Decolonizing Ukrainian Music

Abstract

Russian colonization has had a lasting impact on the historiography of Ukrainian music, resulting in historical misattributions and omissions, and an overall inaccurate portrayal of Ukrainian music. This workshop initiates the process of rectifying the current situation by providing musicologists and music librarians with strategies to identify and correct inaccuracies in English-language scholarship, reference resources, and library catalogs—all interconnected information sources. Participants will explore specific strategies, such as creating and amending reference entries to ensure proper attribution of musical works, detailed bibliographic references for Ukrainian composers and performers, and accurate romanization of Ukrainian names.

Additionally, the workshop emphasizes collaboration with key institutions. Engaging with librarians and professionals from the Library of Congress (LOC) and the Name Authority Cooperative (NACO) will help participants understand the processes for reclassifying and renaming authority and bibliographic records, ensuring accurate representation in library catalogs and archives. The workshop also advocates for additions and revisions of terms for controlled vocabularies by incorporating Ukrainian-specific music genres and forms, increasing visibility and accurate representation of Ukrainian music in libraries. The development of inclusive and detailed Grove Music Online entries will be encouraged, focusing on comprehensive information such as the place of birth, activity, and death of musicians, rather than solely on nationality or ethnicity. For composers known by their Russian names, variant spellings using Ukrainian romanization and Cyrillic script will be included to avoid confusion for Ukrainian-speaking users. By implementing these strategies, musicologists will be empowered to contribute to a just and accurate portrayal of Ukrainian music, rectifying historical biases and enriching the global understanding of this cultural heritage.