Valentin Silvestrov is a Ukrainian composer born in Kyiv in 1937, where he worked as a freelance composer from 1970 until 2022, when he fled to Berlin following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Beginning as an avant-garde figure associated with the Kyiv avant-garde of the 1960s, he later turned toward a more tonal, elegiac idiom he has described as “weak” or metaphorical style, producing nine symphonies, string quartets, piano works, and numerous vocal cycles including Silent Songs. He continues to compose while living in exile in Germany.

Silvestrov is widely regarded as one of the leading composers to emerge from the former Soviet Union, notable for rejecting both socialist-realist convention and hardline modernism in favor of a deeply personal, reflective postmodern language rooted in Romantic and liturgical traditions. His extensive discography on ECM Records has brought his music to international audiences, and his 2022 displacement by war has drawn renewed attention to his work as a symbol of Ukrainian cultural resilience.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Silvestrov