One of the most horrific decades of Ukraine’s modern history, marked by hostilities, the relentless struggle against both Nazi and Soviet occupiers, repression, concentration camps, exile, forced resettlement, and the deportation of the Crimean Tatars. Millions of Ukrainians fell victim to the horrors of this decade.

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The cultural sphere of the time was under strict state control, although it is worth noting that the propaganda and postulates spread by the Soviet ideological machinereally resonated among the people, even though they resembled rallying cries to defend the Motherland. The songs of this period contain ideological motifs of leaving for war, belief in victory over the enemy, returning from the battlefield, reunions with families, and mourning the sons and daughters who sacrificed their lives for the sake of future generations. Since the early 1940s, only state-sanctioned artistic institutions were permitted to operate, while those deemed disloyal to the regime were subjected to repression and execution.

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The songs of this period contain ideological themes of leaving for war, belief in victory over the enemy, and the hopeful return from the battlefield.

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At the same time, the military wing of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists — the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) — was actively fighting against both Nazi and Soviet occupiers.

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The Hutsul rebels. Reproduction, 1940

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They created a separate branch of our country’s musical culture with insurgent songs that celebrated the idea of a free and independent Ukraine. Among the most renowned are ‘Zrodylys my velykoi hodyny’ [‘We Were Born in a Great Hour...’](written in 1932, the UPA an them became one of the most important symbols of both the 1940s and 2020s), ‘Lenta za lentoiu’ [‘Ammunition Belt by Ammunition Belt’], ‘Hei-hu, hei-ha — take-to v nas zhyttia’ [‘Hey, hey, hey, hey — That’s Our Life...’], ‘Oi u lisi na poliantsi’ [‘Oh, in the Forest on a Meadow...’], ‘Pisniapro komaryka’ [‘Song about a Mosquito’], and more.

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Numerous musical compositions of the era are related to the war events, and most of all there were songs and choral compositions, primarily patriotic ones. During the war years, many choral arrangements were made by Hryhorii Verovka (‘I shumyt, i hude’ [‘It Roars and Rumbles’], ‘Oi choho ty, zemle, moloditystala’ [‘Oh, Why Have You, Land, Begun to Rejuvenate?’]); Yevhen Kozak (‘Vivcharyk’ [‘The Shepherd’], ‘Verkhovyno, mii ty kraiu’ [‘Highland, My Land’]); Mykola Kolessa (‘Radisnyi den’ [‘Joyous Day’], ‘Zasvitylo sontse svobody’ [‘The Sun of Freedom Has Shone’]); Borys Liatoshynskyi (collection Ukrainian Folk Songs Arranged for Mixed Choir a cappella). Composers predominantly focused on lyrical songs, often with deep psychological themes, as well asheroic-patriotic and historical pieces. In the genre of solo song arrangements, masters of the era were Mykola Vilinskyi (‘Stoit yavir nad vodoiu’ [‘The Maple Stands by the Water’], ‘U vyshnevomu sadochku’ [‘In the Cherry Orchard’]); Mykola Dremliuha (the cycles Z hlybyny [From the Depths], Zyma [Winter], Vesniana siuita [Spring Suite]); Levko Revutskyi (‘Ta oikryknuly zhuravli’ [‘The Cranes Cried Out’], ‘Chuiesh, brate mii’ [‘Do You Hear, My Brother’]).

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Ukrainian artists had one more option: to evacuate. They continued to create their art away from home, and, moreover, since many of them stayed in the Central Asian states, this influenced their works. This is exemplified by the Ukrainian composer Yulii Meitus, who collaborated with Turkmen composers on the operas Abadan (with Aşir Kuliýew) and Layla and Majnun (with Daňatar Öwezow). Oleksandr Znosko-Borovsky, a talented Ukrainian artist, Levko Revutsky’s student and one of the first composers of animated films, explored Turkmen folklore during his evacuation and created the musical film In Turkmenistan and the ballet Akpamykwith Veli Muhadov.

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