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Viktor Stepanovych Kosenko (23 November 1896 – 3 October 1938) 11 Etudes in the Form of Old Dances, 0:11 - 1. Gavotte in D-flat major 4:18 - 2. Allemande in B-flat minor 11:24 - 3. Menuet in G major 16:39 - 4. Courante in E minor 20:35 - 5. Sarabande in A minor 26:29 - 6. Bourrée in A major 31:37 - 7. Gavotte in B minor 34:51 - 8. Rigaudon in C major 38:38 - 9. Menuet in E-flat major 43:46 - 10. Passacaglia in G minor 1:02:35 - 11. Gigue in D minor Natalya Shkoda (piano). Stereo recording, 2006. Original recording: Viktor Stepanovych Kosenko was a Soviet composer, concert pianist, and educator born in Saint Petersburg. He was regarded by his contemporaries as a master of lyricism. His first compositions were markedly influenced by the works of composers such as Alexander Scriabin, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and his compatriot Mykola Lysenko. Kosenko's life is conclusively divided into three distinct phases, in Warsaw, where he studied with renowned teachers Mikhail Sokolovsky and Iryna Miklashovskaya, in Zhytomyr, where he began teaching piano and music theory at the Music Technicum, later becoming director of the Zhytomyr Music School, and finally in Kiev, where he devoted more time to symphonic compositions such as his Heroic Overture, which brought him due recognition in the world of Soviet music. A true artist in the very sense of the word, he was a leading figure among the broad-minded artistic collective of the 20th-century Soviet music. Kosenko's legacy is filled with romantic feeling and intonations of Slavic folk songs and Western-European influences. His vocal, chamber and symphonic works are among the most important pieces of that time in USSR. He composed over 100 compositions for piano among waltzes, preludes, nocturnes, sonatas and mazurkas, in a total of about 250 musical works such as his symphonic Moldavian poem, violin and piano concertos, trios and string quartets during his short musical career. His vocal compositions include a large number of ballads, choral and folk arrangements as well. Eleven Études in the Form of Old Dances (also 11 Études in the Form of Old Dances), , written specifically for educational purposes between 1928 and 1930 by Ukrainian pianist and composer Viktor Kosenko, is a late-romantic collection of solo piano pieces mingled with elements of Ukrainian folk-like melodies, using French-baroque dance forms such as minuet, allemande, courante, sarabande, and gavotte as concept. Consisting of 11 pieces, among them the melodic gavotte, the two-part Bourrée, and the Gigue in sonata form, the collection presents many technical challenges such as the use of overlapping octaves, doubling in thirds and sixths, and pedaling. It was once described by Kosenko as a 'family album' with each piece dedicated to a member of his family such as his nephew Fedir, to whom Rigaudon was dedicated, and his wife Anna who was the dedicatée of the 18-minute long Passacaglia. Sources: Études_in_the_Form_of_Old_Dances Project files: Recording:
