Ihor Shamo
Ihor Naumovich Shamo (Ukrainian: Iгор Наумович Шамо, Russian: Игорь Наумович Шамо, also romanized Igor; 21 February 1925 – 17 August 1982) was a Ukrainian composer, Shevchenko National Prize laureate[1].
Shamo was born in Kyiv to a family of Jewish origin. He graduated from the Lysenko Music School in Kyiv, where his main subjects were composition and piano, in 1941, and was evacuated in that year to Ufa, where he studied medicine for two years.[2] From 1942 to 1946, he was in the Soviet Army as a medical assistant; when he returned to Kyiv he recommenced his musical studies, graduating from the Kyiv Conservatory in 1951 in the class of Boris Lyatoshinsky.[3] He had joined the Union of Soviet Composers in 1948, and at his graduation played his own Concert-Ballade for piano and orchestra.[4]
His popular song Kyieve Mii (My Kyiv) - then regarded as the "unofficial anthem of the Ukrainian capital"[5] - became the city's official anthem in 2014,[6] and is cited on his memorial on the building where he lived (see picture). His other works include three symphonies, and an opera Yatranskiye Igri, which is unusually scored for a cappella choir and soloists.[7]
Selected filmography
[edit]- Maksimka (1953)
- Malva (1957)
- E.A. — Extraordinary Accident (1958)
- Far from the Motherland (1960)
- Flower on the Stone (1962)
References
[edit]Notes
- ^ Лауреати Національної премії [National Award Winners]. Committee for the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 13 June 2025.
- ^ Nevichana (n.d.).
- ^ Shurova (n.d.)
- ^ "Biography" in Igor Shamo website, accessed 21 May 2014.
- ^ Polishchuk, Tetiana, "Classics to the masses!", (29 May 2013) in website of Den newspaper, accessed 21 May 2014.
- ^ The Kyiv council approved the Kyiv's anthem (Київрада затвердила гімн Києва). Ukrayinska Pravda. 13 November 2014
- ^ Shurova (n.d.).
Sources
- Nevichana, Tamara (n.d.). "Shamo, Ihor Naumovich" (in Ukrainian), on website of National Union of Ukrainian Composers, accessed 21 May 2014.
- Shurova, Nina (n.d.). "Shamo, Ihor", in Oxford Music Online (subscription required), accessed 21 May 2014.
