Pizzicato e Cantabile | LIGHT OF THE SOUND. Festival Closing

Performers:

Olena Matseliukh – organ
Vitalii Dvorovyi – piano
Lviv Virtuosos Academic Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Serhii Lykhomanenko (Kyiv)

Programme:

Myroslav Skoryk – Piano Concerto No. 3
Théodore Dubois – Triumphal Fantasy for organ and orchestra
Francis Poulenc – Concerto in G minor for two pianos and orchestra (string version)

This programme is a vivid example of spiritual power combined with intellectual depth. It features rare and striking works for piano, organ, and orchestra — landmarks of the chamber-orchestral repertoire. At the conductor’s stand is Serhii Lykhomanenko, officer and head of communications of the 5th Separate Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A professional musician, he voluntarily joined the Ukrainian army in the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion.

Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for organ, timpani, and strings in G minor is one of the most renowned organ concertos of the 20th century. It is a deeply spiritual, dramatic, and contrasting work, blending Baroque allusions with modern harmony and French elegance. Théodore Dubois’s grand Triumphal Fantasy, written for the opening of the Chicago Auditorium and dedicated to Clarence Eddy (then Dean of the American Guild of Organists), lives up to its name with spectacular orchestral color, resounding organ passages, proud brass fanfares, and festive bells.

Meanwhile, Poulenc’s Concerto for two pianos — written in his early, more light-hearted period — stands out for its vivid melodic invention. Inspired by both neoclassicism and the charm of popular music, the piece begins with an energetic rhythmic figure in the pianos, a motif said to be influenced by the Balinese gamelan Poulenc heard at the 1931 Paris Exposition.

The second movement opens with a lyrical melody — an homage to Mozart, whom Poulenc regarded as the greatest of composers. The finale reveals a more enigmatic side of Poulenc’s personality: refined, good-natured, and witty.

The evening begins with the Piano Concerto No. 3 by Myroslav Skoryk, composed in 1998. At its premiere, the composer himself performed the solo part. Presenting this work by the Philharmonic’s patron at the Festival’s closing concert is both a symbolic end to this musical journey and a gesture of deep respect for a figure who left an indelible mark on Ukrainian cultural life.