NEW YORK – For most people, summer means upstate, the beach, camp, and fun in the sun. For musicians Julian Kytasty and Michael Alpert, their summer means concerts, workshops and festivals.
They began their “summer vacation” on Saturday, June 13, at The Ukrainian Museum in New York City with “Jewish Musical Traditions in Ukraine.” What sounded like it would be a serious structured presentation turned into a spontaneous performance, lecture, interview, and a question-and-answer session with the audience.
In between playing excerpts from recordings by Yiddish music luminaries Leon Schwartz and Shloimke Beckerman, and “Kolomijka Powitowa” by Ewgen Zukowsky, and holding an informative dialogue about Ukrainian and Yiddish music and their intersections, world-renowned bandurist Julian Kytasty and the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow Michael Alpert performed several songs from their newly released CD “Night Songs From A Neighboring Village.”
Mr. Alpert had the audience singing along on the counting song “Skazhy Meni, Shcho To Znachyt Yeden.” Together, they performed, for the first time with Ukrainian and Yiddish words, “Chorna Rylia,” a song from the late 19th century about the horrors of war. They ended with a medley of lively dance tunes that featured Mr. Kytasty on bandura and Mr. Alpert on acoustic guitar.
On Sunday, June 14, they led the workshop “Ballads from the Ukrainian and Yiddish Heartland.” Held under the auspices of the Ukrainian Village Voices and the Center for Contemporary Music and Dance, the event had the two musicians drawing on their repertoire of Ukrainian folk and liturgical music, Yiddish folk music and Hassidic music.
“Gules, Gules” was an exemplary selection of how a song transects borders and cultures. The song originates as “Hora, Hora, Yaka Ty Velyka,” a shepherd’s song from the Zakarpattia region about longing for one’s love. The Hungarian version, “Erdő, Erdő, de Magas Vagy” does away with some of the allusions that exist in the Ukrainian words. The Yiddish version, attributed to Rabbi Yitskhok Ayzik Taub (1751-1821), known in Yiddish as “Der Kalever Tsadik,” keeps the feeling of longing. Instead of the physical expressed in the other two versions, it is re-interpreted through Hassidic sensibilities and becomes a poignant expression of longing for the presence of divinity in the world.
That was followed by Mr. Alpert leading a Hassidic round dance. With Mr. Kytasty on bandura, the duo treated the workshop to a heartfelt “Rekrutska (Tam Divchyna Brala Lyon Dribnenkiy).” The workshop closed with the attendees revisiting “Oy Pidy Ya Luhom,” ending with Julian Kytasty singing the piece as a solo, allowing the attendees to savor the song’s nuances.
On Thursday, June 18, Messrs. Kytasty and Alpert had a concert and CD release party for their just-released album “Night Songs From A Neighboring Village.” Held at the Center for Jewish History in New York City, the concert saw the duo perform selections from their CD and solo compositions. When it was over, the sold-out house resounded with acclaims and a standing ovation.
In early July, Messrs. Kytasty and Alpert will make three appearances at the TFF Rudolstadt Festival in Germany. The end of August will find them in Lviv, where they will perform in concert at the LvivKlezFest-2015.
Besides being a virtuoso bandurist, composer, scholar and musical director, Mr. Kytasty has released a number of albums, the most recent being “Songs of Truth – Music and Song from the Kobzar Tradition.”
A singer, multi-instrumentalist and scholar, Mr. Alpert has been a key figure in the rebirth of East European Jewish music and culture worldwide since the 1970s. A native Yiddish speaker, he is one of the only Yiddish singers of his generation adept in the style of pre-World War II generations.
Individually and together, Messrs. Alpert and Kytasty represent a unique bridge between the old and new generations of the upholders and champions of traditional music. Each has met the masters of his respective musical prowess, learned from them and most importantly, carried on those traditions. Hearing them play today, one will hear the music played as it sounded years ago. This, in itself, makes each of them living treasures. Their latest album, “Night Songs From A Neighboring Village,” is available from Oriente Musik directly via the website www.oriente.de/index.php/en/alpert-kytasty-en.