Concert "We Are!"

Concert for the 35th Anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence by the National Chamber Ensemble "Kyiv Soloists" in the atmospheric acoustic hall of the historic St. Catherine’s Lutheran Church in the heart of Kyiv.

• Conductor: Volodymyr Sirenko

This program is structured as a unique spiritual arc — from prayer to manifesto, from an intimate whisper to the proud "We Are!", which directly speaks to the meaning of Independence Day.

The concert opens with Berezovsky's "Lord's Prayer" arranged by Skoryk — two composers separated by centuries, yet united in their belief in the power of the word and the spirit of the nation. Maxim Berezovsky is rightfully called the "Ukrainian Mozart" — not only for his talent, but for his very destiny: in 1771, alongside Czech composer Josef Mysliveček, he passed the exam at the famous Bologna Philharmonic Academy under the guidance of Padre Giovanni Martini — the very same teacher who had taught the young Mozart a few years earlier. Both composers went through the same Italian school that shaped the musical language of all Europe at the time. This is why the "Lord's Prayer" sounds in this program not as a peripheral piece, but as an equal, European-level voice standing alongside the Mozartian tradition. It is a prayer for Ukraine, with which any celebration of independence naturally begins, as well as a reminder that independent Ukrainian culture has always had world-class masters whose names history kept in the shadows for too long.

Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" brings contrast — a bright, cloudless joy, the lightness of being that a nation earns through its right to freely exist. It is the image of a peaceful evening that every Ukrainian values as a luxury today.

Sylvestrov holds a special place in this program. His "Quiet Music" is silence not as emptiness, but as a space for memory and listening — a silence the composer called "the most precious thing on earth." And "Farewell, World…" on Taras Shevchenko’s words from the "Requiem for Larissa" is the most intimate moment of the evening, a private farewell resonating with the collective experience of loss that Ukraine has experienced and continues to experience.

Stankovych's "Almost a Serenade" restores movement and dialogue — the violin and viola converse like two voices of a single nation seeking harmony after trials.

Grieg's "Holberg Suite" is a tribute to the European tradition, written in honor of the humanist playwright. Significantly, Mykola Lysenko performed a similar mission in Ukrainian music, often placed by researchers right alongside Grieg: both composers elevated native folklore to the level of professional academic music. Just as Grieg "brought" Norwegian folk song and dance to the great European stage through his Holberg Suite, Lysenko did the same for the Ukrainian melos. Therefore, the next piece in the program, Kolodub's "Seven Ukrainian Folk Songs," logically continues this Lysenkian line of national thinking in music. Both composers proved that folk song is not provincial material, but an equal language of high art.

Kolodub's "Seven Ukrainian Folk Songs" return the listener to their roots — to Cossack songs, lullabies, and dances — to the authentic, living folklore that forms the foundation of national identity and is worth defending.

Finally, Yuriy Shevchenko’s "We Are!" sounds as a final affirming chord: after prayer, longing, silence, and tradition — a loud, uncompromising affirmation of the nation's existence. It is not a question, but a fact — precisely what Ukraine's Independence Day celebrates.

Program:

• Maxim Berezovsky — Myroslav Skoryk

  • "Lord's Prayer" (transcription for string orchestra)

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

  • "Eine kleine Nachtmusik", Serenade No. 13 in G major, K. 525

    1. Allegro

    2. Romanza (Andante)

    3. Menuetto (Allegretto)

    4. Rondo (Allegro)

• Valentin Sylvestrov

  • "Quiet Music" for string orchestra

    1. Waltz of Moments

    2. Evening Serenade

    3. Moments of the Serenade

• Valentin Sylvestrov

  • "Farewell, World…" from "Requiem for Larissa", Part IV, to the words of Taras Shevchenko

    (chamber interlude — soloists Yevheniia Sirenko and Dmytro Filatov)

• Yevhen Stankovych

  • "Almost a Serenade" for violin, viola, and chamber orchestra

    (soloists — Yevheniia Sirenko, violin; Oksana Darbin, viola)

• Edvard Grieg

  • Suite "From Holberg's Time", op. 40

    1. Prelude (Allegro vivace)

    2. Sarabande (Andante)

    3. Gavotte — Musette (Allegretto)

    4. Air (Andante religioso)

    5. Rigaudon (Allegro con brio)

• Levko Kolodub

  • "Seven Ukrainian Folk Songs" for strings

    1. "Stoit kozak" (The Cossack Stands)

    2. "Plyve shchuka" (The Pike Swims)

    3. "Kamiana horo..." (Stone Mountain...)

    4. "Kolyskova" (Lullive)

    5. "Tantsiuvalna" (Dance Tune)

    6. "Oi, rode mii..." (Oh, My Kin...)

    7. "Pyshla b na muzyky..." (I Would Go to the Music...)

• Yuriy Shevchenko

  • "We Are!"

    (soloist — Dmytro Filatov)

ATTENTION! Access and passage to St. Catherine's Lutheran Church (22 Liuteranska St.) is carried out exclusively from Khreshchatyk Street.