In the late 1960s, the authorities intensified ideological pressure on the intelligentsia. Scholars and artists faced public condemnation at meetings of creative union sand in the press for ‘deviating from the party line’, ‘savouring in national identity’, ‘apoliticism’, and ‘the harmful influence of the Western world’. Dissidents suffered political repression. However, the 1970s marked a flourishing period for Ukrainian estrada¹. Musicians created truly innovative music, carefully ‘wrapped’ in a censorship-friendly package but with a genuinely fresh approach, distinct from the style of the 1960s. Alongside focusing on optimising folk songs (as this was acceptable to the authorities), Ukrainian music in the 1970s also embraced rock, funk, pop, and other genres, transforming them into a new cultural product.

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Music bands of the time typically started as amateur groups but were eventually required to operate under state philharmonic societies or palaces of culture. The ruling party supported the creativity of vocal and instrumental ensembles (VIA)², expecting them to create ‘correct’ music that could be popular among young people. In order to have the state-of-the-art instruments, tour abroad, and radio airplay, vocal and instrumental ensembles had to include in their repertoires pieces fitting into the USSR’s ideological framework. The way out of the situation for Ukrainian artists was as follows: they would record a ‘parovoz’ [‘steam locomotive’] — a composition compliant with Soviet musical canons, while the rest of the pieces were vibrant and fresh songs that captivated millions of listeners.

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The most popular bands of the 1970s included: Kobza (funk and folk rock with the use of an electric bandura— a combination of bandura and electric guitar with hits like ‘Nich yakamisiachna’ [‘What a Moonlit Night’], ‘A my udvokh’ [‘Oh, We Both’]); Arnika (arrangements of folk songs such as ‘Yak ya spala naseni’ [‘As I Slept on the Hay’], ‘Oi na hori pid verboiu’ [‘On the Hill Underthe Willow’], romantic rock ‘n’ roll songs like ‘Vesna’ [‘Spring’], ‘Klychutebe’ [‘I Call You’], ‘Vperta divchyna’ [‘Stubborn Girl’]); Vizerunky Shliakhiv (‘Kolo mlyna kalyna’ [‘Viburnum Near theMill’], ‘Mariika’); Vodohrai (arrangements ‘Divchyna myla’ [‘Lovely Girl’], ‘Nesla divchyna vodu’ [‘The Girl Carried Water’], and soul arrangement of ‘Zoremoia vechirniaia’ [‘My Evening Star...’]); Trio Marenych (arrangements of folk songs like ‘Misiats izironky’ [‘The Moon and the Stars’], ‘Chom ty ne pryishov?’ [‘Why Didn’t YouCome?’]).

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Artists of the Kobza vocal and instrumental ensemble

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The famous performers of the 70s were Liudmyla Artemenko, Lidiia Vidash, Vasyl Zinkevych, Nina Matviienko, Lidiia Mykhailenko, Taras Petrynenko, Ivan Popovych, Lina Prokhorova, Viktor Shportko.

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The Smerichka VIA, led by Levko Dutkivskyi and featuring the exceptional talent of Nazarii Yaremchuk, gained great popularity and left a significant mark on the history of Ukrainian music.

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One of the symbols of the era, a true phenomenon of the folk rock stage, was the Smerichka VIA from a little Bukovyna village led by Levko Dutkivskyi. They not only won the hearts of listeners in Ukraine but also had fans far beyond its borders: the band toured Asia, North and South America. Smerichka reached the pinnacle of its success when Vasyl Zinkevych and the legendary Nazarii Yaremchuk became soloists were its soloists. Volodymyr Ivasiuk, a man of great talent who wrote both music and lyrics, made an invaluable contribution to the development of the band. The Smerichka’s golden age was marked by songs composed by Ivasiuk: ‘Chervona Ruta’ [‘Red Rue’], ‘Vodohrai’ [‘Waterfall’], ‘Ia pidu v dalekihory’ [‘I Will Go to Distant Mountains’], ‘Pisnia bude pomizh nas’ [‘Song Will Be among Us’]. Although Volodymyr Ivasiuk tragically died young under suspicious circumstances (according to one of the versions, it was a murder organised by the KGB)³, his musical legacy continues to resonate today.

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The Smerichka vocal and instrumental ensemble

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Along side estrada, academic music was also developing. The 1970s witnessed active work of the Kyiv Male Choir Chapel, founded in 1969. The ensemble made its debut in late 1970 under the direction of Semen Dorohyi — a distinguished Ukrainian artist who served as the choir’s first artistic director and chief conductor. The choir gained recognition for promoting the works of Ukrainian composers such as Yevhen Stankovych, Ivan Karabyts, Lesia Dychko, and others.

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1. Estrada (from the French estrade, ‘platform’) is a term of Soviet phraseology in art studies, which, along with the term ‘amateur art’, was used to refer to official show business. It had a clear ideological character and a monopolistic way of organisation in a closed society.

2. VIA is an abbreviation for Vocal and Instrumental Ensemble (вокально-інструментальний ансамбль, vokalno-instrumentalnyi ansambl). It is the general name used for popular music (pop, rock, folk, etc.) bands formally recognised by the Soviet government from the 1960s to the 1980s.)

3. Committee for State Security of the USSR.

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