Musical folklore in modern Ukraine’s mass culture

Abstract

An integral part of the culture of any ethnic group is oral folk art – folklore. Folklore is somehow connected with all branches of folk life, and even today it penetrates into the daily life of Ukrainians. It has also found its place in the pop culture of Ukraine, which is due to the growing public interest in the origins of the culture of its ethnic group.

Ukrainian musical folklore is the wealth of the Ukrainian people, which for many centuries has amazed the world with its melody and soulfulness. According to UNESCO, it was the Ukrainians who created the largest number of folk songs in the world – about 15 500. In their songs, they talked about the events and phenomena of public life, family life, personal relationships, heroic figures of history, the struggle against invaders and the love of their country. These songs have always attracted historians, musicologists, and folklorists. Every composer dreamed of joining this folk creation and adding elements of their own creativity to this musical genre. At one time, Grygory Vereta, Grygory Veryovka, Kliment Kvitka, Pylyp Kozytsky, Filaret Kolesa, Mykola Leontovych, Mykola Lysenko, Borys Lyatoshinsky, Peter Sokalsky, Yakiv Stepovyy, Kyrylo Stetsenko were engaged in processing Ukrainian folk songs.

Today, when the cultural space of our country reaches a new level of its existence, when new forms and genres of musical art appear, folklore also acquires a new sound, becoming one of the main components of the modern musical culture of Ukraine.

Among the tasks of the article are to investigate the origins of folklore in the Ukrainian stage; to analyze the creativity of modern folk groups and performers and to find authentic versions of folk songs from their repertoire; to analyze the festival movement of folk music and the expanses of Ukraine and trends in folkloreization of vocal television shows.