The leading Ukrainian composer of today, Myroslav Skoryk (born in Lwów, now Lviv, in 1938) grew up in Siberia, where his family was deported after the Second World War; he began to write music under the tutelage of other political prisoners there.
He later studied with Kabalevsky in Moscow before settling back in his native city, where he soon became an important teacher and is now a major figure in Ukrainian cultural life.
His music is direct and forthright, with echoes of Prokofiev: there are passages of driving energy and power and a keen sense of drama – and Skoryk, too, is not afraid of writing a glorious tune when he wants to.
As well the two powerful Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2, the disc includes the catchy Spanish Dance and Melody, famous in the Ukraine from Skoryk’s music to the film The High Pass.
Solomia Soroka, partnered on this recording by her husband, the pianist Arthur Greene, has performed some of this music with the composer himself.
