The cherry orchard

Kupalo songfolkComposerArranger

Mar 19

Written By andrew waller

Translated Text

Score Ukrainian

Score Transliterated

The cherry orchard | Садок вишневий | Sadok vyshnevyj

Composer: Zenoby Lawryshyn | Зеновій Лавришин
Lyricist: Taras Shevchenko | Тарас Шевченко

This song expresses a bucolic village scene, from birds singing in the orchard to girls singing while ploughmen return home for a supper prepared by a loving mother. Taras Shevchenko, poet, writer, painter, political figure, and ethnographer, is considered by many to be Ukraine’s bard. His writings formed the foundation for modern Ukrainian literature in the middle of the 19th century, contributing greatly to the growth of Ukrainian national consciousness. Influenced by Romanticism, his unique manner of poetic expression encompassed themes and ideas germane to Ukraine and to his personal vision of its past and future. Shevchenko’s influence on various facets of Ukrainian intellectual, literary, and national life is still felt to this day, even inspiring some of the protestors during the Euromaidan movement of 2013-14. Zenoby Lawryshyn, a prolific Ukrainian Canadian composer based in Toronto, Canada, was born in 1943 in Rudnyky, Ukraine. He emigrated to Canada with his family in 1949. His works include two Masses, a Requiem, individual liturgical pieces, Christmas music, two symphonies, chamber music, incidental music for plays and music for three films. He has collected and edited works of songs of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

Vesnivka's music archives include classical works with text drawn from poetry from many of Ukraine's great literary figures, including Ukraine's bard Taras Shevchenko. This composition by Zenoby Lawryshyn was performed by Vesnivka, together with Levada Choir, under the direction of Zhanna Zinchenko at a Gala Concert at Koerner Hall held on March 23, 2014. The concert commemorated the 200th anniversary of the birth of Taras Schevchenko.