VIKTOR KOSENKO (1896–1938) : Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 18 (1927)*. MYROSLAV SKORYK (1938–2020) : Violin Sonata No. 2 (1991). SERGEI BORTKIEWICZ (1877–1952) : Violin Sonata in G minor, Op. 26 (1922). *WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING Solomiya Ivakhiv, Violin; Steven Beck, Piano. 19.98

Description: Its essential characteristics may only have been thrown into relief with recent events, but the music of Ukraine has periodically come into focus throughout the past 250 years – especially during the mid-20th and early 21st centuries. These periods encompass the three composers featured on this recital, the formal rigour and expressive vitality of whose violin sonatas can seem in marked contrast to the cultural upheavals from which they emerged, and which have affected their creators to varying yet equally marked degrees across their respective careers. The three violin sonatas by Bortkiewicz, Kosenko and Skoryk featured on this album transcend the cultural upheavals from which these three Ukrainian composers emerged. Performed by Ukrainian violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv and the American pianist Steven Beck. Kosenko’s Violin Sonata in A minor is a world premiere recording.