Ukrainians are a musical people, yet their creations remain largely on the periphery of general discussions of music. Despite this historic marginalisation, Ukrainian music is richly varied and diverse, drawing from ancient folk sources, experimenting with avant-garde technologies, resisting sonic imperialism, and engaging in dialogue with the best-known and most beloved works of music history. In this eight-week course, we will discover key genres, figures, and movements of Ukrainian music, from authentic folk singing to musical responses to war.

Our eight-week course on Ukrainian music will examine a wide range of repertoires across several centuries, performing styles, and contexts. The course will range from folk music traditions, such as authentic village singing and the history of Ukraine’s national instrument, the bandura, to the works of Kyiv Avant-Garde, musical dissidents coming of age in the 1960s.

The course will also engage with contemporary efforts to decolonise Ukrainian music through figures whose identities have been contested by Russia, such as Dmytro Bortniansky, and those whose music was forcefully suppressed by the soviet authorities as in the case of modernist composer Borys Liatoshynsky. The course will provide contemporary insights into how Ukrainian composers have responded to current political events, such as the 2014 Revolution of Dignity and the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and how music has functioned as a diplomatic tool on global stages such as Eurovision.

The course will offer an exceptional opportunity to hear from leading scholars and performers of Ukrainian music. It will present a concise introduction to major figures of Ukrainian music history while positioning their contributions into an overarching narrative of music from the crossroads of empire, at the heart of Europe, and in the birthplace of various musical innovations. No prior musical knowledge of any kind is required, but this course will offer even the most experienced listener new repertoires to explore and a framework to better understand Ukraine through sound. 

What you can expect:

• Comprehensive reading and listening materials
• Engaging presentations by scholars and musicians
• Access to recorded video lectures for flexible learning

No prior musical knowledge is required.

The course will be held online, via Zoom and conducted in English.

Course curator: Dr Leah Batstone, musicologist and creative director of the Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival in New York City.

Course coordinator: Olga Sydorushkina, UIL Programme Curator.