Mnohaya Lita

• Words & Music: Trad. Ukrainian from the singing of Anni Zylstra

Anni Zyl­stra says: MNOHAYA LITA — a well beloved Ukrain­ian bless­ing song we sing very fre­quent­ly in my house and com­mu­ni­ty. The words trans­late to “Many Years!” and this song, which has many many ver­sions and tunes, is tra­di­tion­al­ly sung at fes­tive events — birth­days, wed­dings, and oth­er occa­sions in need of a bless­ing for Many Years. Today, I sing it for Ukraine itself. Many Years, dear land. May there be many more years of your songs, your dances, your cul­ture, your resilience, your sov­er­eign­ty, the safe­ty of your human & non­hu­man inhab­i­tants. I include a call and repeat style teach­ing video because I want to invite you to learn & sing it with me, that this spell might spread and be sung in the mouths of many and grow in strength.

I am just one oral tra­di­tion song shar­er on a con­ti­nent far away, but I believe our voic­es have pow­er and songs can make waves. Will you sing with me?
March 2022

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cak8ht_lXQH/

Muis score: mno­haya lita