Oleksandr Kanerstein

Oleksandr Mikhaylovich Kanerstein, born in Kiev on 13 July 1933, is a Ukrainian composer whose work reflects three major preoccupations: ancient Kievan Rus', the Second World War, and the years following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The son of the conductor M. M. Kanerstein (1902-1988), he grew up in a musical environment that shaped his training.

He studied composition with Lyatoshyns'ky at the Kiev Conservatory, where he also took piano lessons with K. N. Mijailov. Between 1956 and 1957 he worked with the Lviv Philharmonic as a solo pianist and accompanist. He then returned to Kiev, where he taught piano and chamber music at the R. Glier music school. He has served on the board of the Union of Composers of Ukraine and in 1993 was granted the title of Honoured Artist of Ukraine; in 1996 he received the B. Lyatoshyns'ky Prize.

His catalogue includes three operas, several ballets, seven symphonies (the sixth, subtitled 'Amerikanskaya', dates from 1994) and concertos for piano, violin and cello. Among his works on historical themes are the ballet Yevpraksiya, set in Kievan Rus', and the symphonic fresco Kiyevskaya Rus'. Babiy Yar, a symphonic epitaph of 1991, responds to the war, while Mal'chish-Kibal'chish and Neulovimïye v gorode look to more recent times. His output is completed by chamber works, pieces for solo instruments, romances and music for animated films.

His importance lies above all in the breadth of his projects and in the way he linked the history of Ukraine with the music of his time. His work places him among the Ukrainian composers of the generation following Lyatoshyns'ky who carried on the symphonic and stage traditions of the country.