Mykola Lysenko (1842 – 1912)
Sad Song op. posth.
Elegy op. posth.

Alois Jedlischka (1821 – 1894)
Fantasy on Ukrainian Folk Melodies (Natalka Poltawka)

Mykola Lyssenko (1842 – 1912)
Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes (Dumka-Shumka) No. 2, op. 18

Wiktor Kosenko (1896 – 1938)
Three Mazurkas op. 3



 Pause

Wasyl Barwinskyj (1888 – 1963)
Prelude No. 1, Prelude No. 2

Lewko Rewutzkyj (1889 – 1977)
Song, No. 1 from: Two Pieces op. 17
Waltz

Valentin Silvestrov (* 1937)
Three Bagatelles op. 1
Four Pieces op. 2 (Lullaby, Pastorale, Bagatelle, Postlude)

Ihor Schamo (1925-1982)
From the “Ukrainian Suite”
Vesnianka

The pianist Violina Petrychenko sees her mission as promoting Ukrainian music and culture. Following the tragic events in Ukraine, she is including even more music from her homeland in her concerts, demonstrating the diversity and richness of Ukrainian culture. In this program, she guides the audience through the entire history of Ukrainian music. Few people are familiar with the name of Alois Jedlichka, yet he was a pioneer of Ukrainian music and composed the first piano fantasy, “Natalka Poltawka,” as an illustration to I. Kotlyarevsky’s play. His work was based on the collection and arrangement of Ukrainian folk songs. Mykola Lysenko, a Romantic considered the founder of the Ukrainian composers' school, was an important composer who, like many others, remained largely unknown in Europe. Folkloristic elements formed the basis of his compositions. A perfect example of this is “Dumka - Schumka,” written in the virtuosic style of Franz Liszt. The melancholic side of the composer is revealed in the "Sad Song" and the “Moment of Despair.” A significant portion of the program features composers who lived at the beginning of the 20th century: Kosenko, Barvinsky, and Revutzkij. Lewko Revutzkij adopted much from Lysenko’s tradition as his student. The Stalinist terror deeply affected him, leading to a psychological crisis and causing him to abandon composing at an early age. His creative period lasted only five years. His “Song” is both extremely poetic and melodic, yet it anticipates the development of modern music. Lewko Revutzkij, in turn, significantly influenced the work of Igor Schamo. Schamo was fascinated by the idea of incorporating folkloristic elements into classical music. Wiktor Kosenko is a composer of poetry—his music is full of subtle moods of sadness and melancholy. With his work, he created an organic unity of Ukrainian melodicism and the achievements of Western European music. “A composer without notes”—this is how V. Barvinsky described himself towards the end of his life. His fate is tragic. He experienced Stalinist terror, was imprisoned in the GULAG for ten years, and his scores were publicly burned. Despite this, he continued his work and made a significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian culture. His most important contribution lies in piano literature. It was said of his music: “Not a single note in his compositions is superfluous. For every note, no matter how small, is a whole cosmos that Barvinsky would not have relinquished for any treasure in the world.” The music of Valentin Silvestrov, often referred to as the master of silence, exudes a unique atmosphere. His music lends a meditative quality to the program. He himself says that we live in a world that is too loud; his music moves between *pp* and *mp*. Often short motifs are eloquent. For Silvestrov, there is a deep significance in the bagatelle—direct, spontaneous, and improvisational self-expression. “The essential can often lie in small things,” says the composer.