The pearls of Ukrainian vocal lyrics in a contemporary tenor singer’s work (the performer’s auto-comment)
Authors: Konorov Oleksiі 
Published: August 2024

Statement of the problem. The cultural and stylistic landscape in the musical art of the 21st century is marked by the active entry of Ukrainian culture and its vocal and performance component into the world space. Therefore, for young Ukrainian singers, the task of rethinking the significance of the “golden fund” of domestic vocal lyrics of the 19th and 20th centuries and reproducing it in their own performance art becomes more urgent than ever. However, the realities of the concert life of a modern tenor singer testify otherwise: the “golden pages” of chamber-vocal lyrics, created for a high male voice, are mostly unknown and not studied on a systematic basis in higher music institutions. This prompts us to fill this “gap” within the capabilities of a concert vocalist, which enriches the scientific component of vocal art and makes the topic of the article relevant. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the article is to determine the historically established mental qualities of Ukrainian vocal music, as its appear in the compositions of the 19th– 20st centuries and actualize in the contemporary creative practice of the singertenor. The research material consists of solos and arias created by Ukrainian classical composers (M. Lysenko, Ya. Stepovy, K. Stetsenko, M. Verykivsky, L. Revutsky, H. Veriovka). The concept of the article is based on the works of Ukrainian musicologists devoted to M. Lysenko (L. Arkhimovych, T. Bulat & T. Filenko; the history of Ukrainian music (M. Zaiko, T. Medetska, L. Parkhomenko, T. Bulat); vocal music (N. Govorukhina, T. Madysheva, O. Torba). Research methods, such as historical and stylistic, genre, stylistic, performance, together contribute to studying the composers’ thinking and formulating the author’s practical recommendations as a concerting singer. The novelty of the obtained results lies in the introduction into the scientific and concert circulation of pearls of Ukrainian vocal lyrics on the basis of interpretative and stylistic analysis. Research results and conclusion. On the basis of the analyzed works of Ukrainian composers, the fundamental principles of the reproduction of the lyrical genre of art in tenor performance are defined. 1) Ukrainian romanticism is characterized by «cordocentrism» (according to H. Skovoroda’s philosophy); hence sincerity, soulfulness, openness, sentimental tone, unique cantilena, wide breathing. 2) A characteristic feature of Ukrainian romantic art is the absence of dichotomy: in M. Lysenko’s music we observe the peace of mind and do not see the conflict that prevents the hero from feeling unity with the world, as was the case in F. Schubert’s songs. 3) Synthesis of poetry and the Ukrainian national “musical intonation of speech” (according to O. Kozarenko, 2000), which developed precisely in M. Lysenko’s work. Vocal lyrics of Ukrainian composers is unique, as it is not autobiographical, but objective, universal. The value priorities of the tenor repertoire are represented not only by the cultural traditions of Ukrainian music, but also by the entire context of the world artistic space-time with which this or that singer is in contact. The exploration of it provides a perspective for the further study of the tenor repertoire as a component of the cultural and stylistic landscape of modern art.