Victoria Poleva facts for kids
Victoria Vita Polyova (born September 11, 1962) is a famous Ukrainian composer. She writes many different kinds of music.
About Victoria Polyova
Victoria Polyova was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, on September 11, 1962. Her father, Valery Polyovyj, was also a composer. She studied music at the Kyiv Conservatory. She finished her studies in 1989 and continued learning there until 1995.
From 1990 to 1998, Victoria taught composition at the Kyiv Conservatory. Later, she taught music technology there. Since 2005, she has been a freelance composer. This means she works for herself and creates music for different projects.
Her Music Style
Victoria Polyova's early music was very modern and experimental. It mixed different styles, like her ballet "Gagaku." But from the late 1990s, her music changed. It became known as "sacred minimalism." This style is calm and often uses simple sounds to create a deep, spiritual feeling. Other composers like Arvo Pärt also use this style. Victoria often uses religious texts in her music.
Where Her Music is Heard
Victoria Polyova's music is played all over the world. Her pieces have been performed at big music festivals in Germany, Austria, and Belarus. Her music has also been heard in famous concert halls in Paris, Prague, Madrid, Toronto, and Shanghai. Many countries, including Sweden, Finland, and Italy, have featured her works at new music festivals.
In 2006, she was a special composer at the Menhir Chamber Music Festival in Switzerland. In 2010, she joined a project about Johann Sebastian Bach and Glenn Gould. Famous musicians like Gidon Kremer were part of this project. Gidon Kremer also invited her to be a special composer at a festival in Austria in 2011.
In 2012, a dancer named Tadashi Endo performed her ballet "Gagaku." In 2013, the famous Kronos Quartet performed her piece "Walking on Waters."
Awards and Recognition
Victoria Polyova has won several important awards for her music.
- In 2013, she received the Municipal Prize "Kyiv."
- In 2008, she won the "Spherical Music" international competition in the USA.
- She also won prizes from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine in 2005 and 1995.
- In 2001, she won first prize in the "Psalms of the Third Millennium" competition.
Since 2006, a Swiss company called "Sordino Ediziuns Musicalas" has been publishing her music.
Victoria Polyova's Works
Victoria Polyova has written many different types of musical pieces. Here are some of them:
Stage Music
- Ballets and Operas: She has written ballets like "Mirror, Dreams or Little Life" (2021) and "Gagaku" (1994). She also composed chamber operas, which are smaller operas, such as "Boundless Island" (2020).
Orchestra Music
- Symphonies: Victoria has written several symphonies, including Symphony No. 3 ("White interment") and Symphony No. 2 ("Offertory to Anton Bruckner").
- Other Orchestra Pieces: She has also composed pieces for full symphony orchestras like "Nova" (2022) and "Null" (2006). Some of her works feature a solo instrument with the orchestra, like "Nenia" for violin and symphony orchestra.
Choir and Orchestra Music
Victoria often combines voices with orchestras.
- Cantatas: These are pieces for singers and instruments. Examples include "Lulling the Earth" (2016) and "Summer music" (2008) for children's choir and strings.
- Religious Texts: Many of her works use old religious texts, such as "Credo" (2009) and "Word" (2002).
Choir Music (without orchestra)
She writes a lot of music for choirs to sing without any instruments, which is called "a cappella."
- Psalms: She has many pieces based on David's Psalms, like "David's Psalm 50" (2022) and "David's Psalm 1" (2018).
- Other Choral Works: Her a cappella works also include "Luminous canticles" (2016) and "Liturgy" (2013). She writes for mixed choirs, women's choirs, men's choirs, and children's choirs.
Chamber Orchestra Music
This is music for a smaller group of instruments than a full symphony orchestra.
- Solo Instruments with Strings: Many pieces feature a solo instrument, like "Passacaglia" for Violin solo and Strings (2022) or "Pieta" for Violin solo and strings (2006).
- Other Chamber Pieces: She also wrote "Winter's Tale" (2019) and "Cricket in the darkness" (2005-2006) for different groups of instruments.
Chamber Ensemble Music
This is music for a small group of musicians, often just a few instruments playing together.
- Duos and Trios: She has written for violin and cello ("Gulfstream"), and for violin, cello, and piano ("Amapola").
- Quartets and Quintets: Her "Walking on the Waters" (2013) is for string quartet, and "Simurgh-quintet" (2000) is for two violins, viola, cello, and piano.
- Music with Voice: Some pieces combine singing with instruments, like "Eter" for voice, cello, and piano.
Voice and Piano Music
Victoria has composed many songs for a singer with piano or another instrument.
- Song Cycles: These are groups of songs, like "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" (2002) based on poems by William Blake.
- Monologues: "Ars Moriendi" (18 monologues about death) is a long piece for soprano and piano.
Piano Music
She has written many pieces just for the piano.
- Sonatas: These are longer pieces, like Sonata No. 2 «Quasi una Fantasia» (2011).
- Cycles: "Marginalia" (2008-1998) is a cycle of pieces for piano.
- Other Piano Works: She also wrote "Ischia. Island" (2020) and "Passacaglia" (1982).
Solo Instrument Music
These are pieces for just one instrument.
- "Miro" (2021) is for solo violin.
- "Null" (2005) is for button accordion or organ.
Electroacoustics
This type of music uses electronic sounds.
- "Rooms of the Turbin's house" (2004) is an electroacoustic installation.
Transcriptions
Victoria has also taken older pieces of music and rewritten them for different instruments.
- She transcribed Johann Sebastian Bach's "Goldberg Variations" for violin, marimba, vibraphone, cembalo, and cello.
- She also worked on pieces by Levko Revutsky and Henri Vieuxtemps.
