Welcome.
I hope it was your interest in authentic Hutsul music that led you to this site. If you came here by accident, do not hurry to go away; click on a couple of music or video samples – perhaps you will like what you hear and see.
The purpose of this site is to provide background information for a CD project "Hutsul Magic – authentic Hutsul music from the Ukrainian Carpathians".
Listen while browsing
The CD is available in the following stores:
NASH FORMAT, a Kyiv-based publisher, offers "Hutsul Magic" through its stores in Kyiv, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk, affiliated shops in other Ukrainian cities and via their online shop. Their site is mostly in Ukrainian.
UMKA, a Kyiv-based Ukrainian internet music shop, has a functional English site and ships world-wide.
UKRAINIAN BOOKSTORE in Edmonton, Canada, offers "Hutsul Magic" through its shop and via its online store.
YEVSHAN, a Ukrainian online store (or, "the largest Ukrainian online catalog", as they refer to themselves), offers the CD via its online store, printed catalog, and distributes to shops.
AMAZON offers the CD to those who live Germany and Austria.
Buy CD directly from the producer to make sure that most of the money reaches the musicians.
For Europe, the price of one CD, including postage, handling and taxes, is 10,- Euro. For the rest of the World the price of one CD, including postage, handling and taxes, is 12,99 Euro.
Import customs and duties, if applicable, are the responsibility of the buyer.
In order to buy the CD directly you have to use PayPal. Use the drop-down menu to select the correct shipping option and click the “Buy now” button to start the transaction:
If you are interested in carrying "Hutsul Magic" in your shop, or would like to distribute it in your region, please contact me via the feedback page.
The CD is available for download worldwide in the following online stores:
- iTUNES
- NAPSTER
- eMUSIC
- AMAZON
(also via local portals:
UK,
Germany,
France).
- SHOCKHOUND
The music in this compilation was recorded in 2007-2008 in the village of Shepit, which is located in the Kosiv raion of the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, Ukraine. You can see the area on this map, although the name of the village there is spelled wrongly as Shepot. This area of the Carpathian mountains is populated by a sub-ethnic group called the Hutsuls, who preserved some of their authentic culture and still practice some of their ancient customs.
Most of the tunes are performed by three brothers – Yura, Mykola and Mykhailo Danyshchuk, also known by their nickname, the Palahniuk brothers, all in their late fifties - early sixties; and their children - Ivan Danyshchuk, Yura’s son, who plays percussion on several recordings, while Maria Danyshchuk, daughter of Mykhailo, sings on one.
Some tracks feature additional performers: Mykola Slovak plays trembita, fiddle and fiyarka; his son in law, Vasyl Haborak, plays horn and sings, together with a group of carolers; Ivan Isaychuk from the village of Kosmach, plays fiyarka; Ivan Petrytsiuk, from the village of Prokurava, plays bayan.
Most performers on this record are genuine folk musicians and have no musical education. Everything they play or sing was learned by listening to previous generations of musicians and singers. The exceptions are Ivan Petrytsiuk, who can read and write music, and Ivan Danyshchuk, who attended musical lessons for three years.
To see the list of tracks as they appear on the record and lsiten to music samples, go to the music page.
Several video recordings are available in the videos section.
Hutsul Magic was not recorded in a studio, it was recorded live, in real-life situations. Live performance makes it impossible to control the situation fully and, of course, the quality of sound suffers. The choice I had, however, was simple: record live while trying to keep quality as high as possible or postpone recording until there is a chance to get everyone into a studio. For most tracks on the CD it would have meant not getting recorded at ll. I could summarize that the sound quality of Hutsul Magic would have been better had I recorded in a studio; in that case, however, most of the tracks would not have been recorded at all while those recorded would be missing the real-life Hutsul flair.
The glossary page explains some of the terminology used on this site, such as the names of musical instruments, dances, etc. Go to the feedback page if you have a question or want to get in contact with the publisher.
Photos: upper right - Hutsul Magic CD cover; lower left - Mykola Danshchuk (tsymbaly) jamming with a fiddler from Chernivtsi oblast, Spring 2007; buttom - Yura Danshchuk (fiddle), Mykola Danshchuk (tsymbaly), Ivan Isaychuk (fiyarka), Ivan Danyshchuk (drum), during a recording session in Summer 2008.
Last update: February 2011.
