Контрасти 31. Silvestrov. The Birth of Melody

On the Occasion of Valentin Silvestrov’s Birthday

Performers:

• Nazarii Pyliatiuk, violin
• Violina Petrychenko, piano

Program:

Valentin Silvestrov (*1937)

• “Melodies of the Moment” for violin and piano (2004–2005)
• Cycle I
  • Elegy
  • Serenade
  • Intermezzo
  • Barcarolle
  • Nocturne
• Cycle II
  • Serenade
  • Barcarolle
  • Pastoral
• Cycle III
  • Lullaby
  • Barcarolle
  • Lullaby
• Cycle IV
  • Lullaby
  • Barcarolle
  • Minuet
• Cycle V
  • Moderato
  • Andante
• Cycle VI
  • Prelude “The Birth of Melody”
  • Lullaby
  • Serenade
• Cycle VII
  • Elegy
  • Barcarolle
  • Musical Moment

Moderator: Polina Kordovska

Close your eyes and imagine Kyiv in the early 2000s. Rows of colorful advertisements on historic façades, souvenirs and artifacts of Andriivskyi Descent, the humming of all six lanes of central roads in tandem with the monotonous vibration of the underground. Imagine—and then forget. For only by shedding as many stereotypes about place and time as possible can one draw closer to the shimmering voice of the composer’s melodies, alongside whose birthday “Contrasts” mark their own chronology – Valentin Silvestrov.

This time, the music of the world-class genius with a Ukrainian soul will sound as a monolith, without explanations or remarks. The seven cycles of Melodies of the Moment are performed attacca, just as the composer indicated. Twenty-two short pieces, each a memory, a dream, a reflection of daily life’s chaos through the composer’s lens. On the Maestro’s 88th birthday, we once again learn to “hear the world that sings about itself,” to celebrate the birth of melody as the birth of new life, a renewed affirmation of the beauty of this world.

So, picture a dimly lit philharmonic hall with the mystical silhouette of the organ in the background, the velvet hush of an audience holding its breath, and the melodies of Valentin Silvestrov gently guided by the concert’s soloists – Violina Petrychenko and Nazarii Pyliatiuk. Imagine—and don’t deny yourself the pleasure of joining one of the festival’s most lyrical evenings.

Mariia Levkovych