Stepan Pasiuha

Stepan Artemovych Pasiuha (11 December 1862 Gregorian date – 1933) was a Ukrainian kobzar.

Portrait of Stepan Pasiuha by Opanas Slastion, 1910

Biography

Stepan Pasiuha was born in the town Velyki Pysarivky, Bohodukhiv county, in the Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire (modern Ukraine). He learned to play the bandura from Dmytro Trochenko (Trottchenko). He had seven dumy (sung epic poems) in his repertoire:

• 1. Marusia Bohuslavka
• 2. The Widow and her three sons
• 3. The Sister and Brother
• 4. Oleksiy Popovych
• 5. Captives lament
• 6. Ivan Konovchenko, the Widow's Son
• 7. The Escape of the Three Brothers from Oziv.

The first three dumy were recorded on a phonograph by Opanas Slastion and sent to Filaret Kolessa in Lviv. Filaret Kolessa wrote that : "In his recitations, sung with a nice baritone, we hear the importance of the recitative above the melody. The singing and playing of Stepan Pasiuha makes a nice artistic impression."

Yehor Movchan was a student of Pasiuha, and highly praised him as a teacher of singing and playing, and also as a kobzar who demonstrated great artistry in his performance of dumy. He often spoke: "there probably was never such a kobzar like Pasiuha and in the future there never will be."

In 1915, Pasiuha was arrested and spent time incarcerated.

From graphic sources his bandura had:

• Portrait 1 – 4 basses and 14 treble strings (16 pegs)
• Portrait 2 – 6 basses and 14 treble strings

Portrait of Stepan Pasiuha by Opanas Slastion, 1910

Students

• Hryhory Kozhushko
• Yehor Movchan
• Heorhy Tkachenko

Sources

• Mishalow, V. and M.: Ukrains'ki kobzari-bandurysty, Sydney, Australia, 1986