Ukraine is located in eastern Europe, bordering Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Belarus, Russia, the Black Sea, Moldova and Romania.
Typically, traditional Ukrainian music is divided into one of two broad categories: ritual and non-ritual. Ritual folk songs are normally older and include incantations, lamentations, calendar songs, and wedding songs. Non-ritual songs include dumy, or historical and political songs, and lyric songs of love, family life, and lullabies.
In 1991, Smithsonian Folkways released a UNESCO collection of 34 folk songs titled Ukraine: Traditional Music, recorded prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union and the ensuing independence of Ukraine in 1991. The anthology included solo artists and folk ensembles from various parts of Ukraine.
Traditional musical instruments include the kobza (lute), bandura, toban, lira (hurdy gurdy, also known as wheel lira), sopilka (wooden flute), basolia (bass viol), buhalo (drum), and tsymbaly (dulcimer).
Ukrainian Musicians:
DakhaBrakha
Haydamaky
Roksana Vikaluk
