"The result of 100 years of work by Belarusians." A songbook of patriotic songs republished in Warsaw

Tatsiana Hrynievich-Matafonava

The songbook "You won't find a country dearer to the heart. A collection of Belarusian patriotic songs for choir" was first published in New York in 2006. It was compiled by Kastus Verabey, a figure of the Belarusian emigration. The book contains the lyrics of songs sung by Belarusians in emigration. However, the collection did not include sheet music; there were only words, the authorship of which was not always accurately known.

Павялічыць

Songbook, 2026 edition

Kastus Verabey wrote about himself:

"The compiler of the collection did not have access to most of the original recordings of the words and melodies printed in this collection of songs, but recorded them from memory. For this reason, errors in the names of the authors of the words and music, as well as unintentional discrepancies between the author's originals and the printed texts, may have occurred in the collection, for which the compiler apologizes to the authors of the works and the singers who will use the collection" (here and further in quotes, the original spelling is preserved — Ed.).

Павялічыць

Cover of Kastus Verabey's songbook edition, 2006

Musician and singer Tatsiana Hrynievich-Matafonava decided to re-issue the collection, but this time with sheet music. This work took a whole year. The compiler explains:

"Belarusians in emigration simply gathered and sang these songs as they had learned them in their time, for example, in choirs, but the melodies were not always recorded with notes. Very little is known about the composers of some works. There are also songs by unknown authors."

Павялічыць

Tatsiana Hrynievich-Matafonava

Some songs from the collection are popular even today: "Mighty God," "Stars in the sky will not fade," "Warrior's March" (performed by the "Unia" choir under the direction of Kiryla Nasaeu). Some melodies were already printed earlier and are relatively accessible, but Tatsiana had to search for others.

For example, Anton Hrynievich's notes for Yanka Kupala's poem "Hey, Forward" were found in the "Belarusian Calendar" for 1923. The compiler says about this work:

"A song that everyone loved and sang almost like a folk song was forgotten after a hundred years, and if not for the recorded notes, it would have been impossible to restore."

Павялічыць

Songbook, 2026 edition

Tatsiana herself re-arranged some of the sheet music for choir. She recorded the melodies of the works "How wide and far," "Neman," "I love thick noises," "Partisan March" from the voice of Ala Orsa-Ramana, who sang in the choirs of Mikola Kulikovich and Mikola Ravenski in German Regensburg in the post-war period, and now lives in the USA. In the preface to the publication, one can read excerpts from Ms. Ala's memoirs:

"After the war, an accredited gymnasium for children was created in the Belarusian camp in the city of Regensburg... Mikola Kulikovich was the main person responsible for all musical needs in the gymnasium, and he also directed the gymnasium choir. Ravenski had his own separate choir in the camp. Then we all went to both one and the other choir...

Ravenski was short, conducted the choir calmly, sometimes told something when practicing, used a violin to show a tone, a semitone higher. They mostly sang Belarusian folk songs, and always a cappella.

Kulikovich, however, always sat at the piano; if someone did something, he corrected it by playing the piano, let us listen to where we made mistakes. We sang nationally strong, revivalist songs, all with Kulikovich's accompaniment.

Every week there was a performance in the camp; Ukrainians, Germans, and other nationalities came to listen to us. Sometimes we traveled with performances to other camps. Such was the patriotic upbringing from Kulikovich and Ravenski for all subsequent life."

Bard Siarzhuk Sokalaŭ-Voyush helped Tatsiana with the compilation of the collection, and Vintsuk Viachorka made the final proofreading of the texts, suggesting minor corrections that better corresponded to the original sources.

In his part of the preface, Siarzhuk Sokalaŭ-Voyush wrote:

"The work that entire collectives do in other countries, Tatsiana did alone. We, who helped, HELPED, BECAUSE SHE DID IT! as Vintsuk Viachorka said, 'a fantastic, unique work for centuries.' And that's the truth."

Tatsiana herself noted:

"This collection is the result of 100 years of work by Belarusians."

Even more than a hundred years: the songbook includes, for example, Yanka Kupala's poem "Stars in the sky will not fade," written in 1911 and set to music by Mikola Yanchuk, "Warrior's March (We will go out in tight ranks)," written in 1919 by Makar Kraŭtsoŭ, which became the anthem of the BNR with music by Uladzimir Teraŭski.

Павялічыць

Songbook, 2026 edition

An interesting story is connected with the variant of the poem "Oh, Belarus, my wild rose," included in the songbook. It is attributed to Uladzimir Duboŭka and Larysa Hienijush. A quatrain by Hienijush is inserted into Duboŭka's poem, because Tatsiana had previously heard such a variant of the song from friends, and included it in her repertoire in that form.

"Larysa Hienijush wrote in her letters that Duboŭka's poems lacked protest, so by adding this quatrain to the song, protest appeared in it," Tatsiana explained.

The compiler says:

"In total, there are 37 songs in the collection. It was published in Warsaw with a print run of a thousand copies so that we would no longer forget these songs, and so that they would be widely heard among Belarusians for another hundred years."

Павялічыць

Embroidery, a photo of which is placed on the cover of the 2026 edition of the songbook

On the cover of the re-edition is a photocopy of embroidery made by the compiler. Each song is accompanied by a QR code, which allows listeners to hear how the piece sounds performed by a choir (all parts were recorded by the singer herself, and some songs – with her son Adas Matafonau) on Tatsiana Hrynievich-Matafonava's YouTube channel.

"The collection contains sheet music for choir," explains the compiler. "But even one person at home can listen to the recordings on the channel and, looking at the notes, sing along to the melody."

In addition, the channel features many of Tatsiana's other projects: Belarusian lullabies, children's songs, music and master classes on traditional dances, poems by Belarusian poets in their author's voice acting, and Turkish songs.

The songbook "You won't find a country dearer to the heart. A collection of Belarusian patriotic songs for choir" can be purchased in Belarusian stores in Warsaw ("Knihauka", "Vyraj", kirma.sh), including online.

• 4
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 4