Bandura
Vzyav bý ya banduru
tai zagrav, sho znav:
Tsheres tu banduru
bandurýstom stav.
I took the bandura
and I knew at once:
Because of this bandura
I had to become a bandura player.
A fsye tsheres otshi,
kolý b ya ikh mav:
Za ti kari otshi
dushu b ya viddav.
And because of these dark-brown eyes,
when i saw them for the first time:
For these dark-brown eyes
I would give my soul.
Marusýno, sertse,
pozhali mene:
Vizmi moye sertse,
dai meni svoye.
Marusya, my heart,
please be so kind:
Take my heart
and give me yours.
Words and music: Ukrainian folksong, in Ukrainian language
Pronunciation:
a as in "bar", e as in "bed", i as in "bid", o as in "bore", u as in "blue"
y = as in "yellow" /
ý = dull i, as in "bill"
s = always voiceless, as in "son" / z = voiced, as in "zone"
sh = voiceless, as in "mesh" / zh = voiced, like the s in "measure"
kh = mostly rough, like the ch in Scotch "loch", but smooth when "e" or "i" follows
a, e, i, o, u, y
= the underlined vowel signifies the stressed syllable of a word.
Arrangement for balalaika, musical notation,
transcription and analogous translation: Kai Kracht
Comment:
The Bandura is an Ukrainian instrument
shaped almost like a lute.
It has, like a guitar, a broad finger-board
with six to eight strings to play the melody,
and also, like a zither,
up to forty harmonically tuned strings
for a very sonorous accompaniment.
© Kai Kracht 2002