Cossack songs are folk songs composed by the Russian Empire's Cossack tribe. They have been influenced by the music of Russian and Ukrainian people and North Caucasian music as well as by original work by Russian composers.
Communities sang Cossack throughout Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, telling stories of war, and war’s tragic consequences, as well as the personal relationships among Cossack soldiers. There are several subgroups of Cossack songs, including Don, Terek, Ural, and others.
Cossacks are an East Slavic Orthodox Christian ethnic group that originated in the steppes of Ukraine and Russia. They were semi-nomadic, semi-militarized, and allowed a great degree of self-governance in exchange for military service, but this was in exchange for nominal suzerainty of various Eastern European states.
They lived in sparsely populated areas of the Dnieper, Don, Terek, and Ural river basins and played an integral part in both the historical and cultural development of Ukraine and Russia. There were different Cossack groups, organized according to military lines. Each host had a territory made up of affiliated villages called stanitsas.
There are three groups of singers practicing the tradition, Krynycya, Boguslavochka, and Pershocvit. The songs are sung for pleasure and to connect with the past - their ancestors and the history of the community.
Most of the singers, men, and women, are in their 70s and 80s and have been practicing this music for most of their lives. It takes two main performers to perform the song: the first one has complete knowledge of the lyrics, and then the second - with an upper voice - follows with the rest of the group (with a middle and lower voice).
In the absence of male singers, females imitate their voices by creating a deeper tone. The singers usually meet frequently and are often invited to give a concert.
Traditions are passed from one generation to another, but the continuity of Cossack songs is now in question because of the aging bearer population and the lack of other sources of knowledge for the new generations to draw upon.
While not requiring an audience, the singers normally meet regularly and give concerts occasionally. However, their continuity is under question due to an aging population and a lack of other sources of knowledge to learn from.