Plyve Kacha is written by Heleen Verleur to support the people of Ukraine against the war. This piece will be broadcasted at the Concertzender on Sunday 2nd of April 17 pm: ‘Een Os op het Dak’ with Thea Derks. Episode forty-nine s, inspired by her book Een os op het dak: modern music after 1900 in a nutshell.

This is already the 13th episode of ‘The Ox in times of war’. Unfortunately, the end of the battle is anything but in sight, which is why today we are once again featuring music from and about Ukraine.

Episode 47 featured work by Iryna Aleksiychuk, who fled her homeland not long after the war broke out and found a safe haven in Bilbao. She is very concerned for her homeland and also warns the rest of Europe about Russia’s aggression, which she says will advance further westward should Ukraine be defeated.

To mark the first anniversary of the war, Aleksiychuk was commissioned by an American artist to compose a fanfare, which she appropriately called Glory to Ukraine. She incorporated Ukrainian themes, including from the national anthem. The musicians of the National Academic Wind Orchestra of Ukraine recorded the piece in a studio in Kiyv while being strafed by Russian missiles.

Shocked by the Russian attack on Ukraine, Dutch pianist and composer Heleen Verleur looked for a way to give the people a heartfelt response. She created nine variations for piano solo on the Ukrainian song Plyve Kacha (The duckling swims). The lyrics consist of a conversation between a mother whose son is sent to the front. The composition is available for free download through publisher Donemus.

Ukrainian composer Evgen Stankovych (Svaliava, 1942) studied with Boris Lyatoshinsky and Miroslav Skoryk, among others, whose music was featured in earlier episodes. In 1975, he composed his Second Symphony, subtitled ‘The Heroic’ – the music has a martial character

Roman Turovsky (Kiyv, 1961) [photo] has lived and worked in New York for 44 years, but still feels a strong connection to his homeland: ‘I am always inspired by Ukrainian music, the most melancholic in the world. This is not without reason, as the war against Ukraine has been going on and on for some 400 years. The current atrocities directly affect my family and friends and I raise or currently raise funds for both military and humanitarian causes.’

The 1st edition of An Ox on the Roof is sold out, but you will receive a copy of the 2nd edition via bookorder.co.uk.