Lesia Lemekh - Nyzhankivsky Letters for Her

At the invitation of prof. Krushelnytska I performed as a solo artist and accompanist in a concert of composition by Nyzhankivsky.  The piano suite "Letters for Her" sounded in five parts, each presenting a bright expressive sound portrait. The piano suite of the Ukrainian modernist composer Nyzhankivsky "Letters for Her", was written in 1924. Nyzhankivsky's works, in particular suite, feature modern elliptical harmonies, atonal constructions, whole-tone modality, and quartet chord structures. The final part of the cycle is written in the form of a fughetta. The suite consists of 5 letters: Content 00:04 Con fuoco 3/4 opens the suite with dissonant chordal harmonies of dotted and trio rhythm. Accelerando poco i stringendo rapidly culminates in two fortes. The variable meter and the descending quintol movement sound in chorus balance that finds in the intervals of the quart. Senza espresivo and the sound of consonants lead to the first letter "On the tenderness of her hands" 1:07 Rubato dolcissimo sounds enlightened in A Major. An arpeggio left hand appears, accentuated by deep bass sounds in G Major. Accelerando a tempo retenuto and morendo on pianissimo - harmonic consonances in C Major complete the First Letter. The second letter "About the force" 2:32 in F Sharp Minor 3/4 - sounds in the style of syncopated and textured saturated kolomyika. The middle part of the D major on the piano briefly shades the energies of the first and third parts. The second letter culminates with syncopated chords in accelerando, which cover the entire piano. The third letter "About Dreams" 3:32 begins at 6/4 attacca in the highest fourth octave of the piano. Metric and temporal changes of movement in the expressive recitative of the right and left hands lead to quartic enlightenment. The ascending passage of furioso and stringendo sounds in an exciting octave agitato and another duolic rise accentuated by the octave acciaccatura of the left hand. At the continue of the Third Letter, the original theme returns in a high title in harmonic B Minor on the dominant. The fourth letter "About the irony to himself" 5:14 is written in the form of a fugue in the meter 2/2. The second performance of the theme enters the sixth takt in the minor octave. The third movement culminates with the third movement in octaves and with polyphonic chord and octave texture. The descending movement of the quintol is emphasized by the accents and chromatic harmonies of the left-hand leading to a wide allargando, which continues with two thirds. The initial theme of the Introduction is in a sharp undertone texture, and the final theme is in the transparent texture of the letter "About the tenderness of her hands". Lviv National Music Academy April 2013