Lviv chamber orchestra "Academia". Wasyl Wytwycky. Chamber and string-orchestral music.

"This CD contains the recording of Wasyl Wytwycky's (1905-1999) chamber and string-orchestral compositions. Importantly, the appearance of this CD marks the definitive return to present-day Ukrainian national artistic consciousness of the formerly forgotten name of this eminent figure in Ukrainian musical culture. Wasyl Wytwycky's contributions as composer, scholar, writer, teacher and public intellectual was a significant factor in the cultural life of Halychyna between World War I and World War II.

The Wytwycky's works recorded on this CD, First String Quartet, "Youth Suite", Trio for violin, cello and piano, and "Diptych" for strings, were all written in the interwar period and, by the composer's own estimation, are his best compositions. In addition to the historical fact that they were among the first chamber and string-orchestral compositions in the musical life of Halychyna, the aesthetic qualities displayed in them, such as the richness and originality of their melodic-harmonious forms, the splendid instrumental textures, a peculiar elegance, and the "European flavour" of the composer's mode of expression all distinguish the individuality of this music in the purely Ukrainian context. Analysts of Wytwycky's creative output have yet to define the role of this composer in the development of a national musical style within the aesthetic context of modernism. But even today, is it obvious that his role is commensurable with the contributions made by V. Barvinsky, N. Nyzhankivsky and M. Kolessa who along with Wytwycky created the phenomenon of Halychyna's musical distinctiveness."

Olexander Koszarenko

(information from the booklet to the CD)