Yevhen Stankovych. Ave Maria. Symphonic Poem. Black Elegy.

This edition is devoted to the 60-th anniversary of the composer who is one of the central figures in the modern music of Ukraine. By the time this disc was released, Yevhen Stankovych had composed 8 symphonies, 9 chamber symphonies, an opera, 5 ballets, a great number of chamber-vocal and instrumental compositions, as well as music to 6 plays and to more than 100 films. Still, we may put the statistics aside and listen to music – it will say more than figures. It will fill in the air first with green, than with lilac and yellow-transparent colours. It will show from where the word “roots” appears every moment, and it will show its smell and colour. This music seems to know verily why the woman’s nature is so smooth and so blue. It knows when a tear is shed because of joy – and when it turns into an ice and cuts half-and-half. It knows how a wooden cross differs from its reflection in a still water, and knows about thousands of other things, about which you know as well – when your heart doesn’t sleep.

Anton Jozhik Lejba (Hedgehog)