Two World Premieres of Symphonies by Contemporary Ukrainian Composers to Be Performed at the Lviv Organ Hall

At the Lviv Organ Hall, a symphonic concert titled “The Measure of Time” will take place, featuring works by contemporary Ukrainian composers Volodymyr Pavenskyy and Boryslav Stronko.

According to Ukrinform, this was reported by the Ministry of Culture.

“The Luhansk Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ivan Ostapovych, will perform two world premieres — symphonies by contemporary Ukrainian composers Pavenskyy and Stronko, written at the request of the Organ Hall. These are two reflections on the present, expressed on a symphonic scale,” the statement reads.

Kyiv composer and musicologist Stronko (a researcher of manifestations of time in music based on Heidegger’s philosophy) presents a symphony as a reflection on a person at a crossroads.

His Fifth Symphony is subtitled “Four Paths” and explores the state of the individual and society in times of uncertainty: where to go next? During war, this sense of uncertainty is intensified to its limit.

The work consists of four movements: “Path of Contemplation,” “Path of Action,” “Path of Homecoming,” and “Path Beyond the Horizon.”

In the symphony, a “pure measure of time” is woven in — sounds of the xylophone and bells, evoking the fragility of a world where the fate of a person and an entire country is questioned every moment.

Representing the Lviv school of composition, Pavenskyy dedicated his Second Symphony to the defenders who gave their lives for Ukraine. The work is titled: “Memories… I Will Return, Dear Mother, from the War, I Will Return to Live.”

Work on the symphony took two and a half years, capturing the experience of the full-scale invasion. At its core lies the concept of “family cinema”: the movements of the symphony are frames of memory and recollections that emerge non-chronologically. Bright motifs of childhood gradually transform into a sinister scherzo — thus war intrudes into the private space of a person.

This event is part of the Ukrainian Live Classic project and a continuation of the Lviv Organ Hall’s strategy of commissioning new music from contemporary Ukrainian composers.

Thanks to this initiative, since 2019, works by Zoltan Almashi, Oleh Bezborodko, Bohdana Frolyak, Oleksandr Rodin, Dmytro Malyi, Serhii Pilyutikov, Serhii Leontiev, Mariia Sliepchenko, Volodymyr Bohatyrov, Oleksandr Saratskyi, and other composers have been brought to life.

As reported by Ukrinform, a special performance by the world-renowned Kyiv Children’s Choir “Shchedryk” took place in the capital of the Czech Republic, organized by the Embassy of Ukraine. The young performers presented a program combining masterpieces of Ukrainian and European composers.

EMPR

Tags: classical music contemporary music cultural events EMPR.media Lviv symphony premiere Ukraine arts Ukrainian composers