Українська Рапсодія - Хор Пужика-Романова

Сторінка Перша
1. Гей на горі женці жнуть
2. Взав би я бандуру - соліст Оскар Раулф
3. Ой, що ж то за шум учинився
4. Ой, не світи місяченку (солістка Леся Зюбраж)
5. Думи мої
6. Рідна мати моя - Рушничок (дует А. Тихнович і Р. Фарар)

Сторінка Друга
1. Засвистали козаченьки
2. Ніч яка місячна, ясна, зорена (соліст Александр Тихнович)
3. Розрпягайте хлопці коні
4. Над рікою вийшла звізда - Лемківська (солістка Леся Зубрак)
5. Реве та стогне, Дніпр широкий

Гей на горі женці жнуть


Рушничок


Ukrainian Rhapsody - The Ivan Romanoff Male Chorus
Canadian born composer-conductor Ivan Romanoff and his Male Chorus have amassed a wide reputation of being an extraordinary gifted complement of men, singularily adept at performing in over thirty languages... to the great astonishment of audiences everywhere. Their virile interpretation is inspired by the boundless energy of their dynamics and demanding leader; the excellence of their pronounciation is largely due to the unique phonetic system devised and developed by maestro Romanoff, whose own knowledge of Slav languages is remarkable.

Since Ivan Romanoff is of Ukrainian descent himself, it is hardly surprising that this album is the realization of a long-awaited dream; to put together a collection of best-known and beloved "evergreens" of the Ukrainian musical literature. These are classic folk songs, and even though they have been specially arranged by the workings of the creative Romanoff imagination, nonetheless, they still retain the purity and lyricism of the old Ukraine and her people.

The songs are about mountains and moonlight... wheat fields and mighty rivers... robust cossacks and wandering minstrels... old-country humor and bitter-sweet love.

This is a Ukrainian Rhapsody, nurtured with love, molded with maturity, under the dedicated hands of a second-generation native son, Ivan Romanoff.

Side 1
Hey On The Hill (Hey Na Horee) Romanoff Male Chorus
'Way up on the hills, the reapers are working the fields... down in the valleys below, cossack bands are riding through, shattering the silence with their laughter and boisterous singing. My Bandura (Vzaw Beh Ya Bandooroo) Soloist: Oskar Raulfs
"I took the Bandura on my knee to play a musical tribute to your beauty. Alas, because of your lovely, haunting eyes, you've sentenced me to a minstrel's life forever!"
The Mosquito And The Fly (Oy Shcho To Za Shoom) Romanoff Male Chorus
An old-country joke relates the consequences fo an improbable marriage between a mosquito and a fly... the implication being that the fly is like a nagging, useless wife, and the poor mosquito , henpecked husband who finally succumbs to his unhappy fate.
No Moonlight For My Lvoe (Oy Neh Sveetenh Meesyachenkoo) Soloist: Lesia Zubrack
"Oh Moon, please don't shine for anyone but my love... if he won't return, spare my feelings and hide behind the clouds" My reveeries (Doomeh Moyee) Romanoff Male Chorus
The words of the famed Ukrainian poet laureate, Taras Shevchenko, are known and revered by all Ukrainians
"Thoughts...thoughts.. why do you spread yourselves across my pages in such asad little rows and torment me so.. I create you... nurtured you...now what will I do with you?"
Dearest Mother Of Mine (Rooshechok) Duet: Robert Farrar and Alexander Ticknovich
One day long ago, a mother gave her departing son an embroidered scarf with which to remember her. Now the momories create a terrible, aching lonliness.

Side 2
The Whistling Cossacks (Zaasvistaley Kozachenkee) Romanoff Male Chorus
The young cossacks are departing, whistling only to bolster their morals, and keep from looking back to see the tears of the girls and mother they are leaving behind.
Came Out My Darling (Neech Yaka Meesyachna) Soloist: Alexander Tickonovich
"Oh what a beautiful, moonlit night!) Come out, my poor, careworn darling, and take a moment to rest and enjoy this glorious evening."
Unharness The Horses Boys (Rozpryakayteh Khloptzee Konee) Romanoff Male Chorus
"Let's unharness the horses, Boys, and rest up in the cool green grass. If we dig a well. perhaps a pretty girl might turn up to get water!"
The Stars Look Down (Nad Reekoyou Veyshla Zvezda) Soloist: Lesia Zubrack
In the Carpathian mountains close to the border of Slovakia, the people speak with a soft, charming "Lemko" (Carpath-Russ) dialect. This song, an allegory of two stars and two lovers, might well be claimed by both sides of the border.
The Mighty Dneper (Reveh Tah Stoh-hne) Romanoff Male Chorus
The Dnieper is a broad river in the interior of the Ukraine. When grey winds blow across it, great waves appear and hurl themselves up to the sky in anger. It is like the River of life, gentle at times...brutal at times.. but always in command.

Producer Dave Bird
Cover portrait of Ivan Romanoff by Vacouk
Printed in Canada
Manufactured and Distributed by Capitol Records Canada Ltd.
EMI the greatest recording organization in the world
SN-6299