DATELINE NEW YORK: Kutia and Christmas carols (01/12/97)

DATELINE NEW YORK: Kutia and Christmas carols

by Helen Smindak

Christmas Eve rituals

The traditional Ukrainian Christmas Eve meal consists mostly of vegetarian food; there is fish but no meat. Why? Because, as an agrarian society, Ukrainians concentrated their attention on what nature gave them and on the produce that they themselves could grow, according to Lubov Wolynetz, curator of the folk art collection at The Ukrainian Museum in New York.

Ukrainian housewives prepared a variety of dishes for Christmas Eve (whether celebrated on December 24 or January 6), using harvest from the fields. An ancient pagan tradition of Koroten (winter solstice eve) included 12 dishes in the meal with one dish dedicated to each full moon. With the advent of Christianity, says Mrs. Wolynetz, the 12 dishes gained a new interpretation: they came to represent the 12 apostles.

Speaking to a group of tourists at the museum last month, Mrs. Wolynetz pointed out that Ukrainians have always paid special attention to the grains from which they made bread: "In pagan times, they made special breads to present as sacrifices to pagan gods. When Christianity came, they made the same special breads to create a centerpiece for the Christmas Eve table.

"The bread was usually in a round form, because it was made in the image of the sun; when you bake a round-shaped bread, you are helping the sun to be born again."

Three braided loaves were placed in the center of the table, one atop the other. Originally, they symbolized the three stages of life, or the three elements that we need in order to exist. Later, Christians interpreted the three loaves as symbolic of the Trinity, noted the speaker.

Hay and straw (there's your agrarian aspect again, Mrs. Wolynetz chuckled) were placed under the tablecloth. "That lent itself very well later to the Christian idea of the Christ Child being born in a stable and being placed in a manger of hay."

The table setting, she said, must include two tablecloths - one for the living and one for the dead. An extra place setting was always included for those who have departed from the family; it was left in place for the whole night.

To "shoo away" any evil spirits that might enter the home, a clove of garlic was placed under the tablecloths at each corner. If there were young children in the family, some hay and straw were placed under the table to form a hiding place for nuts and candies.

Two special foods are a "must" at Christmas Eve. One is kutia, which is boiled wheat mixed with honey and poppy seed; the other is uzvar, a stewed fruit compote, which should include 12 different dried fruits.

Also called "god's food," kutia was used in pagan times as a sacrifice to the gods. Mrs. Wolynetz stressed that everyone at the supper table must partake of this sweet concoction as a first course. Uzvar is eaten as the final course.

"In between, we have borshch, and we have dumplings with sauerkraut, with potatoes, with kasha; then we have stuffed cabbage rolls, and a mushroom sauce ... all together, there are 12 dishes," she said.

"Our Christmas Eve meal takes a long time, because usually we sit down and begin to eat when the first star appears in the evening sky - that's the sign of the Star of Bethlehem."

"What if it's a cloudy day?" one tourist inquired.

"Well, then we begin approximately between five and six o'clock, instead of sending the youngsters outside to watch for the first star, which is like a game for them - who can spot the first star and run back to announce that the Christmas Eve dinner should begin."

As she described the Christmas setting in the village homes of earlier times, Mrs. Wolynetz said the table and benches were set in a corner of the room beneath a row of icons decorated with an embroidered ritual cloth. Here, in what was considered the holy place, the oldest member of the family (grandfather or great-grandfather) would be seated; behind him stood a sheaf of wheat adorned with colored ribbons and tied with an embroidered cloth.

"That sheaf of wheat referred to the Ukrainian agrarian tradition; they tilled the land, and wheat and bread grains were very important to them," she said.

"They also believed that when a person died, that person returned to earth in the form of stalks of wheat or grain."

The first sheaf of wheat cut at harvest time was stored in the barn, then brought ceremoniously into the house and placed in the holy corner on Christmas Eve. Some spoons were tucked into the cloth tied around the sheaf.

"The sheaf of wheat is called a 'didukh' or old grandfather; it symbolized all the departed members of the family," Mrs. Wolynetz explained. "The spoons are left there in the belief that at night the spirits of the departed may want to come and participate in the meal."

In today's homes, she added, it is not always possible to adhere to all of these customs, so Ukrainian homemakers can be selective. Nowadays, for example, Ukrainians often cover the dinner table with one cloth, then lay a decorative runner over it instead of using two tablecloths.

Christmas in October

Wondrous to hear and a marvel to behold - the Kyiv Symphonic Choir and Orchestra, performing in the awesomely beautiful Riverside Church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Although it was October, the dazzling setting and the selection of music made it seem like Christmas as the 110-voice choir, singing in Latin and English, opened with the majestic Christmas classic "O Come All Ye Faithful."

In a grand entrance, choir members in formal attire walked in procession down the center aisle and formed behind the orchestra in the altar section of the church. The soloists entered from the side aisles during the singing of the carol.

The combined ensemble was directed by Roger G. McMurrin, an American musical educator and composer who established the choir and orchestra in 1993.

The program included stirring performances of beloved classics - excerpts from Bach's "Magnificent" and Verdi's "Requiem," Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Vespers" and a powerful "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Backed by the chorus and orchestra, Anatoly Glavin offered the popular Mario Lanza trademark "Be My Love." The American classic George Gershwin's "Summertime" was faithfully interpreted by the choir and orchestra, with Mila Tretiak as soloist.

Ukrainian and Russian classics were featured in the second half, among them the sprightly "Shchedryk" (Carol of the Bells), Bortniansky's "Mnohaya Lita" (Blessing for a Long Life), Stetsenko's "Blahoslovy, Dushe Moya, Hospody" (Bless O Lord, My Soul) and the folk songs "Oy Susidko" and "Kyieve Miy." Here a dozen performers attired in Ukrainian folk costumes held center stage.

During the second portion, Mr. McMurrin surrendered the podium to youthful members of the choir, who directed the ensemble's performances or performed bandura, bayan, piano or organ solos.

Two prayers were offered in the finale - Mykola Lysenko's "Prayer for Ukraine" and Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" - which brought the concert to an emotional conclusion.

The evening's vocal soloists, whose work was outstanding, included sopranos Lydia Bychkova and Ms. Tretiak, mezzo-soprano Lubov Kanuka and tenor Femi Mustafaev. Among the instrumental soloists were Sophia Pavlenko, Natalia Kudritskaya and Simone Trenko, all of whom displayed great talent.

Mr. McMurrin provided excellent leadership and proved to be a charming and knowledgeable commentator as well. Throughout the evening, he preceded his introduction of program numbers with information about Ukraine ("Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe," it is "a wonderful country" with "intelligent people and incredible resources").

In his final remarks he said, "I ask that you continue to pray for Ukraine; pray for our people, they are very poor. Our people on this stage earn about $60 a month."

Mr. McMurrin and his wife, Dianne, moved to Kyiv in 1992 with their teenage son Matthew to devote 10 years to presenting sacred classical music to the Ukrainian community. In addition to establishing the Kyiv Symphonic Choir and Orchestra, they began to hold weekly worship services, which were officially registered in 1994 as the interdenominational Church of the Holy Trinity. Mr. McMurrin is the American pastor and Sasha Sikorsky is the Ukrainian pastor.

Christmas treats

· The Dumka Ukrainian Chorus of New York, which recently gave a concert of Ukrainian sacred music at Rutgers University (Kirkpatrick Chapel), is well into this season's caroling songfests. The chorus sang at St. John Ukrainian Catholic Church in Newark, N.J., on December 28, 1996, and at St. Nicholas Church in Passaic, N.J., on January 5. New Yorkers will be able to hear the group on January 12 at St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church (1 p.m.) and at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Fifth Avenue and 50th Street (4:45 p.m.). A program of carols is scheduled for St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Church on January 19 at noon.

· The Promin vocal ensemble performed with other ethnic groups at Deer Lodge Mansion in Tenafly, N.J., on December 8, 1996. Directed by Bohdanna Wolansky, the ensemble appeared before an elite audience that included several U.N. ambassadors. Their program: Ukrainian carols, with "Shchedryk" included. The concert was given under the auspices of pianist Florence Bocarius Sahaidachny, a Ukrainian patriot and the widow journalist Petro Sahaidachny.

· The glowing face of Olympic ice-skating champion Oksana Baiul graces the cover of the December 1996 issue of Connecticut Magazine, currently in Barnes & Nobel bookstores and other shops in the Big Apple. The 19-year-old blonde, who trains at the International Skating Center in Simsbury, Conn., is the subject of a long feature story "Oh Oksana" by Michelle Bodak, who found Ms. Baiul to be "eminently touchable, embraceable, real."

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