By Anna Pidgorna | For English Horn and Bassoon | 5′

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From the composer:

I started working on Lesya’s Song just days before Russia invaded my homeland, Ukraine, in February 2022. The piece inadvertently became wrapped up in my emotional state in those first weeks of the invasion. The material draws on vocal lines from a song of mine for two folk vocalists and double bass, which sets poetry by one of Ukraine’s most important poets, Lesya Ukrainka. Living around the turn of the 20th century, she was an important figure in the formation of contemporary Ukrainian identity and nationhood. Working with her texts suddenly became especially poignant when Ukrainian people were forced to yet again defend their identity and agency with blood. Many artists picked up weapons and headed to the frontline. Others have remained to fight on the cultural front, making sure that Ukrainian identity, as Ukrainians define it themselves, is seen throughout the world so we are never again swept under Russia’s oppressive shadow. 

Musically, the invasion enters the work as an aggressive interruption of the lyrical lines drawn from my song. This aggressive material recalls my Fanfare, an earlier work which somewhat prophetically explored the idea of singing in the middle of war, an image inspired by memories of WWII, which I recorded during fieldwork in rural Ukraine in 2012. The elderly women I visited recalled whole villages hiding from Nazis in dugouts in the middle of the forest, singing in multi-part harmony to keep up their spirits. The frequent minor 9th leaps in the lyrical lines are an attempt to capture voices breaking in lamentation. The work is dedicated to Ukrainian musicians resisting the annihilation of our culture. 

Commission/Dedication: Commissioned by Artemis Musicians’ Society with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts. Dedicated to Ukrainian musicians resisting the annihilation of their culture during Russia’s Invasion.
Premiere: First performed on March 30, 2024 at Notional Space in Vancouver, BC by Katelin Rose Coleman (bassoon) and Renz Eulric Adame (english horn) of Artemis Musicians’ Society.