in one room at the position of the arrested, everyone was usually joking, but at the same time everyone had some kind of bad feeling in their hearts. they searched, then, when the ukrainians declared that we are not, not that we are not bolsheviks, we are not even russians, we are ukrainians, we are citizens of the independent ukrainian people's republic, and the czechs say, what is this, what other independent ukrainian people's republic , we know about a united indivisible russia, the tsar mother. not bolshevik. they put us in a huge room with portraits of austrians of the emperors from the top of the russian monolith ideas, they lectured us about pushkin, gogol, tolstoy and the great and deep russian culture. but when these good men, obviously offended, raised their voices and started calling us separatists, then we couldn't stand it either. and they also told them something

unpleasant, that there can be no question of separatism here, because there is no more russia. košice heard all this, this antagonism and this eternal rhetoric about tostov dostoevsky and this great russian culture, this lecture from the czech gendarmes in 1919. here we are again we hear from some european intellectuals that... it is necessary to preserve the great russian culture, well, this history, it is not the same, it is not one year, it has been going on for more than one hundred years, the suspicious attitude towards the choristers has caused already their very appearance, his cat described in detail ironically in his diary, it was some kind of nomadic horde, which was scary to let into the city in broad daylight for a cannon. the famous artist kuzmin was in

coils, a tattered soldier's visor, a gymnast and no signs of underwear. zrazhevskyi in a torn military coat, a peasant's cap with a cloche sticking out of it, and boots that have forgotten about the soles and heels. physia is unshaven, apparently, since the beginning of the world war. i myself am in torn boots , without... so, in a coat borrowed from tuchapskyi, extremely wide and long, sleeves up to the elbow, on my head a warm, light green hat borrowed from pyotr stetsenko, the shirt was once white, and the rest of the crib is unknown color it's good that we arrived in prague at night. in general, the atmosphere that

the ukrainians got into before the premiere in prague was for them not too warm. the muscovites managed to convince the czechs that we do not exist, that we are russians, therefore, before the arrival of our choir, thunderbolts were thrown at ukraine and ukrainians and we were denied the right to our state independence. despite the rejection. the administration of the choir had to organize performances and arrange concerts. the chaplains immediately, from the first country, wanted to perform in the best concert halls. and they went to negotiate, to ask for help from one of the most famous czech conductors in prague at the time, yaroslav kršička. kryzychka's behavior then was very eloquent. he left a message about her.

oleksandr pelensky, who personally went to the negotiations. talked for several hours and talked about various topics, but he did not even want me to speak with him in ukrainian, but only at his request to speak with him in russian. on may 11, 1919 , the premiere performance of the musical-diplomatic piece took place in the national theater of prague.

the heart sings praises. the ukrainians came and won. i think that we didn't know much about them and seriously offended them when we unknowingly and without... information combined their opposites into one whole with the russian people. our very desire for a great and indivisible russia is a weak argument against the nature of the entire ukrainian people, for whom independence is everything. the first concerts, which were extremely successful, are evidenced by the reviews, as in many czech newspapers, that it was a success. well, simply, simply huge in critics and the public. due to the unique sound of the choir, music critics generally suspected ukrainians of deception. they said that we can't believe it, that it's some supernatural

sound, somewhere out there, probably behind the scenes hidden double basses, such large orchestral instruments, which without somewhere there in this so and so, er. such a hit becomes sharper, and even searched there on the way somewhere behind the scenes, did not find anything that they came really, in admiration and even, well even in a kind of ecstasy, if you can say so, every performance of the chapel began with the ukrainian national anthem, the basis of the repertoire was folk songs, varanganizations by mykola lysenko, mykola leontovich, kyril stetsenko and even... oleksandr koshyts, the main hit of the choir from the very first performance was the schedrik. shchedrik, generous , generous, little weasel flew in, it became a host, howled, poured out

, host, look, wheelbarrows, walked , applicants, were born, not a single concert took place without her, she was always in the center of attention of the audience, in which she was completely the phenomenon of what, it seems to me, is the phenomenon of this philanthropist is that it is both a miniature in form and in content, it can be equal to a symphonic poem, although

mykola leontovych himself was extremely demanding of his work, if koshets did not approve this last version ... took and did not take into the world, then leontovych, perhaps he would still perfect this work. the chapel aroused sincere sympathy among the czech political community. concerts are attended by the daughter of the president of czechoslovakia, the minister of labor, the secretary of the directorate of subcarpathian russia and others. it was very important that czechoslovakia had a pro-ukrainian position, and in many ways, thanks to the resonance of such a cultural event. performance of the košice choir, it happened. many people from the czech society heard for the first time that there is such a nation as the ukrainians, because it somehow influenced everyone with the russian nation. mykhailo hrushevskyi, who was previously

skeptical of the chapel, changed his mind and also recognized the effectiveness of the directorate's foreign policy and cultural initiative. i am not a musician, and i did not imagine that a song could make such a strong impression on foreigners, i admit that such a journey of our choir fully justifies itself. the ukrainian republican chapel did this great work, which introduced such a wider circle of society to ukrainian music, but most importantly to the fact that the ukrainian nation exists. this is all that the political leadership and simon actually dreamed of petliura and this all comes true right from the very first premiere in europe, which took place in prague. simon petlyura was not mistaken in his calculations. following the results of the chapel's triumphs in prague, he writes to the head of the ukrainian delegation in paris mykhailo

tyshkevych. make sure that the ukrainian republican band can come to paris to demonstrate the richness of ukrainian musical and song creativity. this chapel created a sensation and turned many muscophiles into ukrainians. i'm sure europe doesn't have anything like it. maybe that stay of the chapel. in paris will relieve and purify the atmosphere of prejudice. on july 20 , the chapel moves to austria. in contrast to the joyful prague, where independence was just celebrated, vienna is saddened by the defeat in the war. after the first triumphs, the choristers returned. to a difficult reality. we got to vienna precisely during the post-war famine,

there was almost nothing to eat. endless horse meat with paprika and spinach could drive a person to suicide. however, it was in vienna that the official diplomatic staff worked at the hotel bristol representative office of the ukrainian people's republic. austria recognized. ukrainian independence, the cultural mission was received here at the highest level, the concerts of the uwiner concert house were attended by the ukrainian ambassador vyacheslav lepynskyi, the minister of foreign affairs volodymyr temnytskyi, the former head of the directorate, volodymyr vynnychenko. together with successful concerts in the public circles of the western world

, iunr began to gain legitimacy. definitions of ukraine, the ukrainian republic, the ukrainian government, and the ukrainian nation appeared in the european agenda. what has been sought for a long time the official channels of diplomacy, it was possible to stir thanks to art. the world, which was deliberately negatively informed by despotic russia about ukraine, should be convinced of the distinctiveness of the culture of the ukrainian people. the russian emigration saw that it smelled like oil, it even tried to disrupt ukrainian concerts, there are memories where - when they performed in prague, some cashiers. well , they are obviously so pro-russian, they would corner the sale of ukrainian tickets,

the choristers recall, and there were seats in the halls, but the cashiers they said that all that all the tickets were sold. russia understood that any positive knowledge, positive information about ukraine, it only harms them. and eh, eternal father, dislike, to say the least, even more, hatred for everything. ukrainian, and it was felt. i myself saw in geneva on our posters, written along and across a true russian insult to the mother. despite the petty hooliganism of the russians, kapala's affairs were going well, concerts were successful, popularity was growing, but time was also passing. in austria and switzerland, the choristers stayed for more than two months. the french ministry of foreign affairs did not give visas to ukrainians, it did not allow the choir to go to

paris, as representatives of an unrecognized nation, that is, we could not even come there and sing. only when the french ambassador visited the ukrainian concert in bern and was impressed and wrote a recommendation to the minister of foreign affairs, he finally gave the ukrainians permission to tour in france. i am glad to announce that i have given permission to our ambassador in bern to verify the passports of 79 people who make up the corps of the national choir of ukraine.

november 3, 1919, 9 months after after leaving kyiv, the ukrainians arrived in paris, and they were not welcomed here either. long ago, paris was the center of russian propaganda for the activities of the russian emigration, diplomatic representatives. the russians already openly tried to disrupt the performances of the chapel in paris. muscovites even tried to use the help of the french. considering us to be bolsheviks and common enemies of them and france, and suggested that during the singing of the anthem "she's not dead yet" that one of the muscovites should address the audience and call us traitors to great russia and the entente and call the audience to leaving the hall. we did all the obstacles,

we tried and... physically and in other ways to humiliate, close, cover up, level our influences, but they did not succeed. at that time, the police did not allow provocations at the concert. when the russians realized that it would no longer be possible to ban, disrupt or silence the ukrainian triumph, other methods came into play. in paris, kapeli offered cooperation, a well-known.

because they carried the idea of ​​an independent ukraine, which i constantly reminded them of, although it was not necessary to remind them, but still reminded them in letters to oleksandra koshytsia simon petliura. do not forget, maestro, during your concert essays about ukrainian affairs, when you will be interviewed, quietly say that ukrainian music, song is independent, unique, different. original is a part of independent ukraine, do not forget about our army, when you can organize meetings for it, spread the glory about it, and may the god of ukraine help you and the chaplains.

in november-december 1919, the choir of oleksandr koshyts toured france. everywhere, as petlyura had hoped, the public reaches political conclusions. professor george bureau of the tolutsk conservatory wrote: "we were told that ukraine is a part of russia. why then did the russian government hide ukrainian music from us? we know the names of the famous russian composers borodin, rymsky kortsykov, musorsky, but there was never any mention of ukrainian composers , as this musical school was still unknown to us, was it destroyed by the weight of the glory of its great russian colleagues? that is exactly what happened.

the russian government for a long time not only hid ukrainian music from the world, but also banned it for the ukrainians themselves. the valuiv circular, the em decree, killed the ukrainian language and creativity, because ukrainians could not speak about themselves anywhere, because it meant that the coffin lid was nailed down, and the coffin was raised, and one of the most recognized phenomena was the khorkoshyts phenomenon. the creativity of the chapel has become. an opening for europe and broke through the walls of ignorance and non-acceptance, but during the long nine months that the choir needed to reach paris, the situation of the ukrainian people's republic at the fronts... became catastrophic, from the south and east the white army from the west, the polish army , from the north, the bolsheviks, bloodied by previous

battles and typhus, the ukrainian army was trapped in the triangle of death, practically it was the only piece of land that was still controlled by the ukrainian people's republic, because it was controlled by the army, but there was nowhere to move . and even then, petliura did not lose hope for international support. he wrote emotional letters to his french friend, parliamentarian jean pelissier, in the hope of providing some help from europe. three quarters our cossacks without boots and clothes, but their spirit did not die out. we have no medicine, typhus is decimating the ranks of our army. many wounded are dying, we are dying, and the entente, like pilate, washes its hands, and we have nothing left but to call them

moriturite salutant. the choir's concerts in paris were a sad and grand spectacle at the same time. it seemed to be standing in the air, those condemned to death greet you. and when they came to paris in november... the paris peace conference was coming to an end and in principle all the key issues related to ukraine had already been decided under the influence of russian propaganda, also of polish interests, well, in other words, it was actually agreed to give ukraine to those who really wanted it. wasn't the only real chance to change the situation was to enlist the support of the french prime minister? george. lemanceau, the famous prime minister of france during the war, he took a pro-russian position, he also took a pro-polish position, that is,

he was sympathetic to the rivals of ukraine at that time. clemantso's daughter has already attended the performances of the chapel and cheered for the ukrainians. she was so excited, she said, i will do everything everything, so that you speak in the state. theater there in the national opera of paris, and for my father to come to listen to your singing, and maybe he will change his attitude towards ukraine, because such miracles happened, those who were sympathetic to russia and poland and had a negative attitude towards ukraine after attending concerts in prague, for example, in london, in paris, they became sympathizers and even lobbyists of ukraine and the ukrainian issue. both in the cultural and political dimensions. clemenceau's daughter herself came to my room to thank me, was full of praise, said that her father

is going to listen to the chapel and has promised her help to bring concerts to government buildings, such as the grandoper and the sorbonne. she said that the whole upper parisian world was talking only about us. poles and muscovites... fists and doing everything to discredit us. the number went to the bottom. ukrainians almost managed to convey their creativity and position to the highest political leadership of france. it was already a political issue then. if the ukrainian choir performs in the state theater, it was equivalent to the fact that the french government recognizes independent ukraine. after all victories theresa junko wrote a letter to the chapel, which said: unfortunately, we will not

be able to provide you with a hall in the theaters supported by us. they were not given this permission, and georges clemenceau did not hear ukrainian singing, unfortunately, dorezh, dorezh.

kor went there in the hope, well, to change what was impossible to change in reality , to act in some way, well, they did, but these are emotions, you understand, and politics is not so much an emotional thing as a practical thing, you have an army, you you can get an army, you can fight, well then you have a state, you are an army if you don't have one, you lost armed, so you don't have a state. the paris conference did not end as we would have liked. transcarpathia went to czechoslovakia, galicia to poland, bukovyna to romania, trans-dnieper ukraine remained under russia. it is not the fault of the project that there was no longer an opportunity to help ukrainian politics when the ukrainian republic was a directorate, it was simply historically pushed out of... the political arena,

it just so happened that it did not work out in the regime, because it is always very difficult to win the favor of western european leaders , we know this from of modern history, thank god, we have favor from them, although there are still tendencies to preserve the face of russia, to listen to the russians, then, unfortunately, it was such a basic, well, the main... of the western european world, to save the face of russia and preserve the integrity of russia, and so, in the end, it was not possible to convince the western world.

ukrainian. the singers remained inferior, as did the entire ukrainian state, as well as the composer mykola leontovych, who at this time was forced to hide from the terror of the russians, and what was there to hide from, after the occupation of the ukrainian capital by the russian army, hundreds of ukrainians are found tortured in mass graves , thousands shot in basements and on the streets, of course, there was terror, terror, and this is a normal, let's say, practice of the russian troops, it is to intimidate the local population, let's say, with their terrorist shares red terror changes to white when kiev is liberated by the white russian army. they forbid the use of the name ukraine, destroy portraits of taras shevchenko, and persecute. leontovych

decides to run away from the capital. the next two years, the richest period of the composer's life. he, his wife and two daughters lacked basic food and clothing. you can imagine the fate of, on the one hand, the triumph of his works in europe, which has already begun since may. year , when the choir performed for the first time in czechoslovakia, it was something incredible, and then a number of european countries, with hurrah, encore, the works are heard, and along with this, the iciness of his life, the poverty of his life. in hardship and poverty , the composer had no idea of ​​the scale of his international fame, and it was...

grandiose, in fact, their triumph begins already after the premiere in paris, because then it is belgium, the netherlands, great britain, germany, poland, spain, that is, countries where queens, ministers, and presidents simply went to ukrainian concerts, and enthusiastically supported, admired, and shouted viva. viv lukren, long live ukraine at all these concerts. glory added determination to the chaplains. once, while walking around brussels before a concert, the choristers went to the royal palace to invite the queen. the porter shook his head, but called the queen and...