Oy Khodyt Son - Ukrainian Song

Arrangement and vocals by Farya Faraji. Continuing in the East Slavic song series, this is a Ukrainian lullaby with various versions lyrically, as is the case with most folk songs. I wanted to capture one of the essential aspects of the timbre of Ukrainian music: the very zither-oriented, metallic-string based sound of their music that is often dominated by the bandura, a plucked-string instrument that has a timbre very similar to that of most zithers, and indeed it is theorised that it descends at least partially from the gusli, the main instrument of the Kyivan Rus, which emits an almost identical sound, hence my usage of the gusli here in lieu of the bandura. I also added in the sound of the hammered dulcimer, called tsymbaly in Ukraine, very often heard in the regions of the Carpathian and the southern parts of the country, though also present in other parts. Lyrics in Ukrainian: Ой ходить сон коло вікон, А дрімота — коло плота. Питається сон дрімоти: Де ж ми будем ночувати? Де хатонька теплесенька, Де дитинка малесенька, Там ми будем ночувати, І дитинку колиcати. Ой на кота та воркота, На дитину та й дрімота, Котик буде воркотати, Дитинонька буде спати Latin transliteration: Oy khodytʹ son kolo vikon, A drimota — kolo plota. Pytayetʹsya son drimoty: A de budem nochuvaty? De khatonʹka teplesenʹka, De dytyna malesenʹka, Tam my budem nochuvaty, I dytynonku kowychaty, Oy na kota ta vorkota, Na dytynu ta drimota, Kotyk bude vorkotaty, Dytynonʹka bude spaty English translation: The Dream passes by the window, And Sleep by the fence. The Dream asks Sleep: “Where should we rest tonight?“ Where the cottage is warm, Where the tot is tiny, There we will go, And rock the child to sleep. There we will sleep, and will sing to the child: Sleep, sleep, my little falcon, Sleep, sleep, my little dove.