Volodymyr Ilyich Skuratovskyi (28 April 1963, Dnipro, Ukrainian SSR - 2 June 2016, Dnipro, Ukraine) was a Ukrainian composer, poet, musicologist, pianist, and teacher. Honoured Artist of Ukraine (2016), member of the National Union of Composers of Ukraine (2001), member of the Congress of Writers of Ukraine (2006).
He was born on 28 April 1963 in Dnipro to a teacher and a doctor. He began to study piano at the age of 7, and at the same time his first youthful compositions began to appear.
In 1978, he graduated from high school and entered the Academic Music School at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory. There he studied at two faculties simultaneously - History and Theory of Music and Piano.
In 1982, he graduated with honours and entered the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatoire, Faculty of Theory and Composition. He writes his diploma thesis on the editorial activity of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov under the guidance of Professor, Academician of the International Academy of Arts Yevhen Levashev. Among the teachers under whom V. Skuratovskyi studied were Y. Fortunatov, I. Barsova, A. Lehman, Y. Kholopov, Y. Nazaykinskyi, O. Kandynskyi, Y. Tsariova, B. Alekseiev, A. Agazhanov, V. Kholopova, A. Myasoedov, and others.
In 1988, he graduated from the conservatoire and was assigned to work as a teacher of music theory at the Krasnoyarsk State Academy of Music and Theatre. Two years later, he returned to Dnipro, where since 1991 he has been teaching at the M. Glinka Dnipro Music College, and since 2005 he has also become a senior lecturer at the M. Glinka Dnipro Conservatory (Academy of Music). In 1995, he became one of the leaders of the Violino youth violin ensemble, where he also works as a concertmaster and arranger. Since 1999, he has been a member of the Consonance piano quartet, for which he has also created many arrangements.
At the same time, he is actively engaged in scientific and musicological activities and regularly participates in international scientific and practical conferences and forums of musicologists, such as: International Scientific and Practical Conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Yuri Keldysh's birth (Moscow, 2007); International Conference "Opera in Contemporary Musical Theatre" (Moscow, 2013); International Forum of Musicologists (Moscow, 2014); International Conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of G. Sviridov's birth (Moscow, 2015) and others. He became one of the initiators of the organisation and holding of the International Scientific and Practical Conference "Actual Problems of Musicology" in Dnipro, in which he also participated from 2010 to 2015. His articles have been published in major scientific collections in Ukraine (Kyiv, Dnipro) and Russia (Moscow), and the main vector of his research work is opera, symphonic and choral works by Ukrainian and Russian composers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In addition to his own research, he supervised the work of students who participated in inter-university student conferences.
In 2007, he became a candidate for the degree of Candidate of Arts at the Department of Theory and History of Culture of the National Music Academy of Ukraine (Kyiv). From 2009 to 2016, he was a regular presenter of creative projects of the Glinka Dnipro Conservatory, in particular, the International Music Festivals "Music Without Borders".
He died on 2 June 2016 during a concert at the Children's Music School No. 6 in Dnipro. Dnipro, where he participated as a presenter and pianist. The music school No. 6 was named after Volodymyr Skuratovskyi.
Family.
First wife - Kateryna Konstantynivna Karelina (b. 1964), musicologist. Daughter - Lyubomyra Skuratovska (b. 1986), chemist.
Second wife - Olha Skuratovska (b. 1972), musicologist, teacher, co-author of the Young Opera and Children's Philharmonic projects. Daughter - Maria Skuratovska (b. 1995), musicologist, pianist.
Creativity
Music
Volodymyr Skuratovskyi's compositions include works for symphony orchestra, choral and chamber instrumental pieces, music for dramatic performances, piano and vocal pieces. The style of his compositions is influenced by the traditions of late Romanticism, vivid theatricality, as well as some neoclassical trends associated with the revival and reinterpretation of the ancient suite genre. In some of his works, there is a noticeable search for Ukrainian national elements of the musical language, and many of his ideas are also connected with the continuation of the traditions of Russian musical culture, in particular, those of the Mighty Handful composers of the Silver Age, as well as some influence of the French Impressionists.
Volodymyr Skuratovsky's works are actively performed at international festivals in Ukraine, Russia, Italy and the United States, and have been performed in eight of his original concerts and concerts in his memory. The roundtable "Unfinished Dialogue: Word and Music in the Works of Volodymyr Skuratovskyi" was held by the Music History Sector of the State Institute of Art History.
Literature
Volodymyr Skuratovskyi is the author of numerous literary works (poems, short stories, essays). He is the author and co-author of three literary collections, and his poetry is regularly published in almanacs.
List of works
For symphony orchestra
Two choreographic drawings for the fairy tale by V. Shevchuk "The Lady of the Flowers": "Scherzo Dance" and "Capricious Waltz" (2000-2001)
Suite "A Look into the Past" (2002)
"Nostalgic Diptych" (2007)
Concerts
"Little Concerto" for violin and orchestra (2003)
Concertino for trombone and orchestra (2006)
Choral works
Five poems for a capella choir based on poems by Lesya Ukrainka (2004-2005)
Chamber instrumental works
"Romantic Sonata" for viola and piano (1988, second edition - 2005)
Sonata for tuba and piano (1988), version for trombone and piano (1997)
Suite "Violino" for violin ensemble (1997)
Sonata for domra and piano (1998)
Waltz-scherzo for piano quartet (1999)
"Little Ragtime" for violin ensemble (2000)
Ancient Suite for domra (violin) and piano (2000)
"Folk Dance" for violin and piano (2005)
Music for dramatic performances
Music for the comedy "The Widow of Valencia" by Lope de Vega (1992)
Music for the children's play "Rustle" by V. Orlov (1993)
For piano
Four Preludes (1982)
Album for children (1986-1988)
Suite in Memory of Ravel (1992-2005)
Vocal works
Vocal cycle "I've come home" based on poems by L. Filatov (2000-2001)
Vocal cycle "Four Fantasies for Voice and Piano" based on poems by M. Lermontov, M. Tsvetaeva and A. Akhmatova (2002-2003)
Vocal cycle "Memory of the Sun" based on poems by A. Akhmatova (2009-2011)
Romances and songs
Textbooks
200 dictations on solfege (2005)
Harmony course in tasks and exercises (2005)
Literary collections
"Where the Clouds Sleep" (2005)
"Open sky above me" (2010)
"Between the interstices" (2016)
Projects.
Together with his wife Olha Skuratovska, he created the musical and pedagogical project "Young Opera", in which students of the Glinka Dnipro College and Conservatory and students of music schools of the city staged performances of Prince Igor by A. Borodin's The Snow Maiden, The Night Before Christmas, Sadko, The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (2007-2014). As part of the project, the company toured the cities of Ukraine, Russia and Lithuania. The innovative activities of the ensemble are highlighted in the publications of the scientific and methodological journal Art in School (Moscow).
The Skuratovskys also founded the Children's Philharmonic, a programme where children aged 2-10 learn to listen to classical music. For adults, Vladimir Skuratovsky hosted the Discussion Club and Music Living Room programmes, where he acted as a presenter, soloist and concertmaster.
In 2003, Vladimir Skuratovsky became the head of the literary project "Workshop of the Word", which brought together people of different professions and ages who wanted to create literary works of various genres. In 2005, a joint collection of the Workshop of the Word was published under the title Where Clouds Sleep.
He took an active part in educational and volunteer projects in Dnipro: he organised concerts in the City and Regional Libraries, the National Technical University, the Jewish Community Centre, nursing homes, etc.
Bibliography
Open sky above you. -Dnipropetrovsk: Svidler A.L., 2010. - 106 p.
Between the Domes. - Moscow: State Institute of Art History, 2016. 160 p.
Titles
Member of the Union of Composers of Ukraine (2001)
Honoured Artist of Ukraine (2016)
Memory
The Children's Music School No. 6 in Dnipro was named after Volodymyr Skuratovskyi. Dnipro. On 30 January 2018, the Interactive Museum of Volodymyr Skuratovsky was opened in the Children's Music School named after him.
A scientific and practical conference in Dnipro (2018) and numerous commemorative concerts in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia, Moscow, Reutlingen, and Desau were dedicated to Skuratovsky's work.
