In the writing and recording production of the song, Geoff felt that it was important to give the piece an essential Ukrainian identity.. Via the Ukrainian Society in Manchester Geoff was fortunate enough to be put in touch with Vera Tymchyshyn , a classically trained opera singer and tradtional Ukrainian Bandura player.
The Bandura (In Ukrainian банду́ра) is a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrrument. It combines elements of the zither and the lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often referred to by the term kobza. Early instruments (c. 1700) had 5 to 12 strings and similar to the lute. In the 20th century, the number of strings increased initially to 31 strings (1926), then to 56 strings – 68 strings on modern 'concert' instruments (1954)
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