давніх дохристиянських часах

folk traditions — народні традиції

to be dedicated to smth. — присвячувати себе чомусь

flourishing — розквіт, процвітання

to be the fertile ground on which heroic epos grew — сприяти появі героїч­ного епосу

performed to the accompaniment of "husli" psaltery — що виконувалися під акомпанемент гусел

ntruder — чужоземець

drinking songs — застільні пісні

eventually — врешті решт, згодом

tangible contribution — помітний вклад

key figure — ключова (основна) фігура

renaissance — тут: Відрод­ження

composer — композитор

conductor — диригент

creative heritage — творчий спадок

contemporary — сучасний, сучасний, одночасний

 

B) Do some activities to study the words on the topic better

1) folk art a) прикраси

2) embroidery b) церковні хори

3) wood carving c) сучасний

4) ceramics d) народна творчість, фольклор

5) weaving e) гончарне мистецтво

6) diversity f) вплив

7) musical trash g) аматорське мистецтво

8) church choirs h) народні ремесла

9) contemporary і) лялькові п'єси

10) jewellery j) вишиванка

11) pottery k) рiзноманітність

12) icons 1) кераміка

13) amateur art m) ткацтво

14) puppet plays n) різьблення по дереву

15) crafts o) ікони

16) influence p) низькопробна музика

 

Read the texts, translate them, be ready to speak on the topic

Cultural Life in Ukraine

 

For long decades the development of national culture and the Ukrainian language remained inadequate in Ukraine, when the no­tion of "Soviet culture" served to substitute and subjugate any na­tional identity and peculiarity.

The rich culture of the Ukrainian people has its roots deep in the centuries past, when people first learned to dance and com­pose songs m which mart's craving for freedom and happiness was lauded. This culture has imbibed its singularity from the age old traditions of open-heartedness, hospitality and poetic spirit inher­ent in a people living in a land stretching front the Carpathian Mountains to the Don River, and from Polissya to the Black Sea steppes. This culture has made a weighty contribution in the treasure trove of world creative talent. It reaches world summits thanks to the selfless efforts of such poets and writers as Taras Shevchenko, Hryhory Skovoroda, Ivan Franko, Lesya Ukrainka, Ivan Kotlyarevsky; composers Mykola Lysenko, Semen Hulak-Artemovsky, Artem Vedel; artists Dmytro Levitsky, the brothers Krychevsky; theatrical figures Ivan Karpenko-Kary, Mykhailo Starytsky, Les Kurbas; cinema tographers Oleksandr Dovzhenko, Serhiy Paradzhanov. Melodious Ukrainian song is heard on many theatrical stag­es across the world, brought there by touring drama companies, solo performers and folk groups from Ukraine.

Ukraine today operates a ramified network of institutions of cul­ture and the arts. Professional arts are represented by some 100 ope­ras and drama companies, 25 philharmonic societies and 4 conser­vatories. Eight theatres are meant specially for children, plus 27 puppet shows and 65 children movie theatres.

However, the national cultural treasure trove is replenished not only by professionals but also by more than 300,000 amateur choirs, music and drama companies uniting some 5 million residents of Ukraine.

Hundreds of thousands of children are engaged in some or other amateur creative and performing activities.

The process of reviving Ukrainian culture is also making itself felt in the theatrical art. Currently, practically every drama company stages plays by Ukrainian authors, while of course paying attention to foreign national classics like Shakespeare, Pushkin, Bernard Shaw, Ibsen, Servantes.

 

 

Cinema in Ukraine

 

The first newsreels were made and shown in .1896, by A. Fedetsky, artist and photographer from Kharkiv. Their regular production began in 1907. Among the noted Ukrainian film-makers of the pre-Soviet period were directors P. Chardynin, V. Hardin.

Oleksandr Dovzhenko became a phenomenal figure in national and world cinematography. His motion pictures "Arsenal" (1929), "Earth " (1930) were named among the 12 best films of all times and; peoples at the Brussels Word Exhibit in 1958.

During World War II Ukrainian film-makers made trips to the front. They concentrated on war films about the country's heroic defence.

There are four film studios in Ukraine — the Dovzhenko Studio-sin Kyiv, the Odesa Film Studio, the Kyiv Documentary Film Stu­dios and the Kyiv Popular Science Film Studio.

Bohdan Stupka, Ada Rohovtseva, Rayisa Nedashkmka,Fedir Stry-hun, Olha and Nataliya Sumska, Bohdan Kozak — these and many other names are extremely popular with movie and theatre-goers. They have successfully appeared in domestic and foreign produc­tions.

Constant creative search and interesting discoveries are associat­ed with the names of stage directors Serhiy Danchenko, Alla Babenko, Boris Borys, Mykola Yaremkiv. Ukrainian cinematography boasts such directors and actors as Serhiy Paradzhanov, K. Stepankov, K. Muratova and B. Brondukov.

An animated cartoon studio was set up in Kharkiv in 1927 and later transferred to Kyiv. Among its directors were V. Levanovsky, I. Lazaruk, and others.

O. P. Dovzhenko (1894—1956) is one of the founders of Ukrain­ian cinematography. He worked for the Odesa Studio sin 1926— 1928 and for Kyiv Studio in 1929-1941. Since 1946 he stayed at the Mosfilm Studio Apart from a number of feature films, he made pub­licists documentaries, such as "Liberation," "Battle for Ukraine," etc. Besides, he wrote script-like storks "A Poem About the Sea", "A Story of Flaming Years"; the autobiographical "Desna River Be-. witched," and plays "Life in Blossom," "Cossack Descendants. "The Kyiv Studio bears his name nowadays. The Dovzhenko prize was instituted in 1983.

 

Theatre in Ukraine

 

The roots of the Ukrainian national theatre are traced to Old Slave myths. Performances by "skomorokhy," by Old Rus' itinerant actors, were first mentioned in the 11th century and in the, 17th— 18th centuries they took the form of "balahan" and "vertep" itiner­ant drama and puppet shows, which stimulated the appearance and maturation of the theatrical art in Ukraine. Folk dramas appeared in the 17th century as a stage versions of literary works (usually adven­ture stories or school melodramas).

Taras Shevchenko's historical and social drama "Nazar Stodolya" strengthened the theatre's realistic principles.

Plays marked by talent and high professionalism were written by Ivan Kocherha and Y. Yanovsky, complemented by dramas of every­day life by H. Mizyun, H. Hyzylsky, etc.

In the 1950s—1980s historical themes were broached by gifted Ukrainian playwrights (Ivan Kocherha's "Yaroslqv the Wise," O. Ilchenko's "St. Petersburg Autumn"). It was then that O. Dovzhenko wrote the enthusiastically romantic play "Life in Blossom" about plant breeder T. Michurin and the tragic comedy "Cossack Descendants".

Over the past years the Ukrainian theatre has stayed on the wave crest of national revival. Among its stars are B. Stupka, B. Kozak, F. Stryhun, A. Rohovtseva, V. Zaklunna, and others.

At present, Ukraine operates 91 drama companies, including "academic theatres" in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv and Simferopol; musical drama and puppet theatres in all the 24 administrative regions; Youth Theatres in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya and Lviv; musical come­dies in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa. The Union of Theatrical Workers was founded in 1987 and its current membership approaches 6,000. Kyiv houses the State Museum of Theatrical, Musical and Cinemat­ographic Art of Ukraine.

Ukrainian ballet is known on every continent. Kyiv Ballet troupe has triumphantly toured the USA, Canada, Japan, European, South American countries. Audiences across the globe were bewitched by і the virtuoso techniques and dramatic alent of such Ukrainian balle­rinas as Valentina Kalinovska, Olena Potapova, Alla Havrylenko and Alla Lahoda. Solo dances Irayida Lukashova and Valeriy Parsegov won the Anna Pavlova and Waclaw Nijinsky international prizes.

Ukrainian ballet has old traditions dating from folk dances in Kyiv Rus' on to the music-and-dance scenes of the School Theatre.

 

Music in Ukraine

 

Over the centuries the Ukrainian people have created a singular art of music, rooted deep in the misty pre-Christian times. Folk tradi­tions have preserved to this day original ritual songs, dances and games dedicated to tillers' holidays, such as "Kolyada" (Christmas carols), "Vesna" (Spring) and "Kupalo" (St. John's Eve). The flour­ishing of Kyiv Rus' in the 10th—11th centuries was the fertile ground on which heroic epos grew and matured (ballads performed to the accompaniment of the "husli" psaltery, "skomorokhy" minstrels, and military music). Musicians are among the fresco images perpetuated on the walls of St. Sophia's Cathedral in Kyiv, evidence of the role music played in the life of Rus' princes. Chronicles dating from the 15th-17th centuries contain records of ballads and historical songs lauding the Cossacks' heroic struggle against foreign intruders. The Ukrainian folk vocal heritage boasts a multitude of lyrical, humor­ous, patriotic, satirical, drinking and children's songs and romances. "Kobza," "bandura," "sopilka" (pipe, flute), "basolya" (primitive double bass), "bubett" (tambourine), "tsymbaly" (dulcimer), violin, "kolisna lira" (wheel lyre) and "koza" (Ukrainian folk version of the bagpipe) became truly national musical instruments. In Gogol's words, songs are for Ukraine "poetry, history and one's father's grave".

Beginning in the 14th century, Ukrainian songs and dances ap­peared in print in Western European collections and in books of music for the lyre. Eventually, they found their way into the music of Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Weber, Liszt, Chopin, Dvorak — in the West, and in the East, into that of Dargomyzhski, Musorgski, Rim­ski-Korsakov, Spendiarov, Taneev and Stravinski. They were studied by the Russian Serov, the Pole Zalesski, the Czech Kuba, the Hun­garian Bartok, the Finn Kron, and others.

Professional musical culture appeared and developed following the introduction of Eastern Orthodox Christianity by Prince Volodymyr. At present, Ukraine has 6 opera houses, 3 operettas, 10 state philarmonic societies, dozens of folk choirs and song-and-dance groups, 5 higher music schools and 25 Regional Philarmonic So­cieties.

Among the Ukrainian professional performers are winners of pres­tigious international contests, Ukrainian operatic and ballet compa­nies, symphony orchestras, choirs and solo performers often appear on tours in Europe, Asia and the USA.

Speaking about Ukrainian composers we must mention K, Shy-manovski, I. Stravinski, R. Hliyer, S. Prokofiev, O. Spendiarov, and others, who were born in Ukraine, destined to make a tangible con­tribution to the cultural heritage of many countries and peoples. The key figure of the Ukrainian musical renaissance was Mykola Lysenko (1842—1912), pianist, composer, conductor and folklorist who left behind an enviable creative heritage extending to almost every gentre, including 10 operas (among them the well-known "Taras Bulba and Natalka Poltavka"). In Halychyna it was his contempo­rary, A. Vakhnyanyn (1841—1908), author of the opera "Kupalo" (''St. John's Eve," 1891), founder of the "Boyan Choral Society" (1891) and the Higher Institute of Music in Lviv (1903).

Nowadays general popularity marks such performing groups as the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, "Dymka"zad "Trem-bita" Choral Capellas, Hrigoriy Veryovka Folk Choir, Bandurist Capella, Ukrainian Folk Instrumental Orchestra, Cherkasy and Zakarpattya Folk Choirs, Bukovynian and Hutsul Song and Dance Ensembles.

Ukraine's first jazz orchestra, directed by Y. Meitus, appeared in Kharkiv (1924—1926). The first jazz club opened in Kyiv in 1962.

The recorded pop music genre is worthily represented by O. Berest, L. Bondar, T. Povahy. Creative search in national rock music started at the turn of the 1970s (Kyiv's groups "Kobza" and "Enei"). Among the groups combining the "general rock" style with the Ukrainian folk song-and-dance tradition, reflecting by means of rock the acute problems of the national present were the Brothers Hadyukin and the "Krok" (hard rock), Sister Vika (punk rock), the "BB» (folk rock).

The first venue of the national song poetry genre was Lviv's Va­riety Theatre "Ne Zhurys" ("Don't worry").

Pop singers like Sophia Rotaru, Nina Matviyenko, Vasyl Zinkevych, Ivan Popovych, Iryna Bilyk, Nadiya Shestak, Olexandr Ponomaryov, Oksana Bilozir, Mykola Mozgovyi, Alla Kudlai, etc. are known throughout Ukraine and far outside.

Music by young composers like Karmela Tsepkolenko and Volodymyr Runchak makes confident appearances on international con­cert stages.

 

3. Be ready with projects “Cultural life in Ukraine”

VIII. HOLIDAYS OF UKRAINE

1. a) Study the following words and word – combinations on the topic

to look forward to smth. — чекати на щось із нетерпінням

holy day ['hauh'dei] — святой день • святий день the point is that... - справа в тому, що..

religious — релігійний

nowadays — в наш час, в наші дні

to have nothing to do with smth. — не мати нічого спільного з чимось

to be of great importance — бути дуже важливим

custom — звичай

long-term dream — давня мрія

to come true — збуватися

to vote — голосуватии

to proclaim — проголо­шувати, оголошувати

sovereign state — суверенна держава

tо commemorate — святкувати, відзначати подію, бути нагадуванням

to arrange — влаштовувати, умовлятися, домовлятися про...

expectation — чекання, надія, очікування

to observe — дотримуватись, відзначати

sweetheart — коханий(-а), любий(-а)

to congratulate on — вітати з

Easter — Пасха (свято), пасхальний

Christ's rising from the dead — воскресіння Христа

to play a joke — (по) жартувати

errand — доручення

to send smb. on fool's errand — посилати когось із неможливим до виконання дорученням

fascist invaders - фaшистські загарбники

tomb — могила

fireworks — феєрверк