Myroslav Skoryk
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Myroslav Skoryk (Ukrainian: Скорик Мирослав Михайлович, born July 12, 1938 in Lviv) is a famous Ukrainian composer with very diverse and impressive compositions. His music is contemporary in style and contains stylistic traits from two disparate folk traditions: Ukrainian and American.
[edit] Biography
Myroslav Skoryk was born in Western Ukraine's main city of Lviv, which at that time was in Poland. His parents were both educated in Austria at the University of Vienna and both subsequently became educators. His father was a historian and an ethnographer, while his mother was an accomplished chemist. Although his parents did not have special musical training, his mother played piano and his father played the violin. Their son, young Myroslav, was exposed to music in the household from an early age and took a particular liking to it. Although his parents influenced Myroslav's early interest in music, no less important was the fact that in his family was a very famous diva of the 20th century, Myroslav Skoryk's great aunt was the famous Ukrainian soprano Solomea Krushelnitska.
In 1939 Lviv was taken over by the Soviert Union as part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. Under the new Soviet regime many Ukrainian intellectuals were persecuted, including the Skoryk family which lost a number of members. In 1940 Lviv was occupied by the Nazis. During the Nazi occupation Skoryk's family vented their opposition to the previous Soviet regime. With the return of Soviet forces, Skoryk's family were deported to Siberia. It is in Siberia that Myroslav grew up. Myroslav's older brother wound up in Riminin at the end of the War and emigrated to Australia.
[edit] Graduate studies in Moscow
At the Moscow Conservatory, Skoryk received a solid foundation in composition and theory. Skoryk states "My teachers were well known composers and educators, including Stanyslav Liudkevych, a graduate of the Vienna Conservatory, Roman Simovych a graduate from the Prague Conservatory in 1933, and Adam Soltys (1890-1968), a graduate of the Berlin Conservatory." Skoryk’s final exam piece was a Cantata 'Vesna' (Spring), on verses of Ivan Franko for soloists, mixed choir and symphonic orchestra. Skoryk also wrote some piano music during this time, including a cycle of piano pieces 'V Karpatakh' ('In Carpathian Mountains]) and the 'Piano Sonata in C thus evoking a predilection toward this genre that subsequently gave him recognition and, to some extent, determined his creative direction.
In 1960, Skoryk enrolled in the postgraduate research program at the Moscow Conservatory where he studied with the celebrated composer Dmitri Kabalevsky. During this time, Skoryk composed music in a vast array of styles: symphonic, chamber, and vocal. Some works from this period include the 'Suite in D Major for Strings', 'Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano', and 'Partita No. 1 for Strings' which soon became a popular piece. In addition, Skoryk also wrote several piano works such as the 'Variations', 'Blues', and the 'Burlesque which gained much popularity and has been widely performed throughout concert halls around the world. His 'Burlesque' came to be a required work in piano competitions, most notably the Vladimir Horowitz Piano Competition in Kyiv, Ukraine, and as pedagogical practice.
Skoryk graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1964 and took a teaching job at the Lviv Conservatory where he remained until 1966. Shortly after, he accepted a position at the Kiev Conservatory where he said, "Along with teaching composition classes, I also lectured theory classes that focused on contemporary harmony techniques." The subject of Skoryk’s dissertation, which he completed in 1964, concentrated on Prokofiev’s music, its title reads "Osoblyvosti ladu muzyky S. Prokofieva" (The Model System of Prokofiev). Skoryk also authored a book, "Struktura i vyrazhalna pryroda akordyky v muzitsi XX stolittia" (The Structural Aspects of Chords in 20th Century Music) (Kiev, 1983 Musical Ukraine Publishing House) as well as numerous articles.
In 1996 he lived for a time with his family in Australia and received Australian citizenship.
Myroslav Skoryk is an accomplished composer, as well as pianist and conductor. Many works by Skoryk are performed by leading ensembles and soloists including Oleh Krysa, Volodymyr Vynnytsky, Oleg Chmer, Mykola Suk, Victor Markiw and Alexander Slobodyanik. The most significant document on Skoryk written in the English language is a dissertation authored by Victor Markiw (D.M.A., University of Connecticut, 2007) titled "Myroslav Skoryk: Life and Solo Piano Works"
