In 1908, Filaret Kolessa’s expedition to the Central Dnieper Ukraine was carried out, the organizers of which were the spouses Lesia Ukrainka and Clement Kvitka. The purpose of the expedition was to preserve the traditional kobzar and lyrnic repertoire. The recording of the kobzars singing was done using the Edison’s phonograph on wax rotating cylinders.
Today we can hear the voice of an unknown kobzar who sings a duma(ballad) about an infantryman. A voice that runs through the century of struggle of the Ukrainian people for their freedom. The ballad is a story about a certain war action that takes place in the Nogai steppe – that is, in today’s Donbass area. The video footage is a chronicle of the events around the DAP (Donetsk airport) defense during the active phase of the fighting in winter of 2015, especially during Christmas.
