The Peterborough Singers have paid tribute to the people of Ukraine by singing the country’s national anthem.
At the choir’s rehearsal last Tuesday (March 8), artistic director Syd Birrell led the choir in learning and then performing the anthem.
The choir sang in Ukrainian, accompanied by organ and piano.
“We handed out the music, we practised the words, we rehearsed the melody, and then with the cameras rolling we rose and sang the Ukrainian national anthem,” Birrell says. “We gave it our all. And we wept.”
You can watch the performance below.
The lyrics of the Ukrainian national anthem (translated to English) have special resonance given the Russian invasion:
The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished
Luck will still smile on us brother-Ukrainians.
Our enemies will die, as the dew does in the sunshine
And we, too, brothers, we’ll live happily in our land.
We’ll not spare either our souls or bodies to get freedom
and we’ll prove that we brothers are of Kozak kin.
VIDEO: Peterborough Singers sing the Ukraine National Anthem
