Ihor Naumovich Shamo (, , also romanized ''Igor''; 21 February 1925 – 17 August 1982) was a Ukrainian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Shevchenko National Prize Shevchenko National Prize (; also ''Shevchenko Award'') is the highest state prize of Ukraine for works of culture and arts awarded since 1961. It is named after the inspirer of Ukrainian national revival Taras Shevchenko. It is one of the five ...

laureate. Shamo was born in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

to a family of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

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.Nevichana (n.d.). From 1942 to 1946, he was in the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

as a medical assistant; when he returned to Kyiv he recommenced his musical studies, graduating from the

Kyiv Conservatory The Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music (), formerly Kyiv Conservatory, is a national music tertiary academy in Kyiv, Ukraine. Its courses include postgraduate education. History The Kyiv Conservatory was founded on 3 November 1913 at ...

in 1951 in the class of Boris Lyatoshinsky.Shurova (n.d.) He had joined the

Union of Soviet Composers The Union of Russian Composers (formerly the Union of Soviet Composers, Order of Lenin Union of Composers of USSR () (1932– ), and Union of Soviet Composers of the USSR) is a state-created organization for musicians and musicologists created in 1 ...

in 1948, and at his graduation played his own ''Concert-Ballade'' for piano and orchestra.Biography
i

accessed 21 May 2014. His popular song '' Kyieve Mii (My Kyiv)'' - then regarded as the "unofficial anthem of the Ukrainian capital" - became the city's official anthem in 2014, 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 Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

choir and soloists.Shurova (n.d.).

Selected filmography

* '' Maksimka'' (1953) * ''

Malva ''Malva'' is a genus of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae. It is one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the temp ...

'' (1957) * '' E.A. — Extraordinary Accident'' (1958) *'' Far from the Motherland'' (1960) * '' Flower on the Stone'' (1962)

References

Notes Sources * Nevichana, Tamara (n.d.).
Shamo, Ihor Naumovich
(in Ukrainian), o
website of National Union of Ukrainian Composers
accessed 21 May 2014. * Shurova, Nina (n.d.).
Shamo, Ihor
, in

Oxford Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...

, accessed 21 May 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shamo, Ihor 1925 births 1982 deaths Burials at Baikove Cemetery People from Kyiv Ukrainian songwriters Musicians from Kyiv Ukrainian opera composers Jewish opera composers Soviet opera composers Soviet military personnel of World War II 20th-century Ukrainian classical composers Kyiv Conservatory alumni