In this analytical and comparative study, I analyze Anna Lapwood’s transcription of Mykola Lysenko’s Prayer for Ukraine (1885) and compare it to John Romano’s recent arrangement for the United States Air Force Band. I further examine the extramusical narratives of cultural identity and highlight this hymn as a symbol of Ukrainian independence. The Ukrainian struggle for independence has lasted for centuries. Present-day Ukraine was formerly ruled by the Romanovs–later the Soviet Union–and the Habsburgs (1760-1991), where many Ukrainians were assimilated into other cultures. The nineteenth century, however, saw a series of revolutionary uprisings. As Paul Kubicek states, “toward the end of the nineteenth century, Ukrainians began to experience an important ‘ideological conversion,’ as the cultural intelligentsia, which had been growing throughout the nineteenth century, abandoned its previous ethnic self-destination as Rusyns, or Ruthenians, and began using a new moniker, Ukrainians.”[1] The rise of the Orthodox Church, the increase of scholarly publications, and the establishment of Ukrainian educational institutions became important vehicles for creating a unified Ukrainian identity.[2] To use Kubicek’s term, this “Ukrainian awakening” would continue to last throughout the twentieth century which saw Ukraine established as a nation–following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.[3]

Read More