On the evidence of the four selected works featured in this recording, it may be said that in the person of Yuri Laniuk, we are dealing with one of the most dynamic creative talents in Ukrainian music. Moreover, within its fascinating and often intriguing soundscape, the composer is uniquely place, as it is difficult to unequivocally determine whether he should be classified – not only chronologically, but above all, stylistically – with an earlier generation along side such composers as Valentin Silvestrov, Leonid Hrabovsky and Jevhen Stankovych, or identified with a later generation, as represented for example by Alexander Shchetynsky. By that as it may, this is neither the time or place for a wider debate on the subject. However, while listening to Laniuk’s compositions, it is well worth being particularly attentive to the presence – or absence – of nostalgic strains within this distinctly contemporary field of Music, and noting the format of such a presence.

Andrzej Chłopecki