David Dalle
Thursday December 15th, 2022 with David Dalle
Concluding the Ukrainian symphonic cycle with Lyatoshynsky's 5th symphony. Celebrating the career of Canadian pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico.

Today we conclude the Ukrainian symphonic cycle with Boris Lyatoshynsky's 5th symphony. His final symphony from 1966 draws upon Slavic folk melodies with a particular use of a folk melody associated with the legendary Kievan Rus hero Il'ya Muromets. This melody is the principal theme in the first movement and returns in the conclusion of the final movement. As with all four of the previous symphonies, this work seems unexpectedly relevant to Ukraine today. Il'ya Muromets was credited with saving Kiev from a mythological monster Idolische, and he continued to serve the prince of Kiev in defending Kiev against numerous foreign invaders. Other Slavic melodies are found in the haunting second movement and references to Ukrainian Orthodox church music appear in several places. This is a tremendous work celebrating Ukrainian history and culture. We will also hear some recordings from the extraordinary career of Ottawa-born pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico. She is in Ottawa this week to receive the Order of Canada, which she was awarded in 2020 but the investiture was delayed due to the pandemic. Her recorded and performing repertoire is vast and varied, ranging from established masters like Mozart and Liszt, to lesser known 20th century composers and many premieres by contemporary composers including a very close working relationship with Canadian composer Ann Southam.