The sacred music of Roman Hurko: recapturing and renewing a liturgical tradition (05/12/02)

The sacred music of Roman Hurko: recapturing and renewing a liturgical tradition

by Myrosia Stefaniuk

DETROIT - Sixteen years after the explosion, the long-lasting legacy of Chornobyl continues to plague young and old in Ukraine. But with a government caught in a political and economic quagmire, the suffering and needs of disaster victims get buried under the horrendous costs of restructuring nuclear power plants and finding alternate fuel sources. Outside of Ukraine, Chornobyl has been relegated to the back pages of history books.

To bring it back to the forefront, cultural activists in Ukraine, backed by the Ministry of Culture, appealed for commemorative works by Ukrainian artists that would refocus attention to Chornobyl's aftermath. Roman Hurko, Canadian opera director and composer, was one of the first to respond to the call.

On April 26, 2001, marking the 15th anniversary of the disaster, Maestro Hurko's composition, "Requiem: Panakhyda for the Victims of Chornobyl" was first performed and subsequently recorded, under the composer's baton, by the Frescoes of Kyiv Chamber Choir in the newly reconstructed St. Michael's Golden Domed Cathedral in Kyiv. To listen, is to become one with the music, chorus and cathedral in an uplifting harmonious affirmation of death and rebirth.

Intrigued by what compelled a young Canadian-born musician working with pomp and color in opera to write a panakhyda, I spoke with Mr. Hurko when he presented his sacred music at the invitation of the Ukrainian Arts Society of Detroit.

Music was always a magnet, Mr. Hurko recalled as he talked about his childhood. What he didn't enjoy was listening to the church choir. There's an anomaly in our churches, he explained. "The architecture, the visual images, candles, icons, incense are all intended to enhance a meditative state, a calming atmosphere to help us focus on spirit. Yet often, our church music is so full, rambunctious, even agitating, that the singing of our choirs is counterproductive to quiet reflection, if not an outright assault on the ears."

"Don't whine," his wise mother challenged " - do something about it." And so he did. His first composition, an "Ave Maria" written in high school for the Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir, was premiered in 1983 at the Guelph Spring Festival and then performed at Toronto's 150th anniversary gala, with Mr. Hurko conducting.

This was followed by training in music, theater and stage directing at the University of Toronto, an apprenticeship at the opera school, and a career in stage directing opera at Canadian, American and European opera theaters. The list of operas and opera houses is long and impressive. Mr. Hurko's parallel interest in choral conducting gave rise to a new youth choir at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, a group made up primarily of like-minded friends that also formed the kernel of Toronto's Ukrainian Avant-Garde Theater.

In the late 1980s, Mr. Hurko turned to yet another theater venue, working with Virlana Tkacz at Harvard's Summer School workshops. This project involved staging poetry in the Kurbas style, using a Shevchenko poem for creating a choral effect in which nouns projected over verbs, with sound effects and eastern modal music composed by Mr. Hurko. What followed was writing music for the Yara Arts Group at New York's La Mama Experimental Theater, that is, scores for two plays, "Svitlo zi Skhodu" (Light from the East) and "Explosions" (on the Chornobyl theme).

It is no surprise that opera, drama and sacred music are tightly interlaced in the fabric of Mr. Hurko's creative endeavors. "I re-entered theater from another aspect as poet, not through directing as I was doing in opera, but by actually writing music for the stage. This also turned out to be a great help for directing opera because it gave me ample insight into how music underlines the scene, how it provides the whole emotional subtext, and how actors and singers connect with the composer's intent," he said.

In many ways, church ritual is very much like opera, Mr. Hurko explained. After all, theater came out of religious ceremony. In church, as in theater, there is a setting that speaks to all of our senses, and an emotional and musical subtext for prayers. Together, they reflect our human position and the attitude with which we approach the divine. Some of our most beautiful psalms entreat us to glorify God with trumpets and drums and dancing and singing. But in today's stressful world, we look for something other in church. We seek that hour in a peaceful atmosphere where we can simply focus on something higher.

"So I try to write sacred music that allows people to slow down, breathe, be still and create a moment where, as stated in the 'Kheruvym' prayer, we can put aside our worldly cares. That is our liturgical tradition, rooted in ancient eastern modalities and Byzantine mystery and mystique. But we've lost touch with much of it here in the West. I'm not really trying to create something new but rather to recapture what we already are and renew what we have lost," he said.

"My own attitude to prayer is not about saying words, nor asking or pleading for something," Mr. Hurko reflects. "It is about calming the mind, about emptying it with the realization that when the mind is calm, when all the waves and turbulence have stopped and the water is clear - then you see the reflection of what is above, and right down to the bottom as well. This is where I begin, and then the music takes over, taking me wherever it is going."

Starting with individual prayers and responses over the years, by 1999 an entire liturgy was completed. "Liturgy 2000: the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom," was recorded by Chicago's Schola Cantorum, a professional non-Ukrainian chorus under the direction of J. Michael Thompson. The chorus worked with transliterated texts, recorded the entire CD in three sessions, and on the Feast of All Ukrainian Saints, July 16, 2000, sang the premiere at Ss. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church in Chicago.

The liturgy is dedicated to Mr. Hurko's uncle, Father Theofil Hurko, who had a profound influence on young Roman's life after his own father passed away. "He was the happiest person I knew. For me, that's a true sign of someone who lives his religious beliefs and is an example not by what he says or preaches, but by whom he is and how he lives."

"There is a light that emanates from such individuals." It is that light which shines through Mr. Hurko's sacred music as well.

"I think that every generation should leave its stamp, or at least review how it feels about the liturgy that has been celebrated for hundreds of years," Mr. Hurko observed. In our liturgical music we have representatives of medieval, classical, Romantic, early 20th century periods and now this music of the early 21st century will be the next link of the chain. The next generation can build on that. This is the goal of my work."

So what waits in the wings? A second liturgy, finished and ready for publication and recording when funds are available. (Thus far, Mr. Hurko's recordings have been funded mostly out of pocket with small grant support). Then there is the Foundation for Liturgical Music that is being created in Toronto, with goals of promoting not only composition, publication and dissemination of Ukrainian liturgical music, but also assistance with training, recording and supporting existing choirs, as well as sending superb representatives to world festivals of sacred music.

And along with that, there is the dire need for impressing upon Church hierarchy the importance of musical training in seminaries so that knowledge and love of our sacred music once again becomes an inspiring integral component of church celebrations.

And then there is the clever idea for raising awareness about Chornobyl on a much wider scale by having a famous star perform a pop-style song about the disaster, arranged harmonically with an underlying choral performance of Maestro Hurko's "Panakhyda." Through the combined efforts of Maestro Hurko, and fellow-musicians Slavko Halatyn and Andriy Stasiw, a demo is ready and waiting for promotion.

And yes, there is opera, too. Negotiations have been under way for a new opera about Kalnyshevsky, last otaman of the Sich, who was imprisoned and exiled to the Solovetskyi Monastery in the Arctic Circle where he died at age 112. The libretto has already been written by Sofia Maidanska; Valeriy Kikta is interested in writing the music, and Vasyl Vasylenko, new director of the Odesa Opera wants to produce it with Mr. Hurko stage directing. All that is needed is seed money to get it under way.

But, traditionally, funding trickles down to the arts in last place. Somehow we lose sight of the fact that it has not been politics, nor economics, nor business that has historically brought Ukraine out of its darkest hours. It has been spirituality and creativity. And so, Roman Hurko ventures out to Ukrainian communities, CDs and videos in hand, hoping ultimately to reach non-Ukrainian audiences, broadcasts and big promoters.

Meanwhile, there is the music, sonorous and encompassing. To paraphrase a line from Oksana Zabuzhko's poem about Chornobyl "... and how empty the silence beyond."

To hear samples, order CDs or for more information, go to: www.romanhurko.com or contact Roman Hurko at No. 1207, 580 Christie St., Toronto, Ontario, M6G 3E3.

| Home Page |