Article: Choral hymn and spiritual anthem
Молитва За Україну (Кошиць).pdf
Sheet music, choral setting by Oleksandr Koshyts (1910s)
Performed by a mixed choir of faculty of culture and arts at Lviv University, conducted by Marija Kamins'ka
"Prayer for Ukraine" () is a patriotic Ukrainian hymn published in 1885, which became a spiritual anthem of Ukraine. The text was written by Oleksandr Konysky, and the music was composed by Mykola Lysenko, first with a children's choir in mind. The song became the regular closing hymn in services of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and other churches. It gained national significance when it was performed by mass choirs during the Ukrainian War of Independence in 1917–1920. The hymn was intended to be an official spiritual anthem of Ukraine. It has closed sessions of oblast councils, and has been performed at major national functions.
"Prayer for Ukraine" was performed in Kyiv in 2001 during a parade celebrating the 10th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. It has been part of church services internationally, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 26 February 2022, the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York performed the hymn in the cold open of Saturday Night Live.
History
Oleksandr Konysky wrote a patriotic poem from February to 28 March 1885 in Kyiv, at a time when the Imperial Russian government suppressed the use of the Ukrainian language. The melody and a choral setting were written by Mykola Lysenko, a composer who inspired a Ukrainian national school of composition.
It was printed in Lviv in the summer of 1885, intended for a children's choir. The first title read: Молитва. Гімнѣ, на жѣночи голоси. Слова О. Я. Кониського, музика Миколы Лисенка, — Львовѣ., 1885, Лит[ографія] П. Прищляка, 4 с. (Prayer. Hymn, for women's voices. Text written by O. Ya. Konysky, Music Mykola Lysenko, Lviv., 1885, Lithography P. Pryshliak, 4 p.). It came as a score, with separate parts for soprano and alto. The setting proved to be too difficult for usual children's choirs.
On August 2, Prayer was first performed in Ternopil at a literary and musical evening on the occasion of a travel of Lviv students in Podillya.
The Prayer became widespread in the beginning of the 20th century in arrangements for mixed choir made by in 1907, and Kyrylo Stetsenko and Oleksandr Koshyts in the 1910s. It acquired symbolic significance during the Ukrainian War of Independence in 1917–1920, then performed by thousands of choirs, conducted by Kyrylo Stetsenko, on Bohdan Khmelnytsky Square in Kyiv. It was sung at a national-patriotic rally on 20 December 1917, and on the occasion of the Unification Act of the UPR and WUPR on 22 January 1919.
On 14 July 1998, with an initiative of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the hymn was part of the law project registered under #1229 "About the text of the State Anthem of Ukraine and the Spiritual Anthem of Ukraine". The author of the project was Anatoliy Holubchenko, a native of Mariupol and then First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine (1997–99).
Lyrics
UkrainianIPAUkrainian Latin alphabetLiterary translation by Dmytro ShostakБоже великий, єдиний,
Нам Україну храни,
Волі і світу промінням
Ти її осіни.
Світлом науки і знання
Нас, дітей, просвіти,
В чистій любові до краю,
Ти нас, Боже, зрости.
Молимось, Боже єдиний, Нам Україну храни,
Всі свої ласки й щедроти
Ти на люд наш зверни.
Дай йому волю, дай йому долю,
Дай доброго світу, щастя,
Дай, Боже, народу
І многая, многая літа.['bɔ.ʒe. ʋe.'lɪ.kɪi̯. je.'dɪ.nɪi̯ | ]
['na.m u.kra.'ji.nu xra.'nɪ || ]
['ʋo.lʲi. i. 'sʲʋi.tu pro.'mi.nʲ:am | ]
['tɪ. ji.'ji o.sʲi.'nɪ || ]
['sʲʋi.tlom. na.'u.kɪ. i. 'zna.nʲ:a | ]
['nas. dʲi.'tei̯. pro.'sʲʋi.'tɪ ||]
[w 'tʃɪ.sʲtʲii̯. lʲu.'bo.ʋi. do. 'kra.ju | ]
['tɪ. nas. 'bɔ.ʒe. zro.'stɪ || ]
['mo.lɪ.mosʲ. 'bɔ.ʒe. je.'dɪ.nɪi̯ | ]
[nam. u.kra.'ji.nu xra.'nɪ || ]
[wsʲi. sʋo.ji. la.skɪ ɪj. ʃtʃe.dro.tɪ | ]
[tɪ. na. ljud. naʃ. zver.nɪ || ]
['dai̯. jo.'mu. 'vɔ.lju. | 'dai̯. jo.'mu. 'dɔ.lju | ]
['dai̯. dɔ.bro.ɦo. svi.tu. || ʃtʃa.sʲtʲa]
[dai̯, 'bɔ.ʒe. na.ro.du | ]
[i. 'mnɔ.ɦa.ja | 'mnɔ.ɦa.ja lʲi.ta || ]Bozhe velykyi, yedynyi,
Nam Ukrainu khrany,
Voli i svitu prominniam,
Ty yii osiny.
Svitlom nauky i znannia
Nas, ditey, prosvity,
V chystii liubovi do kraiu,
Ty nas, Bozhe, zrosty.
Molymos', Bozhe yedynyi, Nam Ukrainu khrany,
Vsi svoi lasky y shchedroty,
Ty na liud nash zverny.
Dai yomu voliu, dai yomu doliu,
Dai dobroho svitu, shchastia,
Dai, Bozhe, narodu
I mnohaia, mnohaia lita.Lord, oh the Great and Almighty,
Protect our beloved Ukraine,
Bless her with freedom and light
Of your holy rays.
With learning and knowledge enlighten
Us, your children small,
In love pure and everlasting
Let us, oh Lord, grow.
We pray, oh Lord Almighty,
Protect our beloved Ukraine,
Grant our people and country
All your kindness and grace.
Bless us with freedom, bless us with wisdom,
Guide into kind world,
Bless us, oh Lord, with good fortune
For ever and evermore.
Usage Churches
"Prayer for Ukraine" closes each liturgy in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, as well as the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and other churches.
National spiritual anthem
The anthem is sung at the end of some meetings of oblasts, raions, and city councils. Other occasions include the Day of Unity of Ukraine, Holodomor Memorial Day, and the anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars. In his memoir, Taras Hunczak recalled that the song opened a 1991 concert at the Taras Shevchenko National Opera and Ballet Theatre, organised by the Verkhovna Rada (the parliament of Ukraine) and celebrating the 125th anniversary of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's birth. It was performed on Khreshchatyk, the main street of Kyiv, in 2001 during the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of Ukraine's independence; The Ukrainian Weekly described it as "perhaps one of the most inspiring moments of the parade". In 2007, the Veryovka Ukrainian Folk Choir sang it at the opening of the sixth convocation of the Verkhovna Rada.
Recordings
"Prayer for Ukraine" has been recorded several times. Oreya, a choir focused on Ukrainian music, chose the hymn as the first song of their 2000 album, its name as the title. It was also the opening of their 20th anniversary album in 2009. In 2002, Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus recorded "Prayer for Ukraine" in the album Golden echoes of Kyiv. In 2020, Mykhailo Khoma of Dzidzio recorded the hymn with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, conducted by Oksana Lyniv.
2022
"Prayer for Ukraine" has been performed internationally in church services related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, already in anticipation of the conflict. On 24 February 2022, the day that the invasion officially began, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra spontaneously included "Prayer for Ukraine", arranged by its music librarian Serge Liberovsky, in a series concert in Santa Monica, between Mozart's Divertimento for String Trio and Dvořák's Serenade for Winds. It was introduced by an address about its significance. On 26 February, the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York, a group founded in 1949 "to preserve and cultivate the rich musical heritage of Ukraine", performed the hymn in the cold open of Saturday Night Live, standing behind a table of candles that were arranged to spell "Kyiv".
References External links
Choir Capella Oreya – "Prayer For Ukraine" (2000) Full Album |
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Vol. 1 No. 1 (2020): Young Scientists Grinchenko – Seton International Journal
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Section 2. Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University Young Scholars Studies
Olga Kovalets'. Oleksandr Konys’ky – the life dedicated to Ukraine
Authors Olga Kovalets’
Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0289-5616 Abstract Abstract .
The article is devoted to the personality of Oleksandr Konys’ky (1836–1900), a Ukrainian public figure, enlightener, writer, pedagogue, translator, publisher, lexicographer, professional lawyer, journalist, author of the words of the spiritual hymn “Prayer for Ukraine”, the translator of the Taras Shevchenko Diary, the founder of Shevchenko studies, a bright personality in the Ukrainian social, political and literary process of the second half of the 19
th century.
The relevance of the article consists in researching his life and multifaceted activities. Oleksandr Konys’ky defended the interests of Ukrainianness and Ukrainians throughout all his life. He did not compromise in the national cause. He awakened the indifferents by his writings and words. He burned with love for Ukraine and ignited with this fire the hearts of many of his spiritual followers. Behind this fire of love were his real deeds, his foresight and talent to see the future, his belief and conviction that Ukraine would gain independence.
His greatest work, the spiritual hymn “Prayer for Ukraine”, he wrote in 1885, 135 years ago. Oleksandr Konys’ky sincerely believed that with the words of his prayer: “Lord, oh the Great and Almighty, / Protect our beloved Ukraine, / Bless her with freedom and light / Of your holy rays. / With learning and knowledge enlighten / Us, your children small, / In love pure and everlasting / Let us, oh Lord, grow. / We pray, oh Lord Almighty, / Protect our beloved Ukraine, / Grant our people and country / All your kindness and grace. / Bless us with freedom, bless us with wisdom, / Guide into kind world, / Bless us, oh Lord, with good fortune / For ever and evermore”, – will grow the future Ukrainians of the future Ukrainian independent state.
Educator-enlightener Oleksandr Konys’ky considered his goal to form the national consciousness and self-consciousness of the Ukrainian people through enlightenment, education, dissemination of knowledge, literacy of children and adults. He had many ideas, was optimistic, showed energy and great activity in public life.
Oleksandr Konys’ky was a key figure in the national liberation movement of the second half of the 19th century. Oleksandr Konis’ky was the creator of the ideological mental image of the modern Ukrainian. He was the first independent of the Ukrainian hromadivsʹkyy movement. He became the organizer of the national Ukrainian science and put a dividing line between the Russian and Ukrainian science.
Oleksandr Konys’ky was the first truly Ukrainian conciliar, he stood at the cradle of the formation of all-Ukrainian culture in Galicia: a united literary language, a common fiction, a single national science, synchronized socio-political activities in the international arena.
Keywords:
Olexandr Konys’ky, Ukrainianness, enlightener, national consciousness, education, enlightenment, independence, conciliarism, national liberation movement, founder of Shevchenko studies, second half of the 19
th century, Kyiv. References
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http://www.history.org.ua/?termin=Koniskii_O . Downloads PDF (Українська) Published 2021-03-12 How to Cite
Ковалець, О. . (2021). Olga Kovalets’. Oleksandr Konys’ky – the life dedicated to Ukraine .
Young Scholars Grinchenko – Seton International Journal
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