Ukrainian Masters

Violin Sonatas By Viktor Kosenko, Myroslav Skoryk & Sergei Bortkiewicz

Solomiya Ivakhiv (violin), Steven Beck (piano)

The expressive vitality in this collection of violin sonatas transcends the cultural upheavals from which these three Ukrainian composers emerged. Bortkiewicz's Violin Sonata in G minor is among the most impressive of his relatively few chamber works, finding his musical language at its most vivid and directly communicative. Kosenko's Violin Sonata in A minor is notable for the satisfying balance of its two subtly differentiated movements. Skoryk's Second Violin Sonata is a stylistically diverse chamber work, with pointed allusions to Beethoven, Prokofiev and Gershwin during its compact and always eventiul course.

Viktor Stepanowitsch Kosenko (1896-1938) , Myroslaw Skoryk (1938-2020) , Serge Bortkiewicz (1877-1952)

Bortkiewicz: Violin Sonata in G minor, Op. 26
Kosenko: Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 18
Skoryk: Violin Sonata No. 2

June 2024

Viktor Kosenko’s Sonata of 1927 immediately commands attention for its simmering, Slavic-Brahms melodic flavour and innovative approach to form...Ivakhiv makes light work of the angular, neo-Prokofiev violin-writing in Myroslav Skoryk’s Second Sonata of 1991.