Bakhmut Rhapsody
World premiere
Performed by Vira Slywotzky (Soprano), Marichka Marczyk (Folk voice), Olga Zaitseva-Herz (Voice and violin), Valeriya Sholokhova (Cello), Fima Chupakhin (Piano), Marek Herz (Electronics)
Bakhmut, in the Donbas region, was once celebrated for its salt plant and sparkling-wine production; its name is now synonymous with brutal battles during the Russian invasion. “Bakhmut Rhapsody” — a pivotal composition within the larger work When the Sirens Sing — fuses original field recordings with composition, offering an immersive journey from the peaceful prewar region, through the war, to an imagined postwar space. It includes Ukrainian folk singing captured on an ethnographic expedition around Bakhmut before the full-scale war. The composer’s connection to the region deepened when her father disappeared in May 2022 while serving in the Ukrainian army and was later found severely injured after a Russian missile attack. The piece ends with a peaceful scene, visualizing a postwar Bakhmut through Taras Shevchenko’s picturesque image of a Ukrainian village. (The work uses authentic wartime sound samples, including children’s cries, sirens and explosions.)