Stankovych Composer

[Crisoforo Schuhmacher]

YevhenStankovych (1942) is a contemporary Ukrainian composer of stage, orchestral, chamber, and choral works. His works have been performed around the globe. Stankovych was born in Szolyva, Kingdom of Hungary. At the age of ten, he began studies on the bayan (a kind of chromatic accordion), and quickly developed an interest in composition. Several years later, he entered the music high school in Uzhgorod and began studying the cello. In 1961, Stankovych was admitted as a student of composition to the Lviv (Lvov) Conservatory; but his studies were interrupted by compulsory military service. He was finally able to continue in 1965, this time at the Kiev State Conservatory, where he worked with Lyatoshynsky, the man generally considered to be the father of contemporary Ukrainian music.

The Ukrainian composer Yevhen Stankovych is one of the most outstanding figures in the world of music at the end of the 20th century. The collapse of the U.S.S.R. gave him the opportunity to establish contacts with the world, resulting in recordings of his music by various companies and the performance of his works by performers in other countries, bringing him wide recognition as one of the most individualistic and eminent composers of our time.

"Idyll" is a relaxing and almost meditative piece of music. Immediately the composer shows the beauty in the sound of the flute. The piece has clarity and purity and at the same time it is narrative and very melodious. "Seeing" the music in this print invites you to start playing it......NOW

Stankovych (b. 1942) is considered one of the best modern living composers in Ukraine, and is recognized widely in the West. His music is very approachable, evocative, expressive and melodic, and in some moments even sentimental. The program will present the life work of the composer, starting with his early compositions such as At The Mountain Plateau to his latest composition Fresco of Maydan, dedicated to the recent events in Ukraine.

Born in New York, Arthur Greene studied piano at The Juilliard School with Martin Canin. Greene was a Gold Medal winner in the William Kapell and Gina Bachauer International Piano Competitions, and a top laureate at the Busoni International Competition. Greene has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco, Utah, and National Symphonies, the Czech National Symphony, the Tokyo Symphony and many others. He has played recitals in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Moscow Rachmaninov Hall, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Lisbon Sao Paulo Opera House, Hong Kong City Hall and concert houses in Shanghai and Beijing. He toured Japan and Korea many times. He was an Artistic Ambassador to Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia for the United States Information Agency. Greene has been on the faculty at the University of Michigan since 1990. He has won the Harold Haugh Award for Excellence in Studio Teaching. His current and former students include prizewinners in international competitions, and his former students hold important teaching posts throughout the United States.

Ukrainian violinist Myroslava Khomik highlights the eternal power of standing for freedom and defiance against oppression in PROTEST, an album featuring the music of four key representatives of 20th century composers from Ukraine and Poland. Expressing strength and resilience through the beauty and search for truth, PROTEST taps into the spiritual essence of human existence and vigilance in the midst of its disruption.

The fact that Ukraine is not the only nation victimized by the Soviet regime deserves significant attention. Witold Lutoslawski, Polish by heritage and largely expressing the pride of his people standing for freedom, is essentially a spiritual brother to any of the composers who fearlessly suffered for the same values. His music embodies the idea of unity in this kind of protest.

Skoryk is known for his unique ability to distill a modern style inspired by the Western music traditions, with clear implementation of Ukrainian folk music idioms and jazz elements. Among his works for violin are nine concertos, two sonatas, and numerous concert pieces. His Violin Sonata No. 1 was written in 1963. It displays an unparalleled modern approach to referencing rhythms and harmonies that are derived from traditional folk songs and dances most characteristic to the Hutsul region. Hutsuls are one of the oldest ethnic groups among Ukrainian historic settlements located mainly in the region of Carpathian Mountains in Western Ukraine. They are known for their deeply rooted and vibrant traditions that remain well-preserved and significantly influential in shaping Ukrainian identity in its Western regions.

After forty years of oblivion and ban by the Soviet authorities, Ukrainian composer Yevhen Stankovych's opera-ballet When the Fern Blooms finally premiered at the Lviv National Opera in 2017. Unique in its genre, this impressive performance combines millennia-old folk traditions with an expressive musical language, choral singing and contemporary choreography set against spectacular scenery.

Part folklore, part opera-ballet, this ferie presents local pagan traditions on the day of the summer solstice and historical events from Cossack times to the more recent 2014 Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity.

Forty years of oblivion and banning by the Soviet authorities could not overshadow the fascination with Yevhen Stankovych's folk opera-ballet When the Fern Blooms in Ukraine and now also abroad. Director Vasyl Vovkun and conductor Volodymyr Sirenko join the composer to explain the unique fusion of influences in this work, the eventful history of its composition up to its world premiere and the inspiration behind its current staging at Lviv National Opera.

Many Ivan Kupala customs are associated with water, fire, unfolding magical powers of plants and self-purification. Young women would lower wreaths of braided flowers with candles into rivers and read their own future by their drifting in the water. Young couples would jump over a bonfire. Most importantly, the night of Ivan Kupala is said to be the only time of the year when ferns briefly bloom. Whoever finds a fern flower on Ivan Kupala is said to be able to see all the treasures hidden in the earth with the help of the flower. That is why many people searched the forests on Ivan Kupala for magical ferns in bloom.

When the Fern Blooms was commissioned by the French concert company Alitepa for the World Fair in Paris and was to be performed as part of a guest performance at the Opra de Paris. The premiere was to take place in 1979 at the Palace Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine. French representatives were invited to attend. During the dress rehearsal, the Soviet statesman Mikhail Suslov, who was present, sent a letter from Moscow to ban the performance. The Soviet authorities cited technical reasons as the reason for the ban. Sets and costumes were even destroyed.

Cultural Fund Director Christine Lucyk warmly welcomed the audience and introduced the Ukrainian avant-garde composer Yevhen Stankovych, whose work was being featured in the concert. She stated that the Washington audience was honored to be included in the tour.

Even though Ukrainian composers managed to run away from social realism into art, after the Independence of Ukraine has been proclaimed, the mass audience had a vague understanding of the great national composers. The vision began to form due to the new generation of the Ukrainian musical community (composers, performers, art managers, and producers) as well as the emerging local classical music festivals and new Ukrainian cultural institutions. In 2016 there emerged a three-S formula: Skoryk-Sylvestrov-Stankovych, with a series of concerts having taken place to perform the works of these composers.

Like many composers of the 20th century, Skoryk often used folklore elements, especially Hutsul rhythms and melodics. He aimed at recreating the spirit of folk music without copying it directly. In the 1950s, Skoryk started a vocal-instrumental ensemble Veseli Skrypky (Merry Violins), and wrote songs for them, which also contributes to his image as a polystylist composer.

In the era of the mass transition of music from physical storage to digital devices, the art of Myroslav Skoryk is very up-to-date. He is one of the most popular modern composers whose works are often performed live but are barely available on streaming services (except for several albums from Naxos and Toccata Classics labels). If you want to listen to something other than Melodiia (Melody) or Karpatska Rapsodiia (Carpathian Rhapsody), you need to go the YouTube or look it up on physical devices.

Ukrainian modern classical music covers many more names and stories. Nevertheless, the wide audience hardly knows the performers of modern Kyiv and Lviv schools of composers. Kyiv Avant-garde that is as important for music as the Ukrainian Sixtiers for literature is yet to be discovered.

The relevance of the study. Sinfonietta (1971) stands as one of the pioneering polystylistic compositions in Ukraine. This work marked the artistic debut of Yevhen Stankovych, a prominent figure in contemporary Ukrainian music, and earned him recognition. Sinfonietta incorporates fragments from various musical styles and compositions, each evolving independently in performance practice. It is the style and works of J. S. Bach, G. Mahler, S. Prokofiev, and I. Stravinsky. Listeners in the 1970s, 2017, and 2023 have interpreted these musical polystylistic references in diverse ways. The dynamic evolution of performing interpretations and listening perceptions of Sinfonietta has unfolded against the active interplay of political propaganda and musical life. The performing interpretations of "Sinfonietta" today align with the broader context of the heated discussions about Russian heritage in Ukrainian culture.

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