Herman Leontovych Zhukovsky- Suite from the ballet Rostislava

Herman Leontovych Zhukovsky

Ukrainian composer; b. Radzivilovo, Volynya, Nov. 13, 1913; d. Kiev, March 15, 1976.

Suite from the ballet Rostislava

1. Dance of the lilies (00:00)
2. Adagio (cello solo - A. Trelyak) (03:28)
3. Poem (violin solo - I. Kushnir) (06:47)
4. Waltz (14:17)
5. Dance (18:07)

Ukrainian Radio Symphony Orchestra
VeniaminTolba, conductor

He studied piano and composition at the Kiev Cons., graduating in 1941. From 1951 to 1958 he taught theory there. He wrote various works in the approved style of socialist realism, using authentic Ukrainian song patterns for his materials, but a crisis supervened in his steady progress when his opera From the Bottom of My Heart (Moscow, Jan. 16,1951) was viciously attacked by the cultural authorities of the Soviet government for alleged ideological and musical aberrations; he revised the score, and the new version was approved. His other operas were Marina (Kiev, March 12, 1939), The First Spring (1960), Contrasts of Centuries, operatic trilogy (1967), A Soldier’s Wife, monodrama for Baritone (1968), and one Step to Love (1970). He also wrote the ballets Rostislava (1955), Forest Song (Moscow, May 1,1961), and Death and the Maiden (1970), as well as film scores, Piano Concerto (1938), Violin Concerto (1953), chamber music, etc.