On 11 October, the Lviv Concert House will present the concert Symphonic Modernism. Senytsya. Shypovych, where music by modernists banned during the Soviet era will be performed for the first time in Lviv.
The Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Luhansk Regional Philharmonic, conducted by Ivan Ostapovych, will perform Pavlo Senytsya's Symphony No. 1 and Kostyantyn Shypovych's Suite from the cartoon The Beetle at the Zoo.
Pavlo Senytsya was one of the first Ukrainian modernists, whom his contemporaries called ‘the most serious composer after Lysenko.’ A native of Poltava, he spent most of his life in Moscow, researching folklore. His music has not been performed since the 1930s; only in recent years has his work begun to return to Ukrainian stages. Symphony No. 1, which Senytsya wrote while still a student, was performed only once over a hundred years ago.
Kostyantyn Shypovych was an avant-garde composer, member of the Union of Composers of Ukraine, and author of music for films and cartoons, who sought to convey the rhythms of the industrial age. In 1940, he was arrested on the basis of a denunciation. After his release, he was unable to recover his health and died at the age of 35. His Suite from the music for the cartoon The Beetle at the Zoo (1936) is a living document of Ukrainian modernism, long considered lost; it was found in the archives by pianist and researcher Tymish Melnyk.
At the concert in the Lviv Concert House, the works of Senytsya and Shypovych will be performed by the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Luhansk Regional Philharmonic, one of the oldest symphony orchestras in Ukraine, which has been shaping the musical life of the Luhansk Region for over 80 years. After relocating to Lviv in 2022, the orchestra became an active participant in the cultural life of the city, presenting Ukrainian classics, premieres by contemporary composers, and international collaborations. The concert will be conducted by Ivan Ostapovych, composer, cultural manager, and director of the Lviv Concert House.
Concert programme:
Pavlo Senytsya – Symphony No. 1 in F major, Op. 2 No. 3 (1905–1907)
Kostyantyn Shypovych – Suite from the music for the cartoon The Beetle at the Zoo (1936)
The concert will last approximately 1 hour.
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The Territories of Culture project is produced in partnership with Persha Pryvatna Brovarnya and is dedicated to researching the history and transformation of Ukrainian cultural identity.