Dudaryku (The Piper) was introduced to me by my friend Natalka Pavlovsky as 'the Ukrainian version of Der Leiermann' (The Organ Grinder). Like Schubert's famous Lied, this Ukrainian folksong hauntingly evokes the song of the town musician using the simple drone of his instrument. Dudaryku pays homage to the beloved piper who once played for the townspeople. Several factors coalesced to create Dudaryku. I considered the many traditions of folksongs in western music: the simple folksong without accompaniment; arrangements (like the 19th century arrangement of Dudaryku by Leontovich); and the composition of new work in a folk style (exemplified in works of Brahms and Stephen Foster). The intersection of these traditions - using the old, the borrowed, and the new - intrigued me Dudaryku begins with a newly composed setting of the folksong text which laments the loss of the treasured town musician. There is a transition, referencing Leon