Ukrainian folklore is inferior in popularity to the modern creativity of singers and artists. But such music and style of performance still finds its listeners. Especially quickly the song raises the morale of the people on the wave of resistance at different times. To understand what feelings it can cause, you need to know the meaning, study the history of occurrence.
The history of the creation of the song “Oh, at the puddle of red viburnum”
The song is author’s, but over time it became a folk song. It was sung at different times: light and joyful, dark, heavy. No one can name the exact date of the appearance of the text “Oh, at the puddle of red viburnum”, but there are several versions of its writing:
- the author was Stepan Chernetsky, director of the Ukrainian theater “Russian conversation”, in 1914 he wrote a work in the genre of a tragedy about Hetman Doroshenko, it is in his composition that the song “Why am I in the middle of a viburnum bula” is presented, due to the similarity of the texts before it is still believed that this is the original version, more complete, it appeared before the one that is re-sung today;
- the second version is also associated with Stepan Chernetsky, but the year of creation is already called 1916, according to sources, it was voiced by the author himself, it was said that Mikhail Gaivoronsky published several archery songs, among which was “Chervona Kalina”, in turn, she appeared in the work “ Ruins of the Sun” by Vasily Pachovsky, who is allegedly the author of archery songs;
- Fyodor Pogrebennik voices a version about the gradual modification of another Streltsy song, which ends almost the same as “Oh, at the puddle of red viburnum” (And mi your glorious Ukraine, gay, gay, that is cheerful!), while the author Stepan is again mentioned Chernetsky, who allegedly modified the lines, simplifying the song, removed the additional exclamation “gay, gay”.
The popularity of the song in past years is due to the fact that it was immediately picked up by young people of that time. It happened at the premiere of the works voiced above. Moreover, contemporaries note that representatives of the military departments sang the song more passionately. This is due to the nature of the text. It contains an optimistic message that acts as an encouraging factor.
In all the versions that are given above, one common feature slips through – the similarity with the archery songs. In any case, the age of the text “Oh, at the puddle of red viburnum” exceeds a hundred years. Today, such a song is on the wave of popularity, it periodically becomes known, which is facilitated by historical events. The text is now heard from all smartphones, radio tape recorders, receivers, which is due to its recent performance by popular artists.
The leader of the musical group Boombox – Andrey Khlyvnyuk sang a well-known composition. He performed it in 2022 a cappella on the main square of Kyiv during the bombing. It is noted that the singer shortly before joined the ranks of the military. This once again emphasizes the connection of the text with representatives of the military of different times, starting with the archers of the last century.
Interesting facts about the song “Oh, the red viburnum is near the moon”
In addition to the interesting history of the text, there are other features of the composition.
- according to the testimony of the alleged author (S. Chernetsky), he himself created the musical accompaniment to this composition;
- there are opinions that the author of the music is Mikhail Gaivoronsky, disputes on this issue also do not subside, as in the case of the text;
- the released version of the song by Andrey Khlyvnyuk gained popularity, but at the same time it is an incomplete version, the updated musical composition contains a repeating passage, in
- fact the song is divided into several parts – the short text is looped on itself, which does not allow creating a long composition;
- the music for a fragment of the song performed by Khlyvnyuk was later written by the South American guitarist The Kiffness;
- the leaders of Pink Floyd for the first time after a long break performed the song sung by Khlyvnyuk, they acted as musicians when recording the track;
- on the set of the film “Only Old Men Go to Battle” the main character Titarenko sings the first line of the song “Oh, red viburnum is near the moon”;
- for the entire time of its existence, the text sounded mainly in Ukrainian, the song was performed by choristers;
- in 1980, another couplet was added to the text, this was facilitated by Ukrainian dissidents.
The meaning of the song “Oh, the red viburnum is near the moon”
The song contains morale-boosting words, an optimistic call for the rise of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people runs through it. The lines say this:
“And our glorious Ukraine, gay, gay, cheer!”;
“Do not scold, good Ukrainian. Maesh glorious reed.
But at the same time, the meaning of the song may be different, so the people hear a call to uplift the spirit, to strengthen it, which would at the same time allow the country to be raised when it “falls to its knees”. Through the entire text there is also an association with the main symbols of the country: red viburnum, golden wheat. When their stems bend down to the ground, it speaks of the decline of the country.
At the same time, the unshakable flexible stalks of healthy viburnum and wheat are a symbol of the stability and strength of the country. The line of the couplet, containing a call to “cheer up” a sad country (when it is in decline or in a state of war), especially strongly strengthens the spirit of the people who rise up and go to the aid of Ukraine.
