Shmurak – “Dark Forest” for piano. Tymish Melnyk (piano).

“The Dark Forest” is the title of a novel by Chinese science fiction writer Liu Cixin. In his interpretation, contact between planetary civilizations is a long-term war of deception and destruction, a struggle for survival. The events of recent years have completely destroyed hopes for the peaceful coexistence of civilizations and the "melding" of ideologies. Once again in history, human life is only fuel for projects of unification, greatness, and domination.

Oleksii Shmurak's piece "Dark Forest" reflects on the unempathetic, ruthless manic sequence, dehumanization in the political and media dimension of humanity; the crisis of the European cultural and ideological project; the flourishing of hypocrisy and xenophobia. "Dark Forest'' is a work for piano in five movements with a total duration of 60 minutes. Genre-wise or stylistically, the music resembles jazz, rock, and minimalism; the sound is dominated by powerful corporality, and cruel squareness alternates with evil asymmetrical patterns.

00:00 1. Homo homini lupus est

According to the British politician and philosopher Thomas Hobbes, the "war of all against all" is the natural state of relations between people in the absence of government and a social contract. In recent decades, this metaphor has become increasingly accurate in describing international relations and the general sense of world politics. This social primitiveness awakens animal instincts and primitive pleasure in one's own cruelty, unity with the crowd, and involvement in a familiar old myth, ritual, and celebration.

10:34 2. Equilibrium

Ultron from “Avengers”, Thanos from “Infinity War” is a nightmare about the idea of balance and control that has reached the point of absurdity. Nuclear parity, a bipolar world, a new world or a new Cold War, revenge strikes, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, guaranteed mutual destruction: the music of this piece is about the feeling of enormous tension and threats that may or may not materialize in an apocalyptic scenario.

24:44 3. Primavera

Nature fought before humans appeared and will continue to do so after they disappear. Birdsong, plant roots, and animal skin colors are an indication of conquests, warlike intentions, and warnings of a deadly threat. The jungle of competitors and enemies hides behind beauty, brightness and what we consider to be relaxation and tranquility.

36:54 4. Dark

The boundaries between humor and devaluation, defensive reaction and aggression, sharp joke and blunt hatred are very conditional; they can be easily violated without being noticed. It is no coincidence that comic, playful music often contains a grain of cruelty and absurdity, and the kaleidoscope of vulgarity, dullness and routine can easily lead to the reign of blindness and darkness.

49:33 5. Saint Graal

Who can be a modern knight who will recapture the Temple and get the Holy Grail cup? The knight-protagonist must be both harsh and sensual, and a trickster; all the stages of the monomyth can take place in parallel. Icarus will be able to fly, but he won't die by falling, because he will have a parachute; he will just be a little disappointed and laugh at himself.

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Tymish Melnyk (piano)

Born in 2001 in Poltava. He began studying piano at the age of ten and later graduated from the Mykola Lysenko Poltava Professional College of Arts (class of Larysa Rudenko). He is currently studying at the Ukrainian National Academy of Music (the class of Oleh Bezborodko), where he also studies harpsichord under the guidance of Svitlana Shabaltina and Olga Shadrina-Lychak.

In 2022, he participated in the Académie internationale de musique française Michel Plasson (Poilhès, France), where he attended master classes by such performers as François-René Duchâble, Jean-Philippe Collard, and Maciej Pikulski. He also took part in a master class by Daniel Lebhardt (2023).

A participant of the Bouquet Kyiv Stage and Kyiv Music Fest festivals (2023). A winner of the Borys Liatoshynsky All-Ukrainian Competition (2018, second place) and the XI project of the Creative Workshop for the Interpretation of Contemporary Music (2022, first place, nomination "Concertmaster Art").

In addition to his performing activities, he is a music critic. His main topic as a researcher and popularizer is Ukrainian musical modernism of the 1900s - 1930s and its forgotten examples (music by Pavlo Senytsia, Borys Yanovskyi, Fedir Yakymenko, and other composers).

📸 Video: VERE MUSIC FUND / Mykola Liubenko.

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VERE MUSIC HUB is a space for young musicians and listeners, created by the VERE MUSIC FUND foundation. It combines the upper hall with 100 seats – for concerts, recordings, master classes, lectures, etc., as well as the lower rehearsal hall. His address is Kyiv, Malopidvalna Street, 21/8.

Website: https://vere.fund/ ​

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