Ihor Shamo is a Kyiv composer of broad range: he wrote symphonies, instrumental concertos, piano and chamber music, and film scores. A veteran of the Second World War, he combined professional mastery with a sincere melodic gift.
But nationwide love and immortality were brought to him by “Yak tebe ne lyubyty, Kyeve miy!” (to the words of Dmytro Lutsenko) — a lyrical song-declaration of love to the capital, which later officially became the anthem of the city of Kyiv. It sounds at every celebration and in the heart of every resident of Kyiv. Shamo was a master who could speak both in the complex language of the symphony and in the simple, heartfelt language of a song that sinks into the soul at first hearing. His work is a weighty part of 20th-century Ukrainian music.
