The romance (art song) is a chamber vocal work for voice with instrumental accompaniment (most often piano), written to lyrical poetry. Unlike the folk song, it is an authored, professional genre in which the music subtly renders every nuance of the poetic text.
The Ukrainian romance flourished in the 19th–20th centuries in the work of Mykola Lysenko, Kyrylo Stetsenko, Yakiv Stepovy, and Anatol Kos-Anatolsky, who wrote art songs to the words of Shevchenko, Franko, and Lesya Ukrainka. Among the gems are “Dyvlius ya na nebo,” “Oi ty, divchyno, z horikha zernya,” and “Stoit hora vysokaya.” The romance united European professional mastery with the depth of Ukrainian poetry and melos, becoming one of the summits of the national vocal chamber music.
