Six Jewish Melodies
violin and piano
Performed by Solomiya Ivakhiv (Violin)
Yuri Ishchenko
1938–2021 · Ukraine
Yuri Ishchenko (May 5, 1938, Kherson – May 15, 2021) studied composition at the Kyiv Conservatory under Andriy Shtoharenko (1955–60) and in postgraduate study (1961–64), then spent nearly four decades as professor of composition and orchestration at the National Music Academy of Ukraine, mentoring composers including Alla Zahaykevych. Developing the traditions of Borys Liatoshynsky and Shtoharenko while absorbing contemporary approaches, he left a prolific catalogue of five symphonies; concertos for violin, cello, clarinet, oboe and piano; thirteen string quartets; numerous quintets, trios, sonatas and vocal and choral cycles; and three operas. He was named an Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR in 1991. (No dedicated ucmfnyc.com profile page exists; this biography is compiled from public sources.)
Performed at UCMF
Night Shadows
Words by Mykhailo Semenko
Performed by Hans Tashjian (Bass-baritone), Jason Wirth (Piano)
According to his student Alla Zahaykevych, Ishchenko never wrote programme notes but loved to talk about his music: “Yuri Yakyvych spoke about this work and others set to the words of poets of the 20th century as an attempt to experience the poetry of the Executed Renaissance as a poetry of forbidden beauty, too sophisticated and poetic to continue to exist in Soviet times. The language of the chant clearly corresponds to the early modern period, and resembles the language of Borys Liatoshynsky [with whom he studied].”