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The song is the second wing of the nation, next to the language.

Lemkos are also a beautiful musical folklore. First of all, singing - polyphonic, deep and wistful. The Lemkos sang on all possible occasions - during work and rest, on weekdays and holidays, during the most important events of their lives - birth, wedding and funeral. The repertoire of Lemko songs is extremely wide, apart from ritual, lyrical and humorous songs, we can also find those about emigration to America and even deportation. In the memories of the oldest generation of Lemkos, there are still stories about how cheerful, albeit poor, things were in Lemkowyna. After a hard day's work, people would come together to sing together, just like they would visit each other's party, light fires at St. John, they were caroling, always singing. After the Operation Vistula, the Lemko world was irretrievably lost, people sang mostly at home, during family celebrations, although, as they say, people didn't want to sing anymore. As a result of the resettlement, many of the rituals celebrated in the village group also fell into oblivion. However, such an important element of life could not be destroyed. The scattered Lemkos began to meet, first in neighborhood and local groups, then the range of these meetings began to spread more and more. A small part of the Lemkos returned to their hometown after 1956, and here they slowly began to rebuild their spiritual and cultural life. It was concentrated mainly around the church and parish, but also with time in organizations and music bands. Many artistic groups were active and work in the Lemko field. The first was the Song and Dance Ensemble "Łemkowyna", founded in 1969. It consisted of a mixed choir, orchestra and a dance group. The ensemble created in Bielanka by Jarosław Trochanowski was aimed at continuing and developing the Lemko culture and presenting native folklore, but apart from the artistic dimension, it played an extremely important role in integrating the Lemko community. Initially, the founders and activists of "Lemkowyna" had a very difficult task, because they had to act in the times of unfavorable communist authorities, however, despite various adversities, the band was active, rehearsing and giving concerts. The Lemko group owes the Lemko community to the creation of one of the most important festivals - the Lemko Watra festival. The event, initiated by Władysław Graban and Piotr Trochanowski, was organized for the first time as an open-air workshop called "Lemkowyny". In this way, the authorities' interest was avoided, as such gatherings and festivals were strictly prohibited. The date of Lemkowska Watra, which is currently the third or fourth weekend of July, is also associated with the time of its appointment, when July 22 was a day off from work. It was the time of the National Rebirth of Poland Day, the most important public holiday of the People's Republic of Poland. The holiday was closed twenty-five years ago, but the deadline remained. The first Watra was held in 1983 in the town of Czarna, and the second one was held in Hańczowa (1985) and Bartne (1986-1989). Since 1990, it has been held in Zdynia, where appropriate infrastructure has been prepared for the needs of the festival - an amphitheater, catering facilities, etc. From the very beginning, Watra attracted people of all generations, scattered around the world - in the first edition of the festival - workshops were attended by several hundred Lemkos, and in the next thousands, even up to ten thousand people from Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia, and the United States. United States, Canada, Australia, etc. The name of the festival is also not accidental, after all, watra is a bonfire, exceptionally large, around which many can concentrate. It is heat, light, fire and heat. Every year, on the festival Friday, a symbolic fire is lit, always by a person important to the community who is burning throughout the festival. These are extremely important three days filled with music, singing, artistic and sports events, a craft show, but most of all family meetings, friends, simply Lemko meetings, on the land of our ancestors. Watra, currently organized by the Association of Lemkos, was awarded in 2007 by the Jury of the Pro Publico Bono Competition for the Best Civic Work. Lemkos living in the western territories and in Ukraine also have Waters, they include Lemko Watra na Obczyzna in Michałów and Watry in Ługi (Lubuskie Province) and Monastyryki (Ukraine).

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In 1972, the community of the eastern Lemko region founded the "Osławiany" Song and Dance Ensemble in the village of Mokre. The team was to gather local youth of Ukrainian origin. The team of Eugeniusz Mohyła (commuting from Jasło) took care of the instructors. He held this position for many years, preparing young people to perform on stage. The group took its name from the Osława river flowing through the Mokre. The team has been operating for almost 50 years, and raised several generations of local Lemkos and Boykos. He has performed on many domestic and foreign stages, also, and perhaps above all, at Lemko festivals, incl. on the aforementioned "Lemkowska Watra". “Famous” together with the Association of Ukrainians in Poland, Koło w Mokre, have been organizing the folklore festival “Święto Kultury Nad Osławą” since 1991. It is a cyclical event that takes place every year and lasts two days. values resulting from cultivating native tradition, language and culture. The place where this task is carried out is specific for several reasons. Mokre is one of the villages mostly inhabited by people of Ukrainian origin. and the intertwining cultures of three nations: Poles, Ukrainians and Slovaks, makes the "Festival of Culture On the Osława" addressed to a wider group of communities that respect each other, seek understanding, dialogue and want to develop through getting to know the culture of their closest neighbors.
Another extremely important group is the Song and Dance Ensemble "Kyczera" from Legnica. Established in 1991 by Jerzy Starzyński, apart from artistic activity and promoting Lemko culture in the world, it deals with research, documentation and education of children and youth in Lower Silesia. The ensemble belongs to the International Council of Folklore Associations, Festivals and Folk Art (CIOFF) and represents Lemkos at festivals in the most remote corners of the world, incl. in China, Mexico, Australia.
Among the numerous activities undertaken by the team, the European Meetings of National and Ethnic Minorities "Pod Kyczerą" deserve special attention. It is the largest international festival of national minorities organized in Europe. It has been held since 1996 in various places in Lower Silesia (e.g. in Legnica , Wałbrzych, Głogów, Polkowice, Rudna, Liścu, etc.), as well as the Lemko region (Krynica-Zdrój, Muszyna, Bielanka, Wysowa, Nowica, etc.). the world. It is impossible to list all the countries from which the bands performing as part of the festival came from, but let's indicate at least the most exotic ones: Colombia, New Zealand, Togo, Sierra Leone, Mongolia, Japan and Mexico.
In addition to the three indicated flagship, representative Lemko bands, smaller bands and bands were also formed. The first Lemko folk group that was created after the operation "Vistula" in Komańcza was founded in the 1950s by Eliasz Czurma. Eight pairs sang and danced in the original Lemko costumes of the Czardasza, Kariczka, Tajdum, Krajcpolka, Kołomyjka, Triassic, Cossack, and over the years of its existence there were over 30 people associated with the ensemble. It was played by Grzegorz Sywak, Maria Sywak and Andrzej Perun, Andrzej Śliwka, Prokop Czerwieniak, Józef Skocki, and Wasyl Kopylec. The band toured all over Poland and, according to reports, only brought back the first prizes. At the end of the 1980s, the members of the group, accompanied by Piotr Skocki, performed at the municipal harvest festival.

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The next Koman band that existed in the nineties of the last century was "Kariczka", a youth folklore group led by Włodzimierz Pińczak. In the nineties, there was also "Kapela Zberana od Komańczy", in which Michał Mychajłyszyn played the first violin, and also Michał Sałak - violin, Dariusz Onyszkanycz - double bass, Bogdan Maszluch - sopiłka and Jan Pasławski - counter violin. It presented authentic, non-stylized music of the eastern Lemko region with clearly preserved elements of the violin, which had been acquired during the earlier music-making of some of its members, with gypsy violinists. This band, apart from recording an album on Polish Radio, won the main prize at the National Festival of Folk Bands and Singers in Kazimierz Dolny on the Vistula.
The last attempt to recreate a band that goes back to the Lemkos traditions of Komańcza was the "PoGrajkowa" band, and its members have been playing in various formations to this day. In the song repertoire of the Lemkos we can find a whole range of songs: ritual, lyrical, love, jocular, chants, and even grandfather songs. Below are some examples - Christmas carols by Koly jasna zorja, wedding song Horiła sosna and grandfather's song A in Neil after obidi from the repertoire of Maria Seńko from Smolnik.

Koly bright zorja
1. Koly bright zorja with morja came out
|: Tody Preczyaja Diva Son gave birth to: |
2. She wore him as a hostile and kept him asleep
|: Hajaj, lulaj, lighten my son, because I slept snakes: |
3. Wait, mother of one family
|: And I drink and prynes and paradise perine: |
4. Son, let me pass my son ta ty szi Ne hoden
|: shi lem one hodynajka like you sja nationł: |
5. Mum, my mum, why should I be ne hoden
I created a zemlu, nebo iszczim sja ne ancestor
I created nebo, zemlu and sja ne a native

And in nedil for obidi
And in Nedilu after obidi chodyt Pan Bih after Beskidi
Khodyt, Chodyt Taj Duma, straightened a dunajec
Diłcza, diłcza bend my sja, give me water to sow
I will not give the water, because it is clean, I am a prypadist to my verbs
Dilcza, painful clean water, your soul is pure
Twenty shtyri said the little girl, she got married to one
How it was heard on the kolina pryklaknuło
Diłcza, tormented lacajsia going to the church owidajsja
How much trouble has become, it has spread to speed

The text comes from the study "INVENTORY OF CULTURAL RESOURCES OF THE BORDERLAND - THE ETHNOCARPATHIA PROJECT" realized by the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University for the District Museum in Rzeszów.

Author: Mrs. Marta Graban-Butryn .

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