ULAS SAMCHUK’S “LIVING STRINGS” IN THE CONTEXT OF BANDURA ART SOURCE STUDIES

The article analyzes the literary and documentary study of the famous Ukrainian diaspora writer Ulas Samchuk (1905–1987) “Living strings. Bandura and Bandurists” from the standpoint of musical source studies. The author of the article examines the structure and directions of thematic searches of U. Samchuk’s work, which were initiated by studying the phenomenon of the most famous Ukrainian diaspora collective – the Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus. The article points out still applicable philosophical and aesthetic spheres of the book, due to understanding of kobza-bandura as a striking symbol of Ukrainian culture, and kobzar art – as its traditional phenomenon. The purpose of this research is to analyze the literary and scientific research of Ulas Samchuk “Living Strings” from the point of view of modern musical source studies. At the same time, the solution of the following tasks seems to be relevant: to determine the structure and directions of thematic searches and studies carried out by the writer in the work; to perform a chronological classification of the material; to outline the philosophical-aesthetic sphere of the book; to find out the significance of Ulas Samchuk’s work in comparison with other sources on research of bandura art of Ukraine and diaspora. The research methodology is determined by the use of historical, source, comparative, axiological and cultural approaches, as well as their corresponding methods. In particular, the historical-chronological method used to consider the sequence and stages of creating U. Samchuk’s study, axiological – to determine its artistic value, comparative – to float with other kobzar and bandura art studies, source and cultural approaches will contribute to the various aspects of bandura players art analysis in the global cultural space. The scientific novelty of the article is to determine the place and importance of U. Samchuk’s work in the context of scientific research source studies of bandura art in Ukraine and diaspora, as well as to characterize the writer's literary and journalistic style in his cultural work. Conclusions. In U. Samchuk's work, the bandura instrument is a national symbol that unites Ukrainians in its terrain and emigration parts through time and space, and kobzarism is a special stratum of the people, possessing the “power of revival” in all periods of history and on different continents. © Violetta Dutchak, 2020 Recieved 22.04.2020


Introduction
In 2018, Ukrainian musical culture celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first bandura band's creation by Vasyl Yemets in Kyiv. Its further development took place in two ways in Ukraine and abroad, in the environment of the Ukrainian diaspora. In October 2018, a historic concert took place where two bands of the bandura team performed together: from Kyiv it was the National Honored Chapel of Bandura Players named after G. Mayboroda and from Detroit (USA) it was the Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus. This historical event was the impetus for the actualization of the analysis of the sources of research into the development of bandura performance.
Among the scientific and popular scientific examples of kobzarism and bandura art, which is not only a unique historical phenomenon but also a special national and cultural-spiritual phenomenon of Ukrainians, they do not lose their relevance today. Scientific studies in this area are few and also scattered in the time span of the twentieth century. The source of their source analysis can be the recently published monograph by Ukrainian scientist and musicologist Lidiia Kornii (2019), "Source History of the History of Ukrainian Musical Culture".
One of the works dedicated to the kobzarism of the past and the bandura art of the twentieth century is unique in its significance. This is "Living Strings" by the famous Ukrainian writer Ulas Samchuk (1905Samchuk ( -1987. IT IS a thorough documentary study of Ukraine with the subtitle "Bandura and BandurISTS", published in 1976 in Detroit (USA), the main focus of the well-known diaspora collective -the Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus. The introduction of Ukrainian readers to the work of U. Samchuk (1976) took place in the early 1990s with the acquisition of Ukraine's Independence, when a powerful layer of emigration art (literature, music, painting, etc.) entered the national heritage, and in general, into the national consciousness, enabling to form a holistic, unbounded (between Ukraine and its diaspora part) picture of people's existence.
Today, the work "Living Strings", among other works by U. Samchuk, is presented on the Diasporiana website (http://diasporiana.org.ua/), and its printed copies have been submitted to Ukrainian scientific libraries.
The work of Ulas Samchuk as a writer was the subject of extensive research in the diaspora, and at the present stage has interested Ukrainian scientists, literary scholars and critics. "The pioneers in the Samchuk Studies are M. Hon, R. Hromiak, A. Zhyviuk, M. Zhulynskyi, N. Lysenko, R. Movchan, M. Nevrlyi, D. Paliy, S. Pinchuk, G. Chernyhivskyi, V. Shevchuk and others." (Boroditsa, 2000, p. 4). Separate dissertations of Ukrainian scientists, philologists, and historians, S. Boroditsa, I. Burlakova, T. Zdikhovska, S. Kaleniuk, V. Kyzylova, M. Krupach, N. Lysenko-Kovalova, G. Mazokha, Y. Marynenko, O. Pastushenko, N. Pletenchuk, N. Pryimas, I. Rusnak, M. Stasyk, V. Stetsii, A. Tsiapa testify the remarkable interest in the creativity of V. Samchuk, devoted to the writer's worldview orientation and linguistic creativity, the poetry of his world-view, genre and style peculiarities of his work, features of individual style. In O. Slonovska's (2016) monograph, a leading methodological principle for exploring the work of Ukrainian writers is the archetypal critique of their desire to create a consolidating national myth. In the works of the above authors, a number of U. Samchuk's works were analyzed in some detail, but "Living Strings" did not become material for generalizations.

Purpose of the research
Therefore, the purpose of the proposed article is to analyze the literary-scientific book by Ulas Samchuk "Living Strings" from the point of view of modern musical source studies.At the same time, the solution to the following problems seems to be relevant: to determine the structure and directions of thematic searches and researches carried out by the writer in his work; to carry out chronological classification of material; outline the philosophical and aesthetic sphere of the book; to find out the value of V. Samchuk's work in comparison to other sources of studies of bandura art of Ukraine and the diaspora.

Recent research and publications analysis
An important component of the Ukrainian diaspora art in the twentieth century is bandura art, represented by composers' work, creative activity of soloists, performers and numerous bands of bandura players on the territory of many continents and countries (Dutchak, 2016). According to L. Kornii's conclusions (2019), the following main types as musical notation, folk, musicological, musical and educational, personal, press, documentary, historical, artistic, scientific and informational, informative types are distinguished among the written sources of Ukrainian musical culture (p. 109-110). The scientific study of the kobza and bandura directions of culture is represented by a few studies in virtually every species. However, Ulas Samchuk's work "Living Strings" is a universal, combined look.

Presentation of the main material
In the period of Independence of Ukraine in the domestic art criticism we observe the process of returning the rich heritage of the scientific and musical music literature of the Ukrainian diaspora, which for a long period was not only inaccessible but concealed, leveled, was objectively evaluated. Significant emigration in the artistic and cultural realm expands the understanding and knowledge about attainments, achievements, and in general, the scientific and artistic searches' directions of Ukrainian doers abroad.
An important component of the Ukrainian diaspora art in the twentieth century is bandura art, represented by composers' work, creative activity of soloists, performers and numerous bands of bandura players on the territory of many continents and countries (Dutchak, 2016). According to L. Kornii's conclusions (2019), the following main types as musical notation, folk, musicological, musical and educational, personal, press, documentary, historical, artistic, scientific and informational, informative types are distinguished among the written sources of Ukrainian musical culture (p. 109-110). The scientific study of the kobza and bandura directions of culture is represented by a few studies in virtually every species. However, Ulas Samchuk's work "Living Strings" is a universal, combined look.
In Soviet ideology, the work of Ulas Samchuk was classified as unreliable and nationalistic, and the author was identified as a "fascist servant". It was only in the time of independent Ukraine that these prejudices were removed, and the writer's creativity became the property of 20th century Ukrainian culture. The works of Ulas Samchuk open complex and tragic pages of the people history, in particular, the famine, repression, emigration: "I set and now set myself quite as a writer, a clear task: I want to be a chronicler of the Ukrainian space in an age that I see, hear, experience myself" (quoted by Kraliuk, 2005).
The idea of the book "Living Strings" originated in 1968 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the creative activity of the Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus in Detroit. As stated in the preface, the "epic" of the artistic life and the dramatic collisions of the history of the collective's functioning in Ukraine and beyond, prompted the need to "fix it all with a printed, literary word" (Samchuk, 1976, p. 4). The source material of Ulas Samchuk, who, at the request of the Bandurist Chorus members, began writing the book was the archives of the Toronto (Canada) Library, the concert and illustrative archives of the Bandurist Chorus itself, as well as the personal memoirs and diaries of its participants (P. Goncharenko, A. Kishka, G. Kitastyi, I. Kosikovskyi, L. Lampika, G. Makhyni, M. Minskyi, Y. Panasenko, I. Panchuk).
The idea of the book was in line with the position of the writer who believed. that all attention of the artist, as well as of the philosopher, should be focused on the study of "man, individuals, people, peoples, knowledge of their purpose, their functions, their destiny" (quoted by I. Rusnak, 2015).
The genre of U. Samchuk's book "Living Strings" can be defined as synthetic, combining features of literary, journalistic, and cultural, musicology, it intertwined historical chronicle, literary and philosophical essay, memoirs, performance and interpreting analysis, and generalization. The author himself called it the "tale of temporary years" of kobzarism, given its chronicle, narrative character (Samchuk, 1976, p. 65). In general, it was the epicness of the exposition, as a feature of Samchuk's literary style, that made it possible to call his contemporaries "the Ukrainian Homer of the twentieth century." Ulas Samchuk was very attentive to the subject of kobzarism, and the work of the Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus and its manager, Hryhorii Kytastyi, had already been previously featured in his articles "At the Crossroads the Kobzar Sits" (Samchuk, 1953) and "With a Bandura across Miami" (Samchuk, 1969) in the newspaper "Svoboda".
In the book "Living Strings" the writer combined documentary and chronological presentation with literary journalism. The book has two sections, covering eight sections, each of which corresponds to a certain stage of development of kobza art in general, and the Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus in particular: "Music of Prophets", "Imperial Kobza", "The Beginning of the Bandura", "Time of the Seers", "Bandura in Europe", "Over the sea, over the ocean", "To the East to Europe", From Poltava to Detroit". 1 The book concludes with an appendix with photographs of the Chorus"s concerts and a gallery of portraits of the Chorus members as of 1976. Each section is also photo-illustrated.
The traditionalism of Ukrainian kobzarism was in harmony with the position of a writer who did not accept avant-gardism in art. According to I. Rusnak, his system of views "can be defined as national conservatism, the main ideological and aesthetic aspects of which grew on the basis of the organic feeling of Ukraine, on the one hand, as a phenomenon rooted in real time-space, on the other, as a category of ontological, of everyday life" (quoted by I. Rusnak, 2015).
Kobzarism in the work of U. Samchuk (1976) is a unique tradition of the Ukrainian people, and kobzar creativity is heroic but at the same time tragic pages of its history: "They saw with ears, in the depths of their darkness, emerged the excessive visions of the universe, in which the past, present, and future created a temporal and spatial whole" (pp. 82-83). Symbolic for him is the kobza-bandura itself, whose "living strings" were "roared with glory" by commanders, rulers, and gods" (p. 29).
Ulas Samchuk describes and analyzes the most significant stages in the formation of scientific approaches to bandura art in the literary form -the activity of Mykola Lysenko, Hnat Hotkevych, Andriy Omelchenko, the publication of the first textbooks of the bandura game (V. Ovchynnikov, V. Shevchenko, M. Domontovych, H. Hotkevych). However, in the presentation of certain historical facts, there is a shortage of the writer's source base, limited, apparently, only to the literature available to access by the Ukrainian diaspora at that time (of course, the writer had no opportunity to use the libraries of Soviet Ukraine).
The separate pages are dedicated to the creative path of the famous bandura players of the twentieth century -Hnat Hotkevych, Vasyl Yemets, Ivan Kuchuhura-Kucherenko, Kost Misevych, Antin Chornyi, and others. The author emphasizes their role in the promotion of bandura as a solo instrument of "not blind elders, but sighted intellectuals" among different segments of the population in Ukraine, the Kuban, in emigration (Poland, Czech Republic, the USA, Argentina), the influence on the process of improving the instruments, expanding the repertoire boundaries of bandura players (Dutchak, 2013, p. 27). "Our modern bandurist will no longer be blind, to feel the touch of instruments with his fingertips and to be called folk. He will become sighted one, he will graduate from a conservatory, he will feel the time, mood and nature of art... and will be called intellectual, not shying away from the bandura, the thought, the history, but merely moving them from the realm of instinct to the realm of consciousness. And our kobzar art goes in this direction" (Samchuk, 1976, p. 80).
In his story, Ulas Samchuk separately identifies ways of forming ensemble performance on bandura -the creation of the Kiev (1918) and Poltava (1923) chapels, their unification into the Model Chapel (1935), based on the documentary facts and memoirs of the participants. The author does not avoid, but on the contrary, draws attention to the problematic moments of the collectives functioning related to the sociopolitical atmosphere of the time in the country, which influenced the place and role of band ensembles in the musical concert life of Ukraine, changes in the composition of participants and leadership, censorship repertoire. For the sake of reproducing the spirit of the time, the writer fills the exposition with Russian-language quotations, slogans from newspapers and magazines of the period of 20-30s, emphasizing the contrast between the tasks of Ukrainian music and the aesthetics of internationalism imposed by the Soviet propaganda, and dilution all features of Ukrainian traditionality, historicity, symbolism" (Samchuk, 1976, p. 106).
Ulas Samchuk emphasizes that the bandura art of the first half of the twentieth century passed a complex and ambiguous path of development, through periods of artistic fluctuations and searches in the field of instrumentation and repertoire, performance and style problems, which led to certain accusations of the sharovarshchyna, stage amateurship. However, the result was inevitable progress, a move toward professionalism, the perfection of vocal and instrumental spheres of kobza music: "The culture of this area of our musical art has reached the level where we can see it like an organized and intellectually designed value that every nation can be proud of." (Samchuk, 1976, p. 81).
As a tragic page of Ukrainian art, the author portrays a period of repression, persecution and prohibition, which did not bypass bandurists. Considering that the book was not censored, it really portrayed the political situation of terror and the moral atmosphere of the "apocalyptic fear" of the 1930s, using the personal recollections of the performers and documentary material of the time. It should be noted that this atmosphere was the main reason for the bandurists' refusal, like many other Ukrainians, to return home after the events of World War II, which stimulated a powerful wave of emigration (Dutchak, 2013).
According to U. Samchuk (1976), the State Model Chapel of Bandura Players played a special role in the period 1939-1941, performing on the lands of Western Ukraine, when "the first spiritual unity of these long-separated two Ukraine, which was finally united, for further pulling the yoke of captivity together thrown upon them by Moscow, with the great hope that they would be released from it once" (p. 132).
"The Bandura in Europe" section is the largest in volume, discussing the dramatic period of operation of the Taras Shevchenko Bandurist Chorus, namely the years of World War II and the postwar period, from the moment of Chorus's revival until the last days of his stay in the camps for displaced persons in Germany, before leaving for America in 1949. A separate "missionary role" of the Bandurist Chorus begins in 1941 when it resumes work in the Nazi-occupied Kiev and chooses a name, named after Taras Shevchenko. Kobzar's name became a symbol of Capella and his ideas became the leading national postulate for performers. At the same time, the basic principles of constructing concert performances of the collective were formed, in particular, the different genre and variety of repertoire, intermixing of ensemble and solo (dumas, songs) numbers, certain spectacle and theatricalization of performances, etc. (Dutchak, 2019, p. 175). The name of Shevchenko became the leading idea of uniting bandura players in the team and uniting with their listeners. "We came to Shevchenko through January 22. Through Shevchenko we will come to unity in the full meaning of the word. Through Shevchenko, we align our thinking, erase the borders that divided us, see the essence of things" (quoted by I. Rusnak, 2015).
The repertoire of the collective changes dramatically. As the writer notes, he includes patriotic works "Hey, Numo, Guys, to Arms", "Rising Cloud from the Estuary", "Maxim Zalizniak", "It's Not Time", "Ukraine Has Not Yet Died" and others. Capella's concerts in the Kyiv region, the Chernihiv region, and Volyn became historical events, calling by the music language "to fight to the last drop of hot blood with all enemies of the Ukrainian people" (Samchuk, 1976, p. 148). These factors led to a change in the attitude of the occupying power to the Bandurists, as a result -they were sent to concerts in the Ostarbeiter camps with concerts in Germany. The chaplains gave 370 concerts in 168 cities in 300 days, attended by millions of people from all over Europe. The writer describes with incredible emotional feeling these complex events in the life of the bandura players, emphasizing that "at this fatal time, Ukrainian kobzars, who were sent here by the doom themselves, in order to make their presence the spokesmen of those who were destined for execution. They were the conscience of the era" (Samchuk, 1976, p. 158).
During 1943-1944, bandura players again performed in Ukraine, in the territories of the western regions, Volyn and Galicia, where front lines had not yet passed, "among the masses of their conscious people, under the care of their organizations and government." V. Samchuk notes as a special event of that period a concert for the Metropolitan of the UGCC Andrey Sheptytsky in Lviv, his memorable record for the chapel, his bold "unplanned" performances by bandura players before the UPA (Ukraiinska Povstanska Armiia, The Ukrainian Insurgent Army) soldiers, meetings with writers Ivan Bagrianyi, Yurii Lypa.
Ulas Samchuk (1976) emphasizes the fact that bandura art came on the world stage, first of all to Europe, as a positive and necessary: "The Ukrainian bandura, with its own philosophy, has long needed direct contact with this blessed homeland of the musical cult, but this happened so, and mostly for political reasons, it is enough to be grasped. No other musical instrument had to contend with the state police, but who and how could get it out of the way between people when its representatives were denied their right to live in their native land "(p. 135). Not denying the single facts of the bandura "superficial contacts" with the European musical environment, the writer concludes that "only great wars and great revolutions were able to defeat the prohibition of Ukrainian music beyond the Russian domination… Those were great escapes, great emigrations, from Siberia, from destruction" (Samchuk, 1976, p. 136).
Analyzing the period 1941-1949, the author emphasizes the positive quantitative and qualitative changes that took place, despite the difficult conditions of social and political life and life of chaplains, in the professional growth of the collective. First of all, this is an awareness of the decisive role that the collective played in this unique historical era, to preserve and strengthen the Ukrainian national spirit, as well as a significant increase in the number of its participants (from 20 to more than 40 people), the creation of the organization direction of the chapel (artistic leadership -Gregory Kytatsyi, later Hrygorii Nazarenko and Volodymyr Bozhyk; chairman of the direction -Yosyp Panasenko), expanding the repertoire, solving the problem of instrumentation. The latter should be discussed separately, as this issue was crucial not only for the fate of the collective but also for the formation and creative functioning of an entire galaxy of the western diaspora's bandurists.
Brothers Peter and Alexander Honcharenko took up the production of a bandura new type. Using the Kharkiv-type instrument promoted by H. Hotkevich as a basis, the masters made a number of structural changes and additions to the structure of the bandura: they improved and optimized its shape, the distance between the strings, the system of internal fixation, and, most importantly, offered a fundamentally new tonalities switching system that solved in parallel the problem of chromatization. In addition, the Honcharenko brothers made orchestral types of bandura instrumentsbass and double bass. The author of the book emphasizes the importance of these actions not only for the bandurists of Ukrainian emigration but also in general in the matter of stimulating the perfection of instruments in Ukraine and the diaspora.
The second part of the book is completely devoted to the activity of the Taras Shevchenko Bandurist Chorus in emigration, in the USA during 1949-1968. U. Samchuk chronologically reproduces all the major events of the collective history, connected with the setting up of touring activity, performances in the most famous concert halls of the world and in the centers of Ukrainian culture in the countries of America and Europe. Thus, the Shevchenko Bandura Chorus played a unifying role for Ukrainian communities scattered around the world, stimulated the development of musical art in emigration on a professional level, worthily presenting Ukrainian national culture, as evidenced by the numerous reviews of musicologists on the pages of many magazines, who wrote about bandura players as performers of "not so songs, music, and art as sense, reproduction, and truth", performers of "an old mysterious ritual filled with the sounds of song and strings" (Samchuk, 1976, p. 335). In addition, the author notes the whole complex of problems faced by performers as psychological -in the case of adaptation to a new style of life, preservation of Ukrainian traditions, and, in particular, bandura, in a foreignlanguage environment, and internecine strife ("according to the laws of Ukrainian racial, traditional mentality"), as well as administrative and organizational -the necessity of establishing financing for all directions of the collective activity, such as touring concert travels, training of young bandura players, creation of perfect instruments, as well as mastering modern repertoire, which generally helped to shape professional emigration in relation to the development of bandura art.
In the 1950s and 1960s, numerous unions of bandura diaspora formed mainly in Canada and the United States. This was mainly due to the activities of the Taras Shevchenko Bandurist Chorus, whose members lived in different places, forming small ensembles and playing schools. The youth ensembles were organized in Canada by M. Shatulskyi (Winnipeg) and V. Rodak (Toronto) at the youth organizations of the Democratic Party of Ukraine. Later the ensembles were formed in Detroit (leader -P. Potapenko), Chicago (A. Luplo), Windsor (E. Tsiupa), Seattle (D. Copbin), Bound Brook (R. Levytskyi), children ensembles (P. Kytastyi, M. Liskovskyi) (Samchuk, 1976, pp. 375-386).
The Taras Shevchenko Bandurist Chorus played not only its own self-sufficient role as the "ambassador of Ukrainian culture in the world", but it also stimulated an active learning process in the so-called Kobzar camps and schools, which formed a new generation of bandura players in the diaspora (such as the Bandura Play School in New York), settled the case of Ukrainian bandura propaganda (radio and television broadcasting, audio duplication), supported the latest search for perfection of instruments abroad (Yu. Pryimak, M. Lyskivskyi, A. Chornyi, P. Stepovyi, M. Diakovskyi, etc.).
The author offers Capella's biography to the reader in combination with the biographical section of the activities of his artistic directors -Hrygorii Kytastyi, Volodymyr Bozhyk, Ivan Zadorozhnyi, Petro Honcharenko, Petro Potapenko, Yevhen Tsiur, Ivan Kytastyi, who contributed to the collective's preservation as well as its professionalism improving -performing mastery, repertoire, instrumentation.
In general, the main principle of material presentation in "Living Strings" became documentary (S. Rusnak, 2016), which manifested itself not only in the accuracy of quoting official materials but also in the sources of the subjective genre -memoirs, epistolary and diaries, which added an emotional character his stories.
In U. Samchuk's "Living Strings", as in many of his novels, traditional Ukrainian images-symbols are widely used : earth, path-fate, song, sacrifice, vocation, spirit, freedom, faith, word, people, tradition, Shevchenko. The author also includes symbols of kobzar, kobza and kobza bandura. This symbolism is organically interwoven with the philosophical and aesthetic sphere of his epic work. There are no generalized literary heroes in it, but they are replaced at all stages of history by the specific figures of Bandura players -carriers of the Ukrainian word, song, heroics, and spiritual indestructibility. In every expression of the writer regarding the kobza bandura there is a sense of pride for his people and for kobzar as a leader of the nation's ideas.

Conclusions
Thus, the analysis of epic and artistic and documentary by dominant genre specificity of the novel by Ulas Samchuk "Living strings. Bandura and Bandurists" allows us to draw a number of general conclusions.
1. Eight sections of the work cover the historical period from Kievan Rus to the time relevant for the author (the late 60's of the twentieth century.) with the emphasis on the basic stages of the kobza bandura genesis, the formation of kobza production, its professionalization, access to the concert stage, the improvement of the instrument, enrichment of the repertoire, expansion of the geographical boundaries of the life of the Bandura -not only in Ukraine but also abroad, in connection with socio-political and military events, etc.
2. The bandura instrument in the work acts as a national symbol that unites Ukrainians of its terrain and emigration across time and space, and kobzars -a special stratum of the people, possessing the "power of revival" in all periods of history and on different continents.
3. The main directions of research should be considered: historical-chronic, philosophical-aesthetic, performing, repertoire.
4. The work of Samchuk by informative saturation and chronological sequence can serve not only as a history of creation and activity of the Taras Shevchenko Bandurist Chorus but also as a kind of encyclopedia of all kobzars of the past and present, Ukraine and the Diaspora.
5. Compared to other sources of Bandura's art research, Ulas Samchuk's work is characterized by a synthesized approach to the coverage of kobzarism as an integral part of the Ukrainian nation's culture and mentality, a powerful means of shaping the self-identification of Ukrainians in the world. The author integrates epistemological, historical, folklore, literary-journalistic, musicological aspects in the analysis of bandura art during all stages of its functioning.
6. Analysis of the performing practice of the Taras Shevchenko Bandurist Chorus in the interpretation of U. Samchuk allows us to determine its indisputable role in the preservation and continuation of the traditions of Hnat Khotkevich in the choice of instruments, type of play (Kharkiv school), approaches to the repertoire. 7. In the system of written sources of Ukrainian musical culture, Ulas Samchuk's work "Living Strings" is combined because it combines the characteristics of several types (Kornii, 2019, pp. 109-110): artistic, documentary, historical, musical and cultural character, based on samples of information, personal, folklore materials. Despite some factual gaps or inaccuracies, U. Samchuk's book "Living Strings" still remains a unique artistic phenomenon not only of musical source studies but also of Ukrainian literature in general, a kind of "Bandurist Bible".