Music anthology

The first seven CDs in the anthology series present the works of the contemporary Ukrainian composers Yevhen Stankovych, Valentyn Sylvestrov, Myroslav Skoryk, Ihor Shcherbakov, Volodymyr Zubytsky, Oleh Kiva, and Oleksandr Levkovych. Most of the recordings were done by the Kyiv Camerata Chamber Ensemble, with the vocal parts performed by Nina Matviienko, Liudmyla Voinarovska, Iryna Semenenko, Valerii Buimister, and other soloists. The names of these performers speak for themselves, as they are the finest representatives of our musical reality. Bohdana Pivnenko is the initiator of the idea to issue a CD anthology.

The CD jacket graphics portray the mysterious firmaments of the prominent artist Ivan Marchuk, while the snow-white angels were created by the textile artist Zhanna Oliinyk. Prospective buyers of these CDs will thus have another rendezvous with Ukrainian art. Each attractively designed CD features a beautifully designed booklet of annotations written by Hanna Lunina. The first release is part of a publicity campaign, but copies of the CDs can be ordered online at www.kievkamerata.org.

The newly released CDs and many other subjects were discussed during a press conference at the Composers’ Union, held in conjunction with this important event in Ukraine’s musical life. Among those present were Bohdana Pivnenko, Valerii Matiukhin, Yevhen Stankovych, Myroslav Skoryk, Nina Matviienko, Valentyn Sylvestrov, Ihor Shcherbakov, Ivan Marchuk, and other project participants, who gathered to discuss the work that has already been accomplished and what is being planned. The word “breakthrough” was mentioned most often, along with hope, belief, doubt, and skepticism. Then a miracle was worked when the Kyiv Camerata performed fragments of works from each CD.

A lively discussion followed the concert. I asked the musicians and composers to share their views on the CD music anthology project. People’s Artist of Ukraine Valerii Matiukhin, the founder and artistic director of the Kyiv Camerata Chamber Ensemble, has dedicated more than 30 years of his life to modern Ukrainian academic music, having performed it in both Ukraine and abroad. During the 15 years of its existence, the Kyiv Camerata has performed over 500 works by Ukrainian composers. Matiukhin noted that if not for Pivniuk’s will and enthusiasm, the anthology would not have been produced. According to Matiukhin, all the composers featured on the CDs are leading figures of international music. They represent Ukraine to the world, and their creative accomplishments will last for centuries, he said, adding that it would be a shame if their works remained unknown to the coming generations simply because of the lack of quality recordings. Therefore, this project needs support from the government. Of course, sponsors have to be found. Matiukhin said that if he had had sponsors, he would have completed his project in one year instead of five.

Two CDs are now ready, one featuring folk music and the other, works by Georgian composers. The former includes Yevhen Stankovych’s “Oi, hlybokyi kolodiaz” (Oh, Deep Well), Myroslav Skoryk’s extraordinary wedding songs as well as works by Shumeiko, Zazhytko, Kozarenko, and Kiva. “This music is unique because the composers adapted Ukraine’s folk heritage, turned it into music on a professional level, and produced avant-garde masterpieces,” he added.

Yevhen STANKOVYCH, composer, People’s Artist of Ukraine, and full member of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine:

This new series is an addition to the vast collection of serious classical music in Ukraine. It is another attempt to do something in our country. It is true that even here we cannot expect to accomplish much as long as our society is dominated by processes that lead to a cultural wilderness. I hope that changes for the better will occur in the next four to five years.

I hope that these CDs are distributed internationally. The problem is that we are not living in a country ruled by law, and we don’t have any legal relations with the rest of the world on the state level; our laws don’t work. Therefore, selling these CDs to other countries is still practical impossible.

I have big hopes for the future. What has happened is another little step, and other steps can and must be made. The wonderful artist Ivan Marchuk is exhibited widely, but in the case of our music, this is one of the rare exhibits of the music of contemporary Ukrainian composers.

Ihor Shcherbakov, composer, Merited Worker of Art of Ukraine, and organizer and artistic director of the international festivals Musical Premieres of the Season and the International Forum of Young Composers’ Music:

The main thing is that these CDs have been released on a large scope. This should have happened in 1991-92, when Ukraine won its independence. Our radio archives have many works that could have been released for the whole world to hear what brilliant musicians we have. A CD is the face of a composer.

Thanks to Bohdana Pivnenko and Valerii Matiukhin, efforts are being made to release this great music. First, chamber music was recorded. This will be followed by symphonies, so there is already a bit of a breakthrough in people’s consciousness.

Although the level of our audiences is rather high, there is a steadily increasing amount of pop art that is permeating all spheres of life, including the perception of academic music. Our people want to be entertained. It is true that pop culture is supposed to entertain; that’s the way it’s always been. But academic music sets different tasks; it speaks to the links between art, people, and God. Therefore, a serious approach cannot be replaced by entertainment. A poet once said that man’s soul is obliged to work.

Anyone who talks with Bohdana PIVNENKO, Merited Artist of Ukraine, cannot stop wondering how this woman has accomplished so many things. She is a talented violinist, a winner of several international competitions, and a professor at the National Music Academy. She seems to find time for everything and produces beautiful results. While she was working on the CD anthology, she even found time to work on the cover designs. That was when she made the best gift to the world, her son Bohdan. When he was only 15 months old, he attended one of his mother’s performances and listened attentively.

Pivnenko recalled that “when it came to designing the anthology, I had no doubt that we had to use the paintings of my father Ivan Marchuk. I am certain that the works of our outstanding composers deserve this kind of design. My father loves contemporary Ukrainian music and is proud that his works of art are being used in illustrate the works of his favorite composers.

“My husband Volodymyr Shulha, the founder of the Foxtrot Company, helped us a great deal. Without him the CD project would have taken much longer. I am grateful to my father and my husband; they inspire me, help me to realize my creativity and to grow, and they believe that such projects are needed in Ukraine. How do I judge my work? This is just the first step, good experience, and a stimulus to go farther. I am glad that I will be able to show our anthology to my son when he grows up.

“I’m preparing for the Musical Premieres of the Season. We will be performing Myroslav Skoryk’s concerto and Yevhen Stankovych’s Poem on April 14, and then we will record another CD.”

All the works performed during the concert were interesting, but Skoryk’s Melody for Strings sounded especially penetrating in the finale. That was when the audience was in total joyful harmony with the performers, something that is rarely experienced, when no words are necessary because you find yourself part of the mystery of music. Later, talking to Pivnenko, I learned that Skoryk’s Melody is Marchuk’s favorite work.

When I approached Valentyn Sylvestrov, without any promptings from me he immediately began commenting on his colleague’s composition. “I liked what everyone else liked: Skoryk’s Melody. There is a widespread belief that something must be wrong with a work if it is popular. In most cases this is true, but there are exceptions to the rule. Some works are popular in a certain sense, but not in another. There is a bad kind of popularity, and then there is a kind of popularity about which Mozart wrote to his father after the success of his piano concerto. He wrote that his music was written in such a way as to be understandable to both professionals and the common herd, except that an ordinary listener will not know exactly why he likes it, but a professional will.

“It is hardly possible to head this way, but the facts say that such things are sometimes possible. This is a triumph of the Queen of Melody. When a melody works, it takes on the functions of music as such. A melody is the representative of music. Folk songs are totally based on melodies, and they are accompanied by the wind, the fields, and so on. The poet Leonid Kyseliov has a poem that I set to music:

I will stand on the verge of an abyss,
Then, broken by grief,
I will realize that everything
In this world is just a Ukrainian song

“A song is the cult of melody. It is the final frontier. What we hear in Skoryk’s composition is a dithyramb of melody. It is the triumph of short-lived melody as essence. If one analyzes it theoretically, then yes, there is an inner core to it, a repetition, but why do all other compositions have all of this but lack something like this? Why? Because it was created this way. There is such an antiquated notion as inspiration. It is seldom used these days because people believe that this is a romantic dream. In fact, Skoryk’s composition is a great lesson for other composers.”

Like his Melody for Strings, Sylvestrov’s words are an inspiring guideline for all those who are trying to advance Ukraine’s cultural situation with the same kind of noteworthy results that are being produced by the CD music anthology project.