The white snow on the hill

Kupalo songfolkComposerArranger

Mar 19

Written By andrew waller

Translated Text

Score Ukrainian

Score Transliterated

The white snow on the hill | Ой, на горі сніг біленький | Oj, na hori snih bilen'kyj

Composer: Volodymyr Stetsenko | Володимир Стеценко

Contemporary Ukrainian composer Volodymyr Stetsenko is well recognized as a prolific producer of choral folk music, much of it for female voices. His vocal compositions have been performed by leading choirs in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Poland, Finland, Latvia and Russia, and have won awards at international festivals and competitions. In 2013, Stetsenko was awarded the Lysenko prize for creative achievements in choral music. This folk song describes a young girl’s sorrow at being abandoned by her lover with a haunting melody that is hard to forget. Stetsenko makes extensive use of lyrics from Ukrainian folk culture as exemplified in this song. It’s important to note, however, that his choral works are not arrangements of folk songs, but original compositions based on folk culture. Stetsenko draws inspiration from romantic and dramatic texts and develops the material into beautiful, lyrical compositions. Other notable genres include spiritual music and chamber music

Vesnivka performed several of Stetsenko's folk compositions during its 2014 tour of Western Europe. Vesnivka has recorded Stetsenko's Christmas music, Oj jasna krasna (Ой, ясна красна) on its 2005 CD of Christmas music entitled Rejoice (Вселенная Веселися).