WorldView Episode 39: Valentyn Silvestrov

WorldView episode thirty-nine features three new artists, including Ukrainian composer Valentyn Silvestrov. I hope that you enjoy the show, and I wish you a safe and restful holiday week. Happy Thanksgiving!

Valentyn Vasylyovych Silvestrov was born in Kyiv in September of 1937, when the city was still considered part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. He studied piano both at the Kiev Evening Music School and on his own, while simultaneously training to be a civil engineer. After enrolling in the Kyiv Conservatory from 1958 to 1964, he settled in the Ukrainian capital city, where he remained until the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Still active as a composer, he is now based in Berlin. 

Silvestrov mainly composes in the neoclassical and modernist style, while still retaining traditional tonal structures and techniques. In a write-up about the composer from ECM Records, Silvestrov is recorded as saying “I do not write new music. My music is a response to and an echo of what already exists.” His works are featured on over 60 albums and CDs, and are performed internationally—especially in recent years. After the composer sought refuge in Germany, his music has shifted to focus on the Russo-Ukrainian War and bring increased attention to the conflict. His work “Prayer for Ukraine”, written in 2014 after the outbreak of the Euromaidan Riots, has become a widely performed rallying cry. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Silvestrov added that he is irritated “that this misfortune needed to happen for them to begin playing my music.” 

This episode features Silvestrov’s first string quartet, originally written in 1974 and recorded by ECM Records. It is performed by the Rosamunde Quartett (named for Schubert’s thirteenth string quartet), a German group active from 1992 to 2009. Enjoy!

WorldView Episode Thirty-Nine Playlist:

Valentyn SILVESTROV, “String Quartet No. 1”, {Rosamunde Quartett} - ECM New Series

Atanas OURKOUZOUNOV, “Folk Song Variations”, {Denis Azabagic (gtr)} - Cedille 

Jose Mauricio Nunes GARCIA, “Missa Pastoril”, {Ensemble Turicum} - K617

WorldView is a classical music radio show featuring composers from everywhere in the world - except Western Europe. Tune in to hear works by lesser-known artists such as Irving Fine and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, and widen your knowledge of classical music. Hinke Younger hosts each week’s episode of WorldView on Mondays at 9AM and 6PM (with a rebroadcast Saturdays at 2PM) on Charlottesvilleclassical.org.