Volodymyr Kushpet. The performance tradition of Ukrainian folk musicians of 18th – the beginning of 20th centuries. Kobza, lira, torban, bandura. Second Collection Release. (2CD). /digi-pack/.

Traditional culture in general and music culture in particular are unsteady phenomenon. In order to comprehend the essence of changes in their development we have to distinctly separate artificial processes from natural ones. Absence of the Ukrainian state has forced out ancient customs into the conservative countryside environment. Exactly there, in those songs and stories, dumas and legends the spiritual heritage of our forefather was being preserved. One of reveals of the ethno-cultural self-expression could be traced in the musical sphere. Except of very popular in Ukraine collective singing, individual performance accompanied by kobza, lira, torban and bandura have been also developed. This genre's flourishing fell on the period of 15^th – 18^th centuries. But from the end of 18^th century the national music priorities in city music culture changed for the European ones. Secular bandurist necessity disappeared and the traditional folk instrument (except torban) remained only in hands of blind traveling old men. Each period of this genre's existence requires a detailed analyses. Recognition of all previous minstrels as kobzars is rather biased. Only reconstruction of instruments, proficiency in methods of using them and, finally, giving utterance to authentic note materials – that is the only way to make correct solutions in practice. The comparative analyses of different music samples from kobzars, torbanists, lirnyks, bandurists of 18^th – early 20^th centuries shows existence of the genre and performance differences within traditions that have been formed due to different tasks (secular, spiritual, social, political, etc.)  minstrels had to confront throughout different historic periods. These recordings are an arrempt to draw social attention to reconstruction of the traditional performance which is a working monument to Ukrainian music culture.

(information from the polygraph of the disc)

In the booklet, you will also find articles on each of the instruments: kobza, lira, torban and bandura. The text is in Ukrainian and in English.