Yevhen Stankovych

Born in 1942 in Svaliava, Ukraine, Stankovych is one of the leading figures of twentieth and twenty-first century Ukrainian music and a key figure in the flute repertoire. Since 1966, he has written six symphonies, an opera, five ballets, works for choir and instrumental chamber genres, and music for six plays and numerous film scores. He is one of the first Ukrainian composers whose flute music reached the United States, even though earlier in his career, he was rarely given opportunities to have works performed or recorded outside the USSR because he often failed to follow Soviet rules. His first folk opera, When the Fern Blooms, composed on request of the French concert company Alitepa for the worldwide exhibition in Paris in 1978, was prohibited from being performed, and the Soviet government destroyed its sets and costumes. It was finally produced in 2011—33 years after its creation. He works within his own parameters, clearly declaring himself as a composer of dramatic temperament, emotional freedom, technical mastery, and flexibility of form. The most comprehensive webpage on Ukrainian music Ukrainian Live Classic expresses his outlook well: “His artistic horizon impresses with the breadth of different moods, feelings, and sharpness of worldview.” Most of his flute pieces are emotionally, technically challenging, and dramatic and have intense spikes of emotions, rapid mood changes, and long lyrical phrases.