Singing expeditions of Miklos Bot

A Hungarian musician has collected, systematized and recorded 450 authentic Ukrainian songs

Talented Hungarian musician Miklos Bot confirmed the ancient truth that a great thing can only be seen from afar, by opening a whole layer of gradually disappearing authentic music during his folklore expeditions to Ukrainian villages.

During the meeting with Mr. Miklos at the Palace of Arts in Budapest, he said that he has long been hunting for song treasures of the world. He has made several expeditions to China, Iran and India. He visited Ukraine for the first time in 2014 – for a festival in Poltava region, where he for the first time heard authentic Ukrainian folk music, which is not known not only in Europe but also in Ukraine.    

During two years, the expeditions of M.Bot collected a vast array of information in 26 settlements of Ukraine. They recorded audio and video in high quality using the latest equipment to have the original source material.  

Mr. Miklos stresses that in Hungary, true authentic folklore is almost non-existent. In Ukraine, due to 20-30 years lag, it has remained, and it is the real treasure of national culture.  

The main difference between Hungarian and Ukrainian folk songs is that in a Hungarian song, there is only one melody, and in Ukrainian, there may be two or three. Ukrainian music is polyphonic.

The concert of Ukrainian groups performing authentic folklore in the most prestigious concert hall in Budapest was a success. For an hour, singers of authentic songs from Poltava, Chernihiv, Rivne and other regions brought to Budapest by the collector of world music folk heritage Miklos Bot were performing masterpieces of folk art for the audience. And the audience long applauded the amateur artists from Ukraine.

In spring, Miklos plans to make another long expedition. He asks all persons in Ukraine, who are interested, to contribute to the preservation of the cultural heritage of the nation. Ukrainian folk songs are the world’s cultural heritage, but Ukrainians must be interested in its preservation the most.

The author would like to thank the Deputy Consul General of Hungary in Uzhgorod Mr. Laszlo Vida for assistance in preparing the article.

Vasyl Ilnytsky for the "Den" from Budapest