Yevhen Hromov’s studio and the Student Academic Society recently staged the “1960s Kyiv Avant-Garde” project (school of Borys Liatoshynsky) at the National Music Academy of Ukraine.
The recital, dedicated to Ukrainian piano music, featured the works of Valentyn Sylvestrov, Leonid Hrabovsky, Vitaliy Hodziatsky, Volodymyr Huba, Volodymyr Zahortsev, Sviatoslav Krutykov, Petro Solovkin, and Yevhen Stankovych. Each of these composers had a different destiny, but the Ukrainian avant- garde of the 1960s, to which these composers’ early works belong, can compete with, and even outshine, similar phenomena in the cultural space of Europe and the world.
This period saw the creation of a high standard of music. The initiators of the project thus focused exclusively on these early works, which shaped the 1960s avant-garde as a distinct phenomenon in contemporary musical art. The early works of certain composers, like Sylvestrov, who has recorded over 20 CDs, are as popular as his contemporary works.
The original project, organized by the pianist Hromov, consisted of five creative encounters. Each of them included an exhaustive lecture on the little-known biographies of prominent Ukrainian composers, various phenomena in modern piano art, stylistic peculiarities during different stages of their works, and the playing of audio recordings made by Hromov. The-ses recordings were made at the request of Virko Baley and other American musicians. Although they are part of the precious anthology of the Ukrainian musical avant-garde, there are few opportunities to hear them.
The Ukrainian avant-garde was just one of many controversial phenomena that emerged in the turbulent 20th century. Many people reject the very word “avant-garde,” preferring “new music.” As a rule, the composers, whose works feature in Hromov’s project, began their studies with Liatoshynsky, the patriarch of Ukraine’s modern school of composers, without a prior musical education. What apparently helped them achieve success at such an early stage of their careers were their maturity (World War II had just ended) and an earnest desire to take up composing. Once at the conservatory, they quickly bridged the gaps in their musical education, and under Liatoshynsky’s guidance created their own inimitable musical language.
The intuitive path to each composer’s original manner of composing can also be attributed to political isolation and ideological pressure: despite the popularity of the famous “new Viennese” school of composing and contemporary music festivals, there was a dearth of information about the latest trends in music composition and performance abroad. Recitals by such stars as Pierre Boulez in St. Petersburg were a rare occurrence.
Yet this lack of information did not hinder Ukrainian composers from creating their best works in that period. It should be noted that the composers of this music did not have the slightest hope that it would be performed. The problems of stage performance led to the emergence of a host of piano pieces, because they are “technically” simpler to perform than opuses, which require a larger numbers of musicians.
A driving force in the study and revival of modern Ukrainian music was Ihor Blazhkov, who founded a unique library and audio collection and maintained contacts with the most illustrious music personalities of the mid— to late 20th century, including Igor Stravinsky, Maria Yudina, Edison Denisov, Alfred Schnitke, Pierre Boulez, and others.
The five Hromov soirees span 15 years in the careers of the Ukrainian avant-garde composers — from their beginnings at Liatoshynsky’s composition class to the late 1970s. The music, the poetic title, and various sophisticated details are enchanting. Free of foreign influences, the 1960s avant-garde combines the pronounced individual style of each composer, Slavic traits, and an inimitable composition technique. The music of the avant- garde, ranging from miniatures to sonatas, from Hrabovsky’s Inventions to Zahortsev’s Autographs, deserves to be better known.
