Oy Vershe Miy, Vershe

Oy Vershe Miy, Vershe (Ой верше мій, верше, ) — a Lemko folk song. It is one of the most popular Lemko songs, holding a special place among the most performed Ukrainian songs.

The song belongs to the category of family and wedding songs. It narrates the tale of a young woman who falls in love and marries a man. However, she feels a sense of longing, anticipating that life in a new home and marriage will not be as comforting as it was with her mother.

Following the expulsion of the Lemko people from their historical homeland as a result of the so-called "freewill" deportation from Poland to the USSR (1944–1946) and the ethnic cleansing of "Operation Vistula" (1947), the song "Vershe Miy, Vershe" became a symbol of the people's yearning for their lost homeland. For many Lemkos, the victory of Crimean Tatar singer Jamala with this song at the "New Wave" competition held a particular significance.

Early history


The first known printed mention of the song appears in the collection "Hungarian-Russian folk songs: with an essay on the life of Hungarian Russians and an ethnographic map of Hungary", published by Hryhorii De-Vollan in 1885. The collection included the following text of the song: In Ivan Verkhratskyi monograph "On the Dialect of Galician Lemkos" («Про говір галицьких лемків») (1902), several variants of this song are presented.

The first audio recording of the song was made by Osyp Rozdolskyi on a wax phonograph cylinder in 1912.

The recording was made in Lemkivshchyna in the village of Ropica Gоrna (formerly Ropica Ruska), now Gorlice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. Phono cylinder No. 445, lasting 2 minutes 35 seconds, contained four songs: "Eey Bozhe Bozhe Nych Ne Mame" («Ей Боже Боже нич не маме» "Oh God, God, We Have Nothing"), "Eey Yak ot Tale Pidu" («Ей як от тале піду» "Hey, How I'll Go"), "A Vershe Miy Vershe" (Ah, Mountain My Mountain), and "Nasha Khata Bilena" («Наша хата білена» "Our House is Whitewashed"). On this recording, the song "A Vershe Miy Vershe" had two verses and was in a rather lively tempo.

In 1928, a 78 rpm record was released in New York City on the Columbia label, containing two Lemko songs. On the first side – "Za Horamy, za Lisamy" (Beyond the Mountains, beyond the Woods), and on the second – "Oi Versze, Myi Vershe" performed by a duet of New York Cathedral Choir members Anna Dran and Joanna Karlyak with orchestral accompaniment. In fact, almost all subsequent solo performances of the song used the same words. However, there is a significant diversity in both the text and the melody and rhythm in folklore and musical notations.

The first sheet music of the song was published by Klyment Kvitka in 1922. The recording was made by him in 1918 in a shelter for refugees in Kyiv from a 35-year-old woman from Lemkivshchyna from the village of Pielgrzymka Jasło County, who refused to give her name. A choral arrangement for mixed voices was created by Michael Hayvoronsky in the collection "Ukrainian Folk Songs of Lemkivshchyna and Zakarpattya" («Українські народні пісні Лемківщини і Закарпаття»), published in the 1930s The song was recorded from P. Kovalchuk from near Gorlice. Hayvoronsky used a dialogue-style arrangement between the women's and men's choral groups, in accordance with the content of the lyrics. This arrangement was included in the collection of choral arrangements of Lemko songs "Spivanochky Moyi" («Співаночки мої» "My Songs") compiled by Ivan Maychyk in 1968 A collection called "Homin Verkhovyny" («Гомін Верховини» "Echo of the Highlands") was also published in Ukraine by Yevhen Kozak in 1962. It included 12 arrangements of Lemko songs for a 4-part unaccompanied choir, including "Oy Chorna Hora, Chorna" («Ой чорна гора, чорна» "Oh, Black Mountain, Black"), "Oy Vershe Miy, Vershe" («Ой верше мій, верше» "Oh Mountain, My Mountain"), and "Hayem Zelenеnkym" («Гаєм зелененьким» "Through the Green Grove"). A version of the song in the Pannonian Rusyn language, is also known, recorded in Kucura (Vojvodina) in 1930. The lyrics were recorded by Onufry Tymko, under the pseudonym Ton, and J. Shandor composed an original melody for it. In addition to expressing sadness for the loss of her home, the girl also laments that her beloved is avoiding her: It is interesting that a similar plot is also found in several versions of this song recorded in Lemkivshchyna, particularly by Michael Hayvoronsky and Orest Hyzha:

Modern Times
The song, with its most widely known authentic text today, was included in the collection "Lemko Songs" («Лемківські співанки») (Muzychna Ukraina, 1967) compiled and edited by Mykhailo Sobolevsky. Mykhailo Sobolevsky was born in 1886 in the village of Kostarowce, Sanok County, now Poland. Before World War I, he worked as a conductor of a church choir. From then on, he began collecting and recording Lemko folk songs. After the expulsion of the Lemkos from their ethnic lands, Sobolevsky lived in Ukraine. Upon his retirement in 1959, he decided to process and publish the songs he had collected. It is believed that the song "Oy Vershe Miy, Vershe" was recorded by him in his native village of Kostarowce. Following the publication of the collection, the song became the signature piece of the "Cheremosh" song and dance ensemble of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. The song gained its widest popularity after being performed by Kvitka Cisyk in a modern arrangement. After that, it was included in the repertoire of many Ukrainian performers and is often performed at various song festivals and competitions. In particular, Jamala won first place in the "New Wave" competition, and Lucina Khvorost won the first prize of the International Competition of Ukrainian Romance named after Kvitka Cisyk with this song. Eight-year-old Ukrainian girl Maria Volovod Christodoulidou won with it at the international children's talent competition "Eurokids".

The song "Oy Vershe Miy, Vershe" is one of the most popular on singing TV shows, including "X-Factor" and "Holos Krainy". Numerous artists have performed the song, including Illaria, Tonya Matvienko, the Tryoda band, Dmytro Babak, Yulia Plaksina, Tetiana Shirko, Anna Kuksa, and many others. In the superfinal of "Holos Krainy 7", Anna Kuksa, accompanied by the "Kiev Tango Project" ensemble, performed "Oy Vershe" in a tango arrangement. The folk song "Oy Vershe Miy, Vershe" by Illaria, was selected for a commercial promoting "Lvivske Zhyve" beer. A video featuring this version of the song was released in late 2010. Director Fedir Stryhun incorporated the song "Oy Vershe Miy, Vershe" performed by The Telnyuk Sisters as a lyrical theme for the play "Stolen Happiness" at the Maria Zankovetska National Academic Theater of Lviv. The song is also featured in the plays "Mystery of Being" («Таїна буття») based on a play by Tetyana Ivashchenko and "Elegy Styx" («Елегія Стікс») directed by Oleksandr Korol at the Lviv First Ukrainian Theater for Children and Youth and the Drohobych Music and Drama Theater, respectively. The song is included in the musical "Kvitka" («Квітка») by the Konstantin Pinchuk "Classikal Grand Ballet" theater.

Other known performers
The song is widely known in choral arrangements by: Michael Hayvoronsky, Tadeusz Chachaj, Yevhen Kozak, Jaroslaw Polanski, Yaroslav Yaroslavenko, Dmytro Katsal. Has been part of the repertoire of Zakarpattian Folk Choir, "Beskyd" Lemko Choral Chapel (Ivano-Frankivsk), "Lemkovyna" People's Choral Chapel of the village of Rudno, "Dudaryk" Choral Chapel, "Yevshan" Halych Chamber Choir, Myroslav Starytskyi, Hanna Sherey, Baiko Sisters, Lesia Matskiv.

Films

 * Documentary film "Oy Vershe Miy, Vershe" («Ой верше, мій верше»). Director Valentyn Sperkach,Ukrainian studio of chronicle-documentary film 1984. (Film about the life of Lemko Ukrainians living in the Velykyi Bereznyi district of Zakarpattia Oblast)

Books

 * Michael Hayvoronsky (1930) "Ukrainian folk songs of Lemkovshchyna and Zakarpattya: mixed chorus [unaccompanied]" («Українські народні пісні Лемківщини й Закарпаття: мішаний хор [без супроводу]»). New York; Lviv: n.p. p. 11.
 * Ivan Maychyk (1967). "My little songs. Choral arrangements of Lemko folk songs" («Співаночки мої. Хорові обробки лемківських пісень»). Kyiv: Muzychna Ukraina. p. 112.
 * Yevhen Kozak (1962). "Echo of the Highlands: Hutsul, Lemko, Boyko, and Transcarpathian folk songs arranged for mixed and women's choirs". («Гомін Верховини: Гуцульські, лемківські, бойківські та закарпатські народні пісні в обробці для мішаного та жіночого хорів») Lviv: Book and Magazine Publishing House.
 * "Ukrainian folk songs from Lemkovshchyna" («Українські народні пісні з Лемківщини») (1997–2002) / Collected by Orest Hyzha. General ed., preface. Sofia Hrytsa. Gorlice. – P. 171.
 * Onufry Tymko (1954). "Our song. Collection of folk and popular songs of the Yugoslav Rusyns" («Наша писня. Зборнік народних и популарних писньох югославянських русинох»). Ruski Kerestur.
 * "Lemko folk songs" («Лемковскы народны співанкы») (1935) – Cleveland: Tipografia Lemko-Soyuza.
 * "Lemko songs" («Лемківські співанки») (1967) Collected and edited by Mykhailo Sobolevsky. Kyiv: Muzychna Ukraina. – 320 p.
 * Orest Hyzha (1972) "Ukrainian folk songs from Lemkovshchyna" («Українські народні пісні з Лемківщини»). Kyiv: Muzychna Ukraina.- 404 p.