Shchetynsky, Alexander (SACEM)

Ukrainian composer ALEXANDER SHCHETYNSKY was born in 1960. His work list includes compositions in many forms ranging from solo instrumental and chamber music to orchestral music, choral pieces, and operas. They have been presented in most European countries and in North America, performed by such internationally acclaimed ensembles as the Moscow opera house Helikon-Opera, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the children's choir Maîtrise de Radio France, the Arditti String Quartet, the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, Ensemble Wiener Collage, Ensemble Klangforum, Ensemble Continuum (New York), New Juilliard Ensemble, musikFabrik, and the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, and by artists such as pianist Yvar Mikhashoff, soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson, and cellist Alexander Rudin, among others. Two CDs of his music have been released in the USA and France. His newest CD with choral works was released on the NAXOS label in March 2011. Shchetynsky received awards at six international composer's competitions in Austria, France, Luxembourg, Poland, and Switzerland. Among the jury members at these competitions were A. Dutilleux, M. Rostropovich, K. Penderecki, S. Palm, E. Denisov. In 2000, his chamber opera Annunciation was awarded the Russian National Theatrical Prize, Gold Mask, in the category of Innovation.

Inspired by the Soviet musical avant-garde (especially E. Denisov, A. Schnittke, and A. Pärt) and the Second Viennese School, as well as by O. Messiaen and G. Ligeti, he developed his personal post-serial style based on a combination of quasi-serial procedures and special attention to the attractiveness of sound material and to melody as a source of expression. Another fundamental feature of his music is its rhythmic, structural, and formal flexibility that suggests a ""self-development"" of the initial micro-thematic patterns. Modern spirituality was an impulse for many of his vocal and instrumental compositions and especially his three operas and his choral works. In these newest compositions, he moves towards post-modernistic aesthetics and aims at finding a new meta-style that integrates stylistic elements of various epochs. He does not, however, consider eclecticism a part of his vocabulary.
- Virko Baley, The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians

Joined the NewMusicShelf: 12 March 2011
Website: http://www.is.svitonline.com/shchetynsky