Album Notes

"On Ukrainian Christmas" - a tape cassette or CD. This recording will make an excellent addition to your Christmas present list. It is available on cassette or CD with familiar and also little known Ukrainian Christmas carols in a new arrangement for two banduras and the velvety, cultured voices of the Herasymenko sisters, Ola and Oksana. In some carols they are joined by an instrumental ensemble of violin, flute, keyboard, pan pipes and drums. The sound is professional, crystal clear and of the highest quality.

The recording offers fresh and very pleasant arrangements of known and unknown Ukrainian Christmas carols. The well-matched voices of the Herasymenko sisters, Ola and Oksana are indeed compatible and complementary. Each and every carol is beautifully finished with musical phrasing and a novel accompaniment. The banduras and voices blend into one artistic unity with other instruments joining in from time to time. One is tempted to listen to each carol more than once. There are 22 carols on this tape (8 of them are in instrumental version), all Ukrainian except for one: Silent Night by German composer Franz Gruber in a Ukrainian version performed by two banduras and the instrumental ensemble. The total recording time is 44 minutes 22 seconds. The exact duration time of each carol is indicated in the insert with titles in Ukrainian and English.

Everyone will find his or her favored Christmas carol, beautifully sung and played in a truly new arrangement during the upcoming holiday season. I highly recommend this recording for your own enjoyment and as a gift to friends and relatives. (by Adriana Shmahalo)