Valentyn Vasyliovych Silvestrov (born 30 September 1937, Kyiv) is a Ukrainian composer. People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1989), Shevchenko Prize winner.
He graduated from the Kyiv State Conservatory (now the National Music Academy of Ukraine) with a degree in composition in 1963, class of B. Liatoshynskyi.
Since the 1960s, Silvestrov's music has been performed at international festivals, his works have been performed by O. Krysa, G. Kremer, O. Lyubymov, I. Monighetti, O. Rudin, G. Rozhdestvensky, I. Blazhkov and others. Silvestrov's works were published in many prestigious publishing houses in the West, including M. P. Belyaev-Peters.
In the 1960s, V. Silvestrov became a member of the Kyiv Avant-Garde creative group, whose representatives, despite the severe pressure from the defenders of the socialist realism aesthetics that prevailed in the USSR, opened a new page in the history of Ukrainian music, focusing on new stylistic trends in Western European music and mastering modern compositional techniques. In particular, the composer uses dodecaphony, aleatorics, and sonority in his works. Wave drama becomes a characteristic dramatic principle.
In the 1970s, the composer gradually abandoned the traditional techniques of the avant-garde, focusing on postmodernism. The author himself calls his style "meta-music" ("metaphorical music"). The works of this period are dominated by meditative, contemplative moods. A prominent place is occupied by the appeal to the styles of past eras, which is characteristic of postmodernism.
A characteristic feature of Silvestrov's style is post-humanity, a characteristic dramatic feature is the prevalence of periods of decline and diminuendo, and uncertainty typical of the postmodern paradigm can be traced at different levels of the compositional structure. An individual feature of the texture is the presence of a sound pedal, a background within which certain signs of allusions appear.
Another important postmodern paradigm present in Silvestrov's work is uncertainty. It is manifested both in the absence of clear compositional schemes, a certain spontaneity of thinking, and at the level of rhythmic structures, intonation constructions and sound in general, which often borders on silence.
Civic position
Valentyn Silvestrov supported the protests in Kyiv in 2004 and 2013-2014, explaining it as follows: "I am still, like any other creative person, more of an individualist by nature. But there comes a time when it is simply impossible not to come out. When people are so blatantly pissed off by their vile actions, and on a global scale, that there is such indignation that you literally lose your mind..." At the same time, he characterised the current government as "despicable":
"The actions of the authorities look ugly to Ukrainians. Come to your senses! For a normal person, it is clear what a meanness it is. It is already written here in big letters that it is vile. "
V. Silvestrov described the spontaneous overthrow of the Lenin monument in Kyiv as follows:
"The demolition of the monument is a dubious achievement of the revolution, but an achievement nonetheless. The authorities were able to dismantle the Lenin monument on the Maidan, and they could have removed this one just as easily. And put it in a museum, because it might have some sculptural value. Who was it erected for, the communists? After all, there are no monuments to Stalin in Kyiv. Why then was Lenin left, what makes him better? He promised the peasants land and factories, but the result was nothing but murder. Should we erect a monument to this man? "
Although he speaks Russian at home, Silvestrov is an ardent admirer of the Ukrainian language, and he gives the following comparative characteristics of the Ukrainian and Russian languages:
"Back in Soviet times in Lviv, I noticed that when you are in the Ukrainian language, in this element, suddenly your thoughts are coloured somehow differently. When you switch from Russian to Ukrainian, you get a sense of novelty in the shades, the language seems to have some interesting twist, and when, on the contrary, you switch from Ukrainian to Russian, the latter seems at first to be somehow fresh, lackadaisical, and dried out."
"Ukrainian is more colourful, Russian is more transparent. An abrupt transition from Russian to Ukrainian or vice versa is undesirable. These are different systems. Our philosophical thoughts will have different meanings depending on the language. Take for example the words "mad" - as in free from God, and "crazy" - as in a technological process. In the Ukrainian version, it sounds sympathetic, unlike in Russian. "
Awards
1967 - Laureate of the Koussevitzky International Prize (USA)
1970 - laureate of the Gaudeamus International Composition Competition (Netherlands)
1989 - People's Artist of Ukraine
1995 - Laureate of the Taras Shevchenko State Prize of Ukraine
1997 - Order of Merit, III degree
2007 - Order of Yaroslav the Wise, V degree
2011 - Honorary Doctor honoris causa of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
2016 - Honorary Doctor honoris causa of the National University of Ostroh Academy
2017 - Order of Yaroslav the Wise, IV degree
In the author's works
(source of information: multimedia database "New Music of Ukraine")
for orchestra
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg External video files
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Symphony No. 3
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Symphony No. 4
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Symphony No. 5
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Symphony No. 6
9 symphonies
No. 1 (1963, rev. 1974)
No. 2 for flute, percussion, piano and string orchestra (1965)
No. 3 for large symphony orchestra "Eschatophonie" (1965)
No. 4 for winds and strings (1976)
№ 5 (1980-1982)
№ 6 (1994-1995)
№ 7 (2002-2003)
No. 8 (premiered in 2015)
No. 9 (premiered in 2019)
for solo instruments and orchestra
"Monody" for piano and symphony orchestra (1965)
"Meditation for cello and chamber orchestra (1972)
"Postlude" for piano and symphony orchestra (1984)
"Dedication" for violin and symphony orchestra (1990-91)
"Metamusic" for piano and symphony orchestra (1992)
"Herald" for piano and strings (1997)
"Epitaph" for piano and string orchestra (1999)
Concerto for violin and orchestra (2016)
for voice and orchestra
"Exegi monumentum" based on poems by Alexander Pushkin for baritone and symphony orchestra (1985-87) (Russian)
"Ode to a Nightingale", for soprano and chamber orchestra (1997)(Russian)
Autumn Serenade for soprano and chamber orchestra (1980-2000)(Russian)
for chamber orchestra
snd:
"Spectra", symphony for chamber orchestra. Part 1
2:31
Conducted by I. Blazhkov 1965
"Spectra (1965).
Poem in memory of Lyatoshinsky (1968)
Serenade (1978)
Intermezzo (1983)
for choir
Cantata on poems by F. Tyutchev and A. Blok (1973) (Russian)
"Forest Music" on words by Aiguille for soprano, French horn and piano (1977-78) (Russian)
Cantata on poems by Taras Shevchenko (1977)
Elegy (on the words of Shevchenko, 1996)
Requiem for Larisa (on the words of Taras Shevchenko, 1997-99)
2 Diptychs on the words of Taras Shevchenko (1995, 2016)
Psalms on the words of Taras Shevchenko (2005)
"Ukrainian Psalms" on folk words (2006)
4 Psalms of David (2006; 2007)
Three Hallelujahs (2006-2012)
13 Spiritual hymns (2006-2013)
"Triptych" (2013)
4 triptychs on the words of Taras Shevchenko (2013-2015)
Songs on the words of Taras Shevchenko (2014)
Maidan - Kyiv (2014)
In memorian (2020)
chamber music
2 string quartets and Piccolo Quartet
Quintet
"Mystery for alto flute and percussion
Trio for flute, trumpet and celeste
"Projection for harpsichord, vibraphone and bells"
"Drama" for violin, cello and piano
Sonata for cello and piano
3 postludes
Post scriptum for violin and piano
Epitaph by L. B. for viola and piano
Mysterioso for clarinet
Elegy for cello
Icon
For piano solo
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg External video files
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg YouTube full-colour icon (2017).svg 9 waltzes (Op. 106) in original performance on YouTube
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg YouTube full-colour icon (2017).svg 5 musical moments (Op. 107) in the original performance on YouTube
↓ Show in full
1960-2000
Sonatina (1960)
5 pieces (1961)
Triad (1962)
3 Sonatas (1972; 1975; 1979)
Classical Sonata (1975)
Elegy (1967)
"Children's Music (1973)
"Music in the Old Style (1973)
"Kitsch Music (1977)
"Distant Music (1993)
"Naive Music (1993)
"Oral Music" (1998-99)
"Nocturne (2000)
Intermezzo and Bagatelles (2000)
2005+
3 Bagatelles (2005) Op. 1 .
4 pieces (2006) Op. 2 .
3 waltzes and postlude (2005-2006) Op. 3 .
3 Bagatelles (2005) Op. 4 .
Postlude (2005) Op. 5 .
3 Bagatelles (2005-2006) Op. 6 .
3 pieces (2003) Op. 9 .
Moments (2003) Op. 10 .
2 waltzes (2002-2003) Op. 11 .
2 Bagatelles (2004) Op. 16 .
4 postludes (2004) Op. 21 .
3 pieces (2005) Op. 38 .
4 Bagatelles (2005) Op. 41 .
7 pieces (2005) Op. 46 .
2 mazurkas (2005) Op. 56 .
3 postludes (2005) Op. 57 .
2 elegies (2005) Op. 60 .
3 postludes (2005) Op. 64 .
3 Bagatelles (2006) Op. 73 .
3 lullabies and an elegy (2006) Op. 75 .
2 pieces (2007) Op. 96 .
5 waltzes (2007) Op. 98 .
9 waltzes (2007) Op. 106 .
5 musical moments (2007) Op. 107 .
For voice and piano
2 romances to poems by A. Blok
"Quiet Songs" (1977) (Russian)
"Simple Songs" (1974-1981)
"Ancient Ballad"
"Steps"
"Kitsch songs"
4 songs with lyrics by O. Mandelstam
3 songs with lyrics by Blok, Mayakovsky and Ivashkevich (2003) (Russian)
music for films
"White Clouds" (1968)
"Quarantine (1968)
"The Eralash Flight" (1977)
"Invisible Work (1979)
"The Punch Man (1979)
"The Rooks (1982)
"There would be no happiness..." (1983)
"Approaching the Future (1986)
"The Garden of Gethsemane (1993)
"Chekhov's Motifs (2002, directed by K. Muratova)
"The Adjuster (2004, dir. K. Muratova)[6]
"The Time of Farewell (2005, dir. François Ozon)
"Eternal Return (2012, dir. K. Muratova)
"Valery Lamakh. The Circle of Life (2013, doc., dir. A. Syrykh)
