Bence Hartl
Ukrainian Fragments
Duration: 8'
Solos:
bass trombone
Ukrainian Fragments
Sample pages
Video
Work introduction
This piece was written after the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war. It is based on Ukrainian folk songs recently collected by Polyphony Project. Rough translations of some passages appear in the sheet music, but they don’t need to be explained to the listener: (...you, young cossack, are all a liar in you...); (...she was an orphan and now a widow...); (...fallen freedom on the green grove...); (...oh, how difficult it is to live...). The piece requires some extended techniques such as microtonal intonation, humming, air noise and smacking. It was first performed by the Hungarian virtuoso bass trombonist Dávid Sztranyák, member of the SzEged TRombone ENsemble, at the 4th Young Composer’s Festival in Szeged, Hungary, 2023.