The Well-Tempered Ear
Ukraine’s most famous living composer is now a war refugee in Germany
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By Jacob Stockinger
He fights and defends his native country with beautiful sounds.
Ukraine’s most famous living composer has had to flee his war-torn country and — like some 3 million fellow Ukrainians in various other countries — is now living as a a war refugee in Germany.
He is Valentin Sylvestrov (below), 84, and has survived both World War II and the Nazi occupation as well as the Soviet rule experiencing democracy and freedom after the fall of the USSR and now the devastating Russian invasion five weeks ago.
The irony is that his music, which The Ear can’t recall ever hearing performed live in Madison — although Wisconsin Public Radio recently featured a beautiful choral work — seems calming and peaceful, even consoling.(Please correct me if I am mistaken.) Many people compare him to the style of Arvo Pärt, his Eastern European contemporary and colleague in Estonia.
Little wonder that his works have found a new popularity in worldwide concerts as the world hopes for the survival and victory of Ukraine — below is Ukraine’s flag — over Vladimir’s Putin’s army and war crimes.
His works have been particularly popular at fundraisers and memorials. They underscore the long history and importance of Ukraine’s tradition of making music, which has been recounted in the news features you find in the press, on TV, on radio and elsewhere in the media including live streams and recorded videos other media, especially the Internet.
As far as The Ear can tell, his most popular work in the concert hall these days is his hauntingly beautiful 1937 “Prayer for Ukraine.” You can hear it, in an orchestra version, in a YouTube video at the bottom.
As background here are two different interviews with the distressed and saddened Sylvestrov in exile.
The first interview, from The New York Times, is by a professor at Arizona State University who has published a book on postwar Eastern European composers and offers links to more works: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/30/arts/music/valentin-silvestrov-ukraine-war.html
The other interview is from the German media outlet Deutsche Welle, translated into English and featuring current photos: https://www.dw.com/en/ukrainian-composer-valentin-silvestrov-what-are-you-kremlin-devils-doing/a-61158308
The tragic occasion of the war in Ukraine could be the event that brings the soul-stirring music of Sylvestrov to a larger global public.
He certainly deserves it — along with some live performances here — and The Ear certainly plans on posting more of his music.
Have you heard the music of Valentin Sylvestrov?
Do you have favorite works from his piano music, chamber music, choral music and many symphonies?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Today at noon you can hear Japanese marimba music. At the UW-Madison, tonight offers a FREE concert of Eastern European music by the Wingra Wind Quintet. Tomorrow night is a FREE concert of vocal music by UW Chorale
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ALERT: TODAY, Nov. 8, from 12:15 to 1 p.m. at the FREE Friday Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, the veteran international marimbist Rebecca Kite (below) — who teaches and concertizes — will perform a program that features music of Handel, herself and contemporary Japanese composers including Keiko Abe and Minoru Miki. Kite recently moved to Madison.
By Jacob Stockinger
Tonight and tomorrow night feature two noteworthy and FREE concerts of chamber music for winds and choral music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.
Here are details:
WINGRA WIND QUINTET
TONIGHT, Nov. 8, at 8 p.m. in the Collins Recital Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., the UW-Madison’s Wingra Wind Quintet performs a FREE concert of music from Eastern Europe.
Works by Bela Bartok, Leos Janacek, Gyorgy Kurtag and Endre Szervanszky will be featured.
The guest artist is clarinetist Brian Gnojek (below).
For more information about the concert, the works on the program and background of the Wingra Wind Quintet (below, in 2018, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) as an acclaimed faculty chamber music ensemble, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/wingra-wind-quintet-2/2019-11-08/
UW CHORALE
This Saturday night, Nov. 9, in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the Hamel Music Center, the UW Chorale (below) will perform a FREE concert with an eclectic theme.
The program is called “How to Spice Up Your Life.” Selections include works about music, dance, chat, sports, love, outings and cooking.
The concert includes a performance of PDQ Bach’s The Seasonings, a parody of baroque oratorios, featuring faculty soloists Julia Rottmayer and Paul Rowe with student soloists Angela Peterson and Charles Hancin. (You can hear Part I of “The Seasonings” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For more information, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-chorale-3/
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Classical music: A busy week at the UW-Madison includes FREE concerts of music for strings, winds, voice and brass
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By Jacob Stockinger
This week will be busy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
There is something just about every day and all of it is FREE and OPEN to the public.
For all events, including some interesting doctoral recitals and lectures, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/events/
Here is a schedule of the major events:
TUESDAY
NOTE: The concert by guest artists flutist Cristina Ballatori and guitarist Jonathan Dotson has been CANCELED.
At 7:30 in Mills Hall, a concert and discussion of Eastern European string music will be given by Maria Pomianowska (below top) and Seth Parker Woods (below bottom in a photo by Michael Yu).
For more information, go to:
https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/maria-pomianowska-seth-parker-woods-eastern-european-string-music/
WEDNESDAY
At 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, UW trombonist Mark Hetzler (below top, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) and UW collaborative pianist Martha Fischer (below bottom) will perform music from their latest CD on Summit Records “Themes and Meditations.” Featured composers include Sandro Fuga, Jan Bach, Anthony Plog, Anthony Barfield and Frank Bridge.
For more information, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/faculty-duo-recital-mark-hetzler-trombone-martha-fischer-piano/
THURSDAY
At 7 p.m. at Oakwood Village West, 6209 Mineral Point Road, in Madison’s far west side near West Towne Mall, the UW Wingra Wind Quintet will perform a free concert. Sorry, no words on composers or pieces on the program. Members are (below, from left, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) bassoonist Marc Vallon, flutist Timothy Hagen, clarinetist Alicia Lee, oboist Aaron Hill, and hornist Joanna Schulz.
FRIDAY
At 5 p.m. in Morphy Hall, the voice students of UW professor Mimmi Fulmer (below) will perform a “Rush Hour Recital” of classical and popular songs. Sorry, no word on composers or pieces on the program.
At 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, UW cellist Parry Karp (below left), who plays with the Pro Arte Quartet, will perform a recital with longtime partner pianist Eli Kalman (below right), who did his graduate studies at UW-Madison and now teaches at UW-Oshkosh.
The program features the “Romance for Violin and Piano” by Polish composer Karl Szymanowski as transcribed by Karp; the Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major by Johannes Brahms; and the Sonata for Cello and Piano by French composer Charles-Valentin Alkan. (You can hear the original setting of the Szymanowski Romance in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For more information, go to:
https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/faculty-recital-parry-karp-cello-and-eli-kalman-piano/
SUNDAY
At 3 p.m. in Morphy Hall the winners of the Irving Shain Woodwind and Piano Duo Competition will perform. The winners have not yet been named and there is no program yet posted. Stay tuned and go to here for an update: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/irving-shain-woodwind-piano-duo-competition-winners-recital/
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Classical music: What makes early Slavic music different? What composers are being rediscovered? And what will the All-Festival concert offer? Co-artistic director Cheryl Bensman Rowe talks about the Madison Early Music Festival (MEMF). The festival starts this coming Saturday and runs through the next Saturday. Here is Part 2 of 2 parts.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The 16th annual Madison Early Music Festival opens this coming Saturday night and runs through the All-Festival concert the next Saturday night. The topic is “Slavic Discoveries: Early Music from Eastern Europe.”
Here is a link to the home website where you can information and event, times and prices: http://artsinstitute.wisc.edu/memf/
Cheryl Bensman Rowe (below), who co-directs the festival with her husband, UW-Madison baritone Paul Rowe, agreed to talk about the festival and its lineup of workshops, lectures and concerts. Her interview is running in two parts.
Here is a link to Part 1, which ran yesterday:
Today is Part 2.
How does early Slavic or Eastern European music differ from its counterparts in, say, Western Europe such as Italy, France, Spain and England. What is the historical origin and role of the music from that era in that part of the world?
The early Slavs came from Indo-European lands, spreading from various parts of Asia into Eastern Europe around 2000 B.C. Under the pressure of nomadic hordes, the Slavic tribes crossed the Carpathian Mountains and pushed their way down to the Balkans. Others moved westward toward the upper Danube, and still others eastward toward the River Dniper and Black Sea.
This migration continued from the fourth through the eighth century, giving birth to the Slavic nations that we know today. East of the River (below) explores the dance music and traditional melodies from these indigenous cultures, and you will hear the haunting and virtuosic melodies from these Slavic traditions that influenced the music of many Eastern European compositions.
Bob Wiemken (below), from Piffaro explains: “It would seem at first consideration that an immersion in music of Slavic lands and peoples to the East during the medieval through baroque periods would yield some sounds, styles and repertoire strikingly different from that produced by composers from western lands, and in some cases and during certain times that assumption yields expected results.
“However, when comparing what might be considered composed art music, the fodder of courts and cathedrals, a surprising similarity between the two, between East and West, emerges, at least insofar as the lands bordering on what is normally considered “western Europe” are concerned.
“On closer examination the reasons for this similarity seem clear. Political and cultural interchange between East and West burgeoned during the late 15th through early 17th centuries. Eastern rulers, especially in Poland and Hungary, sought to build their courts and chapels after western fashion. They thus attracted some of the best western composers to create and/or head their musical establishments for a time. Easterners studied and worked in western environs, most notably the Slovenian Jakob Handl in Vienna and the Hungarian Bálint Bakfark in Paris and Padua, and many western composers occupied lofty musical positions or spent a portion of their professional careers at eastern courts.
“As a result, western sacred polyphony, the international musical language of the day, traveled east and settled in Slavic courts and cathedrals, and eastern dances, such as the Polnischer Tanz, the Passamezzo ongaro and the Ungarescha journeyed east, creating a tale of cross-cultural influence and engagement in the musical interaction between western and eastern composers.”
And Jordan Sramek, director of the Rose Ensemble, writes:
“During the 17th century there is an often-forgotten relationship between Poland and Italy and there is a striking influence the Italianate style had on Polish composers of the time. Also, Italian composers were invited to the Imperial Russian court to be in residence in St. Petersburg.”
What music and composers of the era have been most neglected and least neglected by historians and performers?
Many composers and their works have only been neglected because the music was unavailable to us in Western countries. The music in some of the Eastern European collections has been out of print, or inaccessible in libraries. It’s the same with recordings—Amazon does not have everything!
Ancora String Quartet violist and Wisconsin Public Radio host Marika Fischer Hoyt (below center) should be interviewed about her experience in Hungary. Tom Zajac was in Poland several years ago, and talked to Polish musicians, went to libraries, and tried to soak up as much information as he could while he was there.
As time goes by, it will become easier to travel to some of these countries, and more materials will become available, there will be more ensembles presenting this music. Music historians from the East have been doing research, but a lot of their books and articles need to be translated into English.
Jordan Sramek (below), the director of the Rose Ensemble, describes the situation so well, “Among scholars and performers of early vocal music, there is, perhaps, an unreasonable lack of attention paid to music from what is contemporarily referred to as “Eastern Europe.” While some musicians spend their careers digging in the “Western” libraries of Florence and Paris, the shelves of the manuscript libraries and monasteries of Krakow, Moscow and Prague often remain dusty, either due to lack of interest or perceived inaccessibility.”
The Rose Ensemble concert features only a glimpse of the great wealth of early vocal repertoire from Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Bohemia, in an attempt to shine some light on some truly brilliant gems.
Can you tell us about the All-Festival concert program on Saturday, July 18th?
At the All-Festival Concert (below is a photo of last year’s, held in Luther Memorial Church instead of Mills Hall) at the end of the festival on Saturday, July 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Concert Hall, there will be a wonderful program of Slavic music. The first half will feature Polish composers:
“Missa Lombardesca” by Bartołomiej Pękiel: https://youtu.be/lT8ZBRqQWZ8
That will be followed by a triple-choir “Magnificat” by Mikołaj Zieleński: https://youtu.be/Rb414r9IScE and motets by Mikołaj z Krakowa.
The second half of the program will feature excerpts from a wonderful Hungarian collection that Marika Fischer Hoyt found for MEMF when she was in Hungary this past summer. She was visiting family, but also spent a lot of time in the library researching music that is only available in Hungarian libraries. Libraries are still so valuable, and it’s wonderful to know that we can’t find everything on the Internet!
Take Harmonia Caelestis, a cycle of 55 sacred cantatas attributed to the Hungarian composer Paul I, First Prince Esterházy of Galántha (1635–1713) and published in 1711. They are in the Baroque style, and each of the cantatas consists of one movement, composed for solo voices, choir, and orchestra. https://youtu.be/txE-Levn_vM
The program will end with Ukrainian composers Ephiphanius Slavinetsky (below, depicted revising service books), a sacred choral concerto by Dmitri Bortnianski.
Next on the program, you will hear a stunningly beautiful a cappella choral work, “Now the Powers of Heaven,” by Giuseppe Sarti. https://youtu.be/4VI6chNJe50
In 1784, Sarti was invited by Catherine the Great to succeed Paisiello as director of the Imperial Chapel in St. Petersburg. We will end the program with a work by Nikolai Diletski.
Many of these works have not been recorded, so we hope the Madison community will join us to hear these unknown works. Also, it’s not too late to sign up to sing or play in the workshop! http://artsinstitute.wisc.edu/memf/classes.htm
Are there other sessions, guest lectures and certain performers that you especially recommend for the general public?
I think everything is highly recommended, and I’m looking forward our first day on Saturday, July 11, with the opening concert of the Rose Ensemble. John W. Barker, who is well known to The Ear, will be presenting the opening 6:30 p.m. pre-concert lecture, “Discovering the ‘Other Europe’”, which will give a wonderful overview for the week. There will be other lectures throughout the week, and the Balkan Dance event with live music, on Wednesday, July 15, will be really fun.
I’ve included the link, which has more information about these and all the other events. Try to see them all! http://artsinstitute.wisc.edu/memf/events.htm
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We’re looking forward to an entire week immersed in the wonderful Slavic sounds.
And in 2016 we will be celebrating Shakespeare!
Tags: Arts, Baltic Sea, Baroque, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, Czech Republic, Danube, Early music, Eastern Europe, England, Europe, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Moldova, Music, Poland, Russia, Shakespeare, Spain, Ukraine, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, vocal music, Western Europe, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Co-artistic director Cheryl Bensman Rowe talks about early Eastern European music, which is the focus of this summer’s Madison Early Music Festival (MEMF). The festival starts this coming Saturday and runs through the next Saturday. Here is Part 1 of 2 parts.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The 16th annual Madison Early Music Festival opens this coming Saturday night and runs through the All-Festival Concert the following Saturday night. The topic is “Slavic Discoveries: Early Music from Eastern Europe.”
Here is a link to the home website, where you can find complete information about events, concerts, venues and prices:
http://artsinstitute.wisc.edu/memf/
Cheryl Bensman Rowe, who co-directs the festival with her husband, UW-Madison baritone Paul Rowe, agreed to talk about the festival and its lineup of workshops, lectures and concerts. Her interview will run in two parts. Today is Part 1.
How successful is this year’s festival compared to others in terms of enrollment, budgets, performers, etc.? How well established is MEMF now nationally or even internationally?
This year we are right on track with enrollment, budget and performers as we have been for the past several years. MEMF was “on the map” literally, as you will see from this article from the summer edition of the magazine Early Music America, a national publication that is read by all early music enthusiasts and professionals. We were honored to be included in this map of not-to-be-missed festivals.
Here is a sampling of Early Music Samplings this summer:
http://www.nxtbook.com/allen/EMAM/21-2/index.php?startid=8
Our faculty and ensembles come from all over the world:
The Rose Ensemble (below) is from Minneapolis. www.roseensemble.org
East of the River is based in New York City, although the performers are originally from Israel, Turkey, and the United States. www.eastoftherivermusic.com
Piffaro is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: www.piffaro.org
Ensemble Peregrina is based in Basel, Switzerland, and their members are originally from Poland, Finland, Switzerland and the U.S.: www.peregrina.ch
What is new and what is the same in terms of format, students, faculty members and performers?
Our biggest news is that we are now a part of The Arts Institute on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Our program director, Chelcy Bowles, retired from the Division of Continuing Studies at the UW, and she felt that MEMF would be a perfect fit for this relatively new initiative on campus.
Our new program director, Sarah Marty, has been a part of MEMF since she was a student, and has also been a participant in the MEMF workshops, and on our board. She knows a lot of the “behind the scenes “ information, which was really helpful when she took over for Chelcy.
The workshop format remains the same, but this year we have several new faculty members from some of the ensembles:
Daphna Mor, from East of the River (below), teaching recorder and Balkan music.
Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett and Kelly Landerkin from Ensemble Peregrina, teaching Polish medieval chant.
Michael Kuharski, http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Michael-Kuharski/9630833, a fantastic teacher of Balkan dance, will be leading the wonderful dance event with live music played by the local Balkan music ensemble Veseliyka.
https://veseliyka.wordpress.com/
The dance event will be on Wednesday, July 15, in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.
Why was the topic of the Early Eastern European music chosen for the festival? What composers and works will be highlighted?
There has been a lot of new musical discoveries over the past ten years of repertoire from Eastern Europe. John W. Barker brought up the idea of Polish Music, and Tom Zajac, a faculty member and performer who has been to MEMF for at least 12 years, has done a lot of research in this area, and was interested in sharing it with MEMF. We are always looking for new and interesting topics to present, and the time seemed right to bring this music to Madison.
Please look at the concerts link for more information about each individual concert:
http://artsinstitute.wisc.edu/memf/concerts.htm
Tomorrow: Part 2 — What makes early Slavic music different? What composers are being rediscovered? And what will the All-Festival concert feature?
Tags: Arts, Balkan, Baltic states, Baroque, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, dance, Early music, East of the River, Eastern Europe, Europe, folk dance, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Music, rose, Russia, The Rose Ensemble, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Con Vivo! will perform Russian and Eastern European chamber music this Saturday night.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Con Vivo! … music with life, concludes its 12th season of chamber music with a concert entitled “Eastern Block Party” on Saturday, May 31, at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Avenue, across from Camp Randall.
The program includes the Serenade for violin, viola, cello and two clarinets by Bohuslav Martinu (below top), the Polonaise No. 1 in D Major for violin and piano by Henryk Wieniawski (below middle), and Spiegel im Spiegel for clarinet and piano by Arvo Pärt (below bottom in a YouTube video that features the viola rater than the clarinet).
The performance will also feature the outstanding church organ with the Prelude in G Major by Friedrich Constantin Homilius. To conclude the evening’s offering, con vivo! will perform the Piano Quintet for two violins, viola, cello and piano by Dimitri Shostakovich (below).
Audience members are invited to join Con Vivo! musicians after the concert for a free reception to discuss this chamber music literature and to hear about their Carnegie Hall debut this past December.
Tickets can be purchased at the door for $18 for adults and $15 for seniors and students.
Artistic Director Robert Taylor, talking about the concert, said: “As is our tradition, con vivo!’s post Carnegie Hall debut season brings to our audience works that are familiar and some that are new. We’ve been honored as the “Best Classical Concert of 2013” by reviewer John W. Barker (below). With this concert, we aim to continue that trend.”
Con Vivo! is a professional chamber music ensemble comprised of Madison area musicians assembled from the ranks of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and various other performing groups familiar to Madison audiences.
Tags: Arts, Arvo Part, Baltic music, Bohuslav Martinu, Camp Randall, Carnegie Hall, Chamber music, Classical, Classical music, Congregational United Church of Christ, Dmitri Shostakovich, Eastern Europe, Eastern European music, Henryk Wienawski, Henryk Wieniawski, Homilius, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, Piano, Russia, Russian, Russian culture, Russian music, Shostakovich, Spiegel im Spiegel, Violin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, YouTube
Classical music news: Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra will go on tour to Europe and perform in Vienna, Prague and Budapest in July of 2012. But WYSO needs to raise $30,000.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The details are still being worked out. So we will have to wait a while to find out specific repertoire and a specific itinerary with dates and venues.
But under the baton of conductor Jim Smith, the Youth Orchestra (below) of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras will go on tour to perform in Eastern Europe (really Central Europe) from July 7-17 in 2012.
WYSO has already been holding a raffle (two people get airfare plus hotel for three days in Paris in November) and seeking other ways to raise money to make this exciting honor come true. The drawing to name the winner will be in March.
But I also want to remind readers that as we approach the end of the current tax year, this is a great time to make a major charitable donation and tax deduction to WYSO and its International Tour Scholarship Fund to help them undertake this significant event.
Of course there are plenty of organizations offering food to the hungry and shelter to the homeless also competing for funding. But music education – especially during these days of federal and state budget cutbacks in the arts and arts education – is also a cause worthy of support.
And let me tell you: If the students musicians in WYSO play Dvorak as I heard them play it two years ago, the Czechs will go wild with enthusiasm!
WYSO has been a major player in American music education since it was founded in 1966 by Marvin Rabin. It has trained more than 5,000 young people from more than a hundred communities in southern Wisconsin.
Here is a link to WYSO’s main website with a lot of information about the background and mission of this worthy organization.
And here is a link to the webpage with specifics about the upcoming tour and its fundraising needs:
http://wyso.music.wisc.edu/intltour12.html
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The Well-Tempered Ear 