Viktor Kosenko - Nocturne-Fantaisie Op. 4 (audio + sheet music)

Viktor Kosenko (1896–1938) is a lyrical composer, his music is filled with refined grief and melancholy. He is one of the greatest romanticists of his time. In his work he manages to combine into a stunningly organic whole the intonation of Ukrainian melos with the achievements of Russian and Western European music. Kosenko was born in St. Petersburg into an officer’s family, which soon moved to Warsaw, one of the cultural centers of Europe. At a tender age he firmly decided to devote himself to music and began composing. After the outbreak of World War I the entire family retired to Petrograd, where he entered the conservatoire. In these early years the young composer spent a lot of time and energy on composing, with particular success in the genres of piano and vocal miniature. After graduating from the conservatoire he moved to Zhitomir, where spent a big part of his life and worked as a piano teacher at a music school. Together with some fellow musicians he founded an artistic circle, in no way inferior to those in Kiev. He regularly appeared in concerts as a pianist: his audience consisted of workers, students, soldiers. He performed no less than 250 concerts during the first post-revolutionary decade for the Red Army alone! Beyond that Kosenko founded a piano trio with the violinist V. Skorokhod and the violoncellist V. Kolomiytsev; These three enthusiasts did a lot to spread classical music among a wider audience by familiarizing it with chamber music. In 1929 he was offered a permanent position as a teacher in Kiev. Kosenko’s ten years in Zhitomir were years of prolific composing. The nocturne-fantasy in C-sharp minor gives the impression of a sophisticated arabesque, blending two sets of imagery: elegiac grief and the eternal light of hope. Traditions of romantic piano works with psychological depth (e.g. Chopin, Schumann, Brahms) are combined here with harmonic elements in the style of Scriabin. (Naxos Music Library) Please take note that the audio AND sheet music ARE NOT mine. Feel free to change the video quality to a minimum of 480p for the best watching experience. Performer: Volodymyr Orlovsky ( Original sheet music: ,(Kosenko,_Viktor) (Musytschna Ukraina, 1986)