Reviews

Roman Hurko is a Ukrainian Canadian who has just composed and recorded his third divine liturgy. Like all his work, it is divine indeed. Of course, the liturgy is called "divine" because it is the work of the God-man, Jesus Christ. But Hurko arguably has been deemed worthy to become –musically – a partaker of the divine nature (see II Peter 1: 4).

Mr. Hurko's latest liturgy "premiered" the weekend of November 12 and 13 at St. Francis Xavier's Roman Catholic Church and St. George's Ukrainian Catholic Church in New York City. I was able to attend the former and, like Volodymyr the Great's emissaries, I knew not whether I was in heaven or on earth, "for on earth there is no such beauty."

Before sitting down to write the present article I decided to test my impressions by listening to the CD recording of the liturgy. The music is every bit as glorious as I remember it from St. Francis Xavier's. Fortunately, it is even available on iTunes!

The present liturgy is the fifth major work by Mr. Hurko in 11 years. Since 2000, he has composed and recorded two other divine liturgies, along with a panakhyda (requiem) for the victims of Chornobyl, and a Vespers. But this latest composition – while every bit as beautiful as its predecessors – is different: it is entirely in English.

Mr. Hurko writes in the liner notes: "The impetus for this particular setting of the divine liturgy was twofold: First, to accommodate those Anglophone Eastern Christians who are no longer as familiar as were their ancestors with the languages used in their services... also to help those who have married into the Eastern Church by allowing them to take part in the service using their native English language."

Of course, there is a third category: adults who have chosen to be baptized or otherwise received into one of the Ukrainian Churches. And it does happen. Kyivan Christianity has everything it needs to undertake the world's evangelization. Mr. Hurko's liturgy is added proof.

The clergy's parts, both on the recording and at St. Francis Xavier's, were sung by the Rev. Edward Evanko and the Rev. George Drance, SJ. Father Evanko, a former Broadway actor and singer-turned-Ukrainian Catholic priest, does not disappoint. The resonance, diction and power are outstanding. And while Father Drance's voice may not be Broadway quality, it complements the Rev. Evanko's with added prayerfulness. In fact, one wonders why the two did not switch roles, with the Rev. Evanko, instead of the Rev. Drance, singing the deacon's parts. But that is a trifle. Their contribution is marvelous.

And then there are Mr. Hurko's compositions. This is a monumental work, and for the premiere almost 100 singers gathered to perform it. The recording involves "only" fifty, but the effect is no less monumental. From the very first "Amen" one knows that the Kingdom has come in power (see Mark 9: 1). And by the fourth "Lord, have mercy" one realizes that like all of Mr. Hurko's work, not only will this be impeccably professional; it will also be rooted in tradition -- yet fully contemporary.

Mr. Hurko's approach to tradition is profound. It is not a Archpriest Peter Galadza is Kule Family Professor of Liturgy at the Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies, St. Paul University, Ottawa. matter of repeating melodic phrases or particular chords, but conveying the deep sense of mystery that characterizes all authentic worship – Eastern worship in particular. The composer likes to point out that Eastern Church music should correspond to the environment in which it is performed. Byzantine icons, architecture and liturgical gestures are not the expression of casual or "popular" sentiment; they are epiphanies of the Awesome.

But Mr. Hurko never allows his appreciation for the "terrifying mystery" to turn dour. Just when one begins to fear that the composition may be headed towards the ponderous, Mr. Hurko injects an exhilarating phrase with unexpected – and more contemporary – chords or tempo. And the transition is flawless. One notes in particular the transition to the third verse of Psalm 102 and 145 (the Typica), respectively.

Like any great liturgy, this one is punctuated with masterpieces – selections that will enter "the canon." Among these are Mr. Hurko's cherubicon ("Izhe Kheruvymy") and the anaphora ("Mylost Myra"). Thus, just as most Ukrainian choirs sooner or later learn Dmytro Bortniansky's cherubicon No. 7 or Artem Vedel's "Anhel Vopiyashe" -- to name just two items in "the canon" -- future choirs will surely learn these, and other pieces, from this liturgy. Of course, the fact that these works are in English means that one can expect to hear them sooner or later in other churches -- from Greek to Anglican to Roman Catholic.

Another masterpiece, which probably, however, will not enter "the canon," is the "Alleluia," sung before the gospel and appended to the cherubicon. The only reason it will likely not catch on is its complexity; the average choir will have trouble rendering its ethereal chords and rhythm. Questions of reception aside, this "Alleluia" is simply stunning; it elevates one into the fluidity of angelic motion.

Mr. Hurko's attention to the distinctiveness of such pieces is indicative of his broader appreciation for the structure and meaning of the divine liturgy. For example, unlike many Baroque or Romantic compositions that, ignoring the text, approach the "Monogenes" ("Only-Begotten Son," "Yedynorodnyi Syne") as a backdrop for melodic virtuosity, Mr. Hurko employs a simpler, chord-based chant, bringing to focus the words of this profession of faith.

Among the elements that give this liturgy a modern feel is the occasional use of mild dissonance. Parts of the Creed immediately come to mind. But again, Mr. Hurko under- stands that he is composing liturgical, not concert, music. Consequently, while the "dissonant chords" function to connect us with contemporaneity, they never overtake the work. One is reminded of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Vespers, where the composer occasionally transcends "convention" without becoming idiosyncratically "original." Indeed, Mr. Hurko knows that liturgy is a corporate act. Individual impulses are to be harmonized with the communal -- and not because the community is a "collectivity" that stifles creativity, but because the communal requires an amenable idiom for communication. And this liturgy communicates!

While worshippers at St. Francis Xavier's had the privilege of seeing Mr. Hurko himself conduct his liturgy, J. Michael Thompson, who also provides an insightful Introduction to the liner notes, conducted the recording, sung by the "Schola Cantorum of St. Peter and Guest Artists."

Mr. Thompson is a hero for Christians of the Slavonic Carlos Martin The Revs. Edward Evanko and George Drance with part of the choir at St. Francis Xavier Church in New York. Carlos Martin Composer Roman Hurko at the premiere of his liturgy. tradition. I stopped counting several years ago, but I suspect he has surpassed the 50 mark for recordings of Galician, Carpathian and other Slavic chant (not to mention Western music). These CDs are a kind of living archive for a tradition that may have fallen on hard times (more on that below), but like all great traditions is bound to revive. Ukrainians and Byzantine-Ruthenians owe this Irish American a special debt of gratitude.

The liner notes list a pool of other professionals -- soloists and technicians -- who are responsibility for the unsurpassed quality of the recording. Mr. Hurko's wife, Carmen, deserves special praise as the CD's producer and organizer of the premiere.

The CD includes a stunning, additional, surprise. In 2004, for the launch of "The Divine Liturgy: An Anthology for Worship," published by the Sheptytsky Institute in Ottawa, Mr. Hurko produced an exquisite setting of the irmos for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. For years I had hoped that Mr. Hurko would someday make available a recording of that arrangement. That day has come. Quite frankly, this one piece alone is worth the price of the CD. Mr. Hurko takes the standard, traditional melody from the 1904 Lviv "Irmolohion" (the canonical collection that contains the melody line for many of the Ukrainian Catholic Church's chants), and weaves a breathtaking tapestry of ethereal "heavenscapes" using innovative polyphony. The CD provides the original, unison version found in the "Irmolohion," immedi- ately followed by Mr. Hurko's arrangement. One is able to hear plainly what is involved in the process.

This, incidentally, indicates a possible focus for Mr. Hurko's next project. Unbeknownst to most listeners, the vast majority of Rachmaninoff's immensely popular Vespers, for example, is simply an arrangement of traditional monadic chants (many of them rooted in the Kyivan tradition, by the way.) I cannot even begin to imagine the splendor that Mr. Hurko could spawn were he to arrange other parts of the Irmolohion or traditional Galician chant. Alexander Koshetz did it. Stanislav Liudkevych did it. Mr. Hurko could easily do it -- and he would even outdo these masters.

Turning to the "hard times" hinted at above, many a Ukrainian Christian will be tempted to ask: who will actually perform such sophisticated music? Gone are the days when even small-town parishes had choirs that regularly rehearsed and sang the liturgy. To begin with, the influx of new immigrants from Ukraine frequently brings qualified singers. And unlike their post-World War II predecessors, they are more receptive to English.

Certainly a dynamic pastor in one of North America's urban centers would be able to generate interest in getting Mr. Hurko's music performed on a regular basis, especially as non-Ukrainians (among them singers) are increasingly drawn to our parishes. There is also the fact that several of the pieces might be amenable to congregational use.

Whatever the case, Mr. Hurko is to be commended for sewing without regard for the harvest. Fatalism is obviously foreign to his psyche; a spirit of hope guides his will. This is an outstanding example for all of us in the Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox communities. Mr. Hurko did not wait to be asked to do this work. He does not seek hierarchical approval -- though he is obviously not "a loner." He and his wife themselves sought out and provided the financial resources. And our world is the better for it.

More particularly, Ukrainian Christian culture is the better for it. "Culture" is not an abstraction, but the concrete labors of a Lysenko, a Koshetz, a Kudryk. Today we can revel in the vitality of this culture because of a Mr. Hurko.

Archpriest Peter Galadza is Kule Family Professor of Liturgy at the Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario.

Fr. Ed Evanko delivered a stellar tour de force with his one-man show “Blessed Nykyta: Bishop and Martyr” commemorating the 100th anniversary of the appointment of Bishop Budka as the first Ukrainian Catholic Bishop in Canada, at St. Basil`s Cultural Centre in Edmonton, Nov. 1.

The play features Fr. Evanko delivering a monologue reflecting the life of Bishop Budka interspersed with religious hymns.

This was Fr. Evanko`s third performance of this play, which premiered at Holy Eucharist Parish in Winnipeg Oct. 2 and was reprised at St. Charles Parish, also in Winnipeg, the following day.

It was also performed in support of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute in Ottawa.

Bishop Budka was born in a village in Zbarazh, Halychyna, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1877, and ordained as a priest in Lviv in 1905.

He was appointed the Bishop for Canada on July 15, 1912 and consecrated on October 14 of that year. In Canada he became known as a staunch defender of the autonomy of the Ukrainian church from the Latin hierarchy, and a fierce opponent of missionary actives amongst Ukrainian Canadian by Russian Orthodox and Protestant churches, and of secularism. He was broadly supportive of Ukrainian nationalism.

At the same time he faced internal dissension among some of the Ukrainian Catholic faithful who did not view him as nationalistic enough and differed over control of property and the issue of married priests. This led to a split among the faithful and the creation of the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada.

In 1927, he returned to now Polish-controlled Halychyna and became vicar general of the Metropolitan Curia in Lviv. After the Soviets occupied Halychyna in 1944, they liquidated the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and exiled Metropolitan Josyf Slipyi and many bishops, Budka among them, to the Gulag. Budka died in a concentration camp in Karaganda, Kazakhstan on Oct. 1, 1949.

He was beatified as a martyr by Pope John Paul II on June 27, 2001.

Although it opens with a brief account of Bishop Budka’s death in Karaganda, Fr. Evanko’s narrative focuses primarily on Bishop Budka’s years in Canada. He artfully articulates the rigours Bishop Budka faced in serving the far-flung regions of the geographically largest episcopate in the world, how he expanded the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada and his struggles with the dissidents.

Fr. Evanko pays particular attention to the controversial July 27, 1914 pastoral letter in which Bishop Budka called upon the faithful to heed Austrian Emperor Franz Josef’s call for Ukrainians abroad to come back and fulfill their military obligations in the upcoming war against Serbia. Within days Russia joined Serbia, Germany backed Austria, while France and Britain backed Russia. Canada, which wasn’t to achieve independence until the Statute of Westminster in 1931, was automatically at war when Britain entered World War I. (In order to demonstrate its new found independence in 1939 Canada’s parliament waited a full week after Britain declared war on Germany before entering World War II.)

Bishop Budka retracted his first pastoral letter and issued a second on August 6, 1914 calling upon Ukrainians to fulfill their obligations to their new homeland of Canada, but the damage had been done. Despite his unflinching support for Canada’s war effort, charges of disloyalty were to plague him throughout his episcopate and led to two arrests, In both cases charges were dismissed.

Fr. Evanko terms this play as “a work in progress’ and says he is open to suggestions how to improve it.

We would suggest that while Bishop Budka’s work in Canada is of particular note, it would be most interesting to add some narrative about the years he spent in Ukraine after 1927. This, after all, was the most turbulent period in the history of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. It encompasses the Polish “Pacification” of 1930, the initial Soviet occupation of 1939-41, the Nazi invasion during which Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky saved hundreds of Jewish children from the Holocaust, and the second Soviet occupation during which the church was liquidated and its priests and bishops exiled.

Evanko was born in Winnipeg and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has appeared on Broadway, in many television programs and has recorded several albums of Ukrainian songs.

He did his academic and spiritual formation at the Pontificio Collegio Beda in Rome, at St. Josaphat Seminary and Catholic University in Washington, DC, and at Holy Spirit Seminary and St. Paul University in Ottawa. He is a Ukrainian Greek Catholic, not a Roman Catholic.

He was ordained as a priest for the Archeparchy of Winnipeg in 2005 and now serves the Eparchy of New Westminster.

Fr. Evanko is currently performing two other one-man shows “Damien”, about the Belgian priest who gave his life to helping Hawaiian lepers, and “Holodomor: Murder by Starvation” about the genocidal 1932-22 famine in Ukraine.

You don’t have to be a Broadway actor to be a good priest, says Father Edward Danylo Evanko, pastor of the Dormition of Our Mother of God Church in Richmond. “But,” he adds, lapsing into a Manhattan Yiddish accent, “it wouldn’t hoit.”

Father Evanko was an actor on Broadway, as well as in Hollywood, in television and film, for over 30 years before a seemingly chance conversation at Vancouver’s Holy Rosary Cathedral pointed him to the priesthood. Once a priest, he thought he had put acting behind, but he was wrong.

He now performs three one-man shows, mostly in Canada and the U.S. but also abroad: Damien by Aldyth Morris, about Father Damien of Molokai, the so-called “Leper Priest;” Holodomor: Murder by Starvation, about the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33 that killed 4-7 million, written by Father Evanko; and Blessed Nykyta, about Canada’s first Ukrainian Catholic bishop, who later died in a Soviet jail.

Father Evanko was born and raised in Winnipeg, a product of the North Winnipeg ethnic stew that gave rise to many performing artists over the years. A booming tenor, he won a provincial singing contest before going off to England to study theatre.

He returned to Canada to MC a CBC variety show, and then it was on to Broadway. His most lucrative and lasting gig was an on-going part in the Irish American soap opera Ryan’s Hope.

He never abandoned the faith of his childhood, he said, though sometimes his practice was thin. “I would confess to my friends that there was always a void somewhere, an emptiness, and I wouldn’t even know what I was feeling.”

A movie of the week assignment took him to Vancouver, and he decided on the spot to move to Hollywood North. Soon he “fell in love with Holy Rosary Cathedral, the liturgy, the choir,” and be- gan reading at the 11 o’ clock Sunday Mass.

In 2000, after the Easter Mass, he was chatting with the assistant pastor when the latter asked him if he had ever considered the priesthood, “I thought he was sort of joking, and I said I had always thought I could do it better than the priest. I was already the actor as a child. I thought, Wow! I could dress up and do homilies!”

But the priest was serious. “He said, ‘No, I’ m talking right now, because you only need to say the word and you could be in Rome this fall studying,’ ” Father Evanko recalled.

“You could have knocked me over with a feather. I had no idea where this came from. I started to cry and I stopped crying and said, ‘You know something. That is exactly what I must do.’”

In Rome, however, a Ukrainian Catholic priest took him to a Ukrainian seminary and he realized that was his calling.

On his first assignment, pastor of 12 parishes in Western Manitoba, he got the idea of staging Damien as a fundraiser for a fellow priest whose father had fallen ill after donating a kidney to his son. He raised $4,000 from three performances.

He thought his acting was over again, but parishes began calling up asking him to perform it again, and eventually the interest settled down to a steady half dozen performances a year around the U.S. and Canada.

Then a Toronto priest urged him to create a show about the Holodomor in time for the 75th anniversary in 2008. Father Evanko protested that he didn’t have the time with his 12 far-flung rural parishes, but the other priest promised to do the research.

Father Evanko was soon showered with articles and first-hand accounts from survivors, all children during the famine, who had watched their brothers, sisters, and parents die in front of them. Father Evanko dramatizes their words in a series of seven scenes, interspersed with Ukrainian folk songs and hymns, over an hour and 15 minutes.

In musical theatre, he said, characters burst into song when words are inadequate to express the emotional content of the scene. “That is very much the case with Holodomor.”

Father Evanko presents a spiritual message in his plays by presenting the sacrificial heroism of individuals faced with the challenge of suffering, either on an individual scale or on a national scale.

He sees his theatrical work as a “call within a call,” a concept borrowed from Damien. The Belgian priest uses it to describe his vocation to serve the lepers, for a long time against his bishop’s wishes.

In Father Evanko’s case, the call is to dramatize those who devote their lives “to lose their lives” in the service of others.