Peace Recital 2022

1. Boris Lyatoshynsky (1895-1968): Ukrainian Quintet – II. Lento e tranquillo:

Boris Lyatoshynsky was a Ukrainian composer, conductor and teacher. A leading member of the new generation of twentieth-century Ukrainian composers, he was awarded a number of accolades, including the honorary title of People’s Artist of the Ukrainian SSR and two Stalin State Prizes.

The quintet was written during World War II, and it was during this time that Lyatoshynky, in his music, achieved the necessary compromise between pessimistic decadence and revitalisation. The music is characterised by the demands of renewal in the face of anxiety and despair, reviving a vital driving force by means of a modernistic fusion of atonality with the motivic realisation of folk song, encapsulated in the polyphonic writing.

The beginning of the second movement is gloomy and calm, and the main theme resembles a lullaby. It is based on a folk song and is initially performed on piano, followed by muted strings. The middle part sees the unravelling of dark motifs, creating a tense and dramatic mood as well as conflict between various themes. After swelling to a climax, the music calms with a recapitulation that casts an alluring, lingering mist before fading away.

2. Myroslav Skoryk (1938-2020): Caprice for violin solo:

Myroslav Skoryk was the author of a very diverse and impressive oeuvre. Although contemporary in its vocabulary and means of expression, his music often draws from the rich well of Ukrainian folklore. His music features original contemporary elements combined with a deep understanding of folk music.
“Caprice for violin solo” features a brilliant combination of contemporary musical elements and folk rhythms. Extreme character changes beautifully represent the wide range of violin techniques, including imitation of folk instruments and singing.

3. Viktor Kosenko: “Dreams” for violin and piano:

Viktor Kosenko was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, and educator. He was regarded by his contemporaries as a master of lyricism. His first compositions were markedly influenced by the works of composers such as Alexander Scriabin, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and his compatriot Mykola Lysenko. Kosenko’s music combines a post-romantic idiom with intonations of Slavic folk songs and Western-European influences. His vocal, chamber and symphonic works are among the most important pieces of that time in the USSR.
“Dreams” is an incredible miniature, boasting music that bursts with imagination. The piece was originally written as a movement of a larger work, but it was published as a single piece to give due recognition to the beautifully crafted voices for the violin and piano. The music is full of longing, almost free from form, dramatising dreams that perhaps never came true.

4. Georgii Moroz: Movement from string quartet:

Georgii Moroz is a young Ukrainian violinist and composer who has won many international and all-Ukrainian violin competitions. Since 2019, Georgii has been studying in the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Singapore). Georgii is actively performing as a soloist, and him being a member of different chamber ensembles has hugely impacted his writing. Besides performing, Georgii also does research in theory and composition.
This movement was written as a response to the latest crisis in Ukraine, and harkens back to his memories of his motherland. The piece contains broad, contemplative structures inspired by nostalgic recollections.

5. Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912): “Elegy” for piano:

Mykola Lysenko was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor and ethnomusicologist. He is regarded as the founder of the national composers’ school. His prolific life’s work laid the foundation for the further development and expansion of Ukrainian musical culture. Drawing his creative impetus from the songs of his native land, Lysenko’s works are generally inspired by, if not literally based on these songs.

“Elegy” from “Album from the Summer of 1902” is a poetic piece that is at once romantic, melancholic and pensive. The intimate melodic lines are perhaps the most touching aspect of this piece.

6. Myroslav Skoryk (1938-2020): “Melody”:

“Melody in A Minor” is Skoryk’s most recognisable and most frequently performed piece of work. This piece in various arrangements became a kind of signature song of the late 1980s – 1990s.
The alleged reason for this recognition is a surprisingly well-designed melodic idea: a combination of improvisational and narrative styles culminating in an affected wide stroke on the octave, a demanding rhythmic pattern perceived as an excited lyrical monologue, and a mournful melody of the violin. While the piece draws on traditional means of expression, it is certainly not trivial: its sophisticated patterns and sudden transitions create illusions of perceptions in an otherwise accessible and well-loved work.

7. Alexander Gonobolin: “Metamorphosis”:

Alexander Gonobolin has been awarded the title of “People’s Artist of Ukraine”, is a member of the National Assembly of Composers of Ukraine, a member of the French associations of composers C.A.S.E.M. and performers SPEDIDAM, laureate of all-Ukrainian and international competitions for composers, and an honorary citizen of the city of Kherson, Ukraine. His successful career as a violinist and conductor of a chamber orchestra in some way influenced the intentions of his compositions.

“Metamorphosis” is an expertly written violin duo. This brilliant piece exhibits both gradual and sudden changes of a core motif which, as its title suggests, metamorphosises into a plethora of different characters. Energetic dancing rhythms influence the mood of more fragmentary segments, enabling various sections to flow lithely from one to another.