Slava Ukraini

Slava Ukraini

for Two Cellos and Piano

or Viola, Cello, and Piano

First three movements: October 18—December 3, 2025; fourth movement May 6--June 5, 2026
Duration: about 20 minutes

for Bonnie Thron

Two Cellos and Piano

Full Score, PDF            Cover
Parts for electronic music readers:
Cello 1    Cello 2
Parts for printing (letter size f&b):
Cello 1     Cello 2

______________________
Viola, Cello, and Piano

Full Score, PDF            Cover
Parts for electronic music readers:
Viola    Cello
Parts for printing (letter size f&b):
Viola     Cello

I. Overture    [4:20]

As simple as possible but no simpler

II. Lullaby [5:15]

Adagio sempre legato e dolce

III. What goes around comes around [4:40]

IV. Slava Ukraini [5:40]
Allegro tataria; Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy

The idea for a piece for two cellos and piano came up during a meal celebrating my 70^th birthday in January 2025 with cellist Bonnie Thron, her husband clarinetist Fred Jacobowitz, and violinist Eric Pritchard. But I had a terrible outer ear infection, and by late February I lost my right eardrum, later surgically repaired. I wasn’t in shape to compose until September. After a short piano work, Happy Birthday to Me, I finally got started on this new project.

The first three movements went smoothly. My attempts in December for a fourth stalled, restarted, stalled again, and eventually I gave up. I started from scratch in early March 2026, but then spent two months writing Revolution Songs. Finally, in May I changed the focus of the piece by including the State Anthem of Ukraine, "Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy" (“Ukraine has Not Yet Perished”), music by Mykhailo Verbytskyi composed in 1863.

Once the two cello version was finished on July 1, I arranged the trio for viola, cello, and piano.

Cover photo: Ukrainian meme “Zelenskyy Signs the Decree on Permission to Hold a Parade in Moscow”, 2026.

Modeled after Ilya Repin’s “Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks”.