Alexander Shchetynsky (Shchetinsky) (Ukrainian:Олекса́ндр Степа́нович Щети́нський;Russian:Алекса́ндр Степа́нович Щети́нский; Aleksandr Stepanovich Shchetins'kiy) is aUkrainian composer. Born on 22 June 1960 inKharkiv, in theUkrainian SSR of theSoviet Union. His work list includes compositions in various forms ranging from solo instrumental to orchestral, choral pieces and operas.
Shchetynsky graduated from theKharkiv Art Institute in 1983. Although he studied composition officially with Valentyn Borysov, another Ukrainian composer,Valentyn Bibik, strongly influenced him in those formative years. Another important source of inspiration was so called Soviet musicalavant-garde:Edison Denisov,Alfred Schnittke,Arvo Pärt,Sofia Gubaidulina,Valentin Silvestrov. Later Shchetynsky participated in master classes withEdison Denisov andPoul Ruders in Denmark, and summer courses in Poland, where he attended lectures byLouis Andriessen,Witold Lutosławski,Krzysztof Penderecki,Boguslaw Schaeffer, andMagnus Lindberg. Music of theSecond Viennese School,Olivier Messiaen, andGyörgy Ligeti had a significant impact on Shchetynsky.[1]
Since the late 80s, his music has been presented at festivals and concerts in Europe and America, performed by internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles, such as the MoscowHelikon Opera, theBBC National Orchestra of Wales, theWarsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, children's choirMaîtrise de Radio France, theArditti String Quartet, the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, Ensemble Wiener Collage, Mark Pekarsky Percussion Ensemble, pianistYvar Mikhashoff, soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson, a.o. Among the publishers of Shchetynsky are Alain Van Kerckhoven Editeur,Boosey & Hawkes, Le Chant du Monde, and Gerard Billaudot Editeur S.A. Two "portrait" CDs with his music were released in the US and France. In 2011 NAXOS released the CD 'New Sacred Music from Ukraine' with his choral works.
Shchetynsky received seven international composer's awards:
At the age of about 30, he developed his personal post-serial style based on combination of quasi-serial procedures and special attention to attractiveness of sound material and to melody as a source of expression. Another fundamental feature of his music is its rhythmic, structural and formal flexibility, which provokes feeling of "self-development" of initial micro-thematic patterns. The idea of modern spirituality became an impulse for many his vocal and instrumental compositions. This is particularly significant in his 3 operas and several choral compositions written recently. Moscow criticAlexey Parin referred to Shchetynsky as "a consequent stickler foravant-garde" and stated that "his spirituality reveals in strict, ascetically beautiful sounds that impress with their hermetism, within the context of up-to-date musical language". Nevertheless, in his newest compositions he moves towardspostmodernistic aesthetics utilizing stylistic elements of various epochs. However, he stays apart from eclecticism and aims at finding a new unity in combination of those musical elements that historically never existed next to each other.
"His style is essentially that of a structuralist, relying on a synthesis of a variety of modernist techniques and exploring in each piece a particular musical metaphor. This method explains his reliance on pieces with descriptive titles. The influence of an especially eastern European variety of minimalism (more meditative and less didactic) is also apparent in the carefully worked out relationship between different degrees of sound and silence, the predominance of soft dynamics, and in the smallest details and changes in pitch, timbre and rhythm."[2]
From 1982 to 1990 Shchetynsky taught composition at a music school inKharkiv utilizing theBrainin Teaching Method of music education.[3]
From 1991 to 1995 he taught composition, instrumentation, and techniques of contemporary music at theKharkiv Art Institute. Since 1995, although being a free-lance composer, he regularly lectured on Ukrainian music, gave master classes, and presented own works at international festivals and symposia in Austria, Germany, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Ukraine. Since 2018 he teaches composition, instrumentation, and other music theory subjects at theKharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts.
From 1997 to 2005 Shchetynsky was the member of the Art Council of the Festival Contrasts inLviv – the biggest and most prestigious international contemporary music festival in Ukraine. He was among the organisers of several other contemporary music festivals in Ukraine and Russia, and from 1995 to 2001 ran concert series New Music inKharkiv.
Since 2006 he lives inKyiv.
He wrote the scores for three films which was written, directed and produced byIhor Podolchak:
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 Las Meninas (episode) |
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 "Sonata" Las Meninas |
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