An Ox on the Roof 41: The Ox in Times of War.
An introduction to contemporary music in ordinary language.
Episode 41 of An Ox on the Roof by Thea Derks, inspired by her book Een os op het dak: moderne muziek na 1900 in vogelvlucht. (An ox on the roof: modern music after 1900 in a nutshell)
Putin’s relentless attempts to conquer neighbouring Ukraine and confiscate its fertile fields for good have finally woken up the West. Meanwhile, Turkey has given up its opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
That is excellent news for the Baltic States, which also fear the greedy eyes of their Russian neighbours, but whether it helps the brave Ukrainians in their struggle remains to be seen. As a small token of solidarity, music by Ukrainian composers will be featured again today.
In the previous edition, we heard Piano Sonata no. 1 by Volodymyr Zagortsev, one of the last students of Borys Lyatoshynsky (1895-1968) [see image] at the Kyiv Conservatory. Lyatoshynsky was also a teacher for some years at the Moscow Conservatory, but was – like colleagues like Shostakovich and Prokofiev – accused of “formalistic tendencies” in his music.
In 1951, Lyatoshynsky achieved great success with his Third Symphony, ‘Peace Will Overcome War’. However, the Soviet censorship took offence and forced him to rewrite the last movement and delete the title. Only after two revisions was the work accepted and then performed throughout the Soviet Union. Today, the original version will be featured.
Victoria Polyova was born in Kyiv in 1962 as the daughter of composer Valery Polyov, who had also studied with Lyatoshinsky. Like her father, she attended the Kyiv Conservatory, where she studied with Ivan Karabits; she completed her composition studies in 1989.
In 2014 she composed the piano trio Music for Temo, in memoriam of the Georgian-Ukrainian artist Temo Svirelli (1964-2014).
The 1st edition of Een os op het dak is sold out, but via boekenbestellen.nl you will receive a copy of the 2nd edition.
1. Borys Lyatoshynsky. Symphony No. 3, ‘Peace Will Overcome War’.
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kirill Karabits.
2. Victoria Poljova. Music for Temo.
Antoniy Barisjevsky, piano. Taras Yaropud, violin.
Yuri Pogoretsky, cello.
Produced & presented by: Thea Derks
