The Peace Prayer (PDF)

Item details

• Description +

  • “The Peace Prayer is a very personal and intimate composition and, at the same time, with a common to all mankind message. In a way, similar to that of John Lennon’s “Imagine” but in the instrumental piano song format. When the active phase of Ukraine’s war and Russian invasion broke out, I was totally devastated. I was seeking inspiration where it could not potentially be found. I felt a sudden surge of empathy and emotions for all suffering people - who I knew in person and who I didn’t even know. The result is here with us now and I believe it is strong enough to convey my feelings.”
    
    Oleg Polyanskiy

• Instrumentation +

  • Piano

• Watch+

  • Performance by Oleg Polyanskiy
    
    

• About the composer +

  • Polyanskiy, Oleg (b. 15 April 1980, Kharkiv, Ukraine) - Ukrainian classical / jazz / progressive rock pianist, keyboardist, composer, vocalist, and teacher. A versatile and eclectic player, he was described as "a classical virtuoso who is equally at home in improvising music of any genre; most especially, in classical, jazz, fusion and progressive rock" (Larry A. Russell, the CEO of Eroica Classical Recordings). Oleg often cites Vladimir Horowitz, John Ogdon, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Art Tatum, Ahmad Jamal, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Michel Camilo, Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman and Jordan Rudess as some of his primary influences in the piano and keyboard world.
    
    Polyanskiy was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine and started taking private piano lessons seriously pretty late, at the age of 13 (his first and unsuccessful attempt to learn music instrument was with violin). Later he studied music in the college and then in the music university of Kharkiv with the majors in both classical and jazz piano performance, under Galina Sladkovskaya (a renowned classical teacher who moved to Kharkiv from Saint-Petersburg and later settled down in Germany) and the leading jazz pianist in Kharkiv Sergei Davydov. After Oleg’s graduation with master’s degree and distinctions, he worked in a music university and went on to win awards in several international competitions and festivals. One of them was DoJ (Donetsk Jazz, 2001) - the first international jazz competition in post-Soviet space (Donetsk, Ukraine), where Oleg’s jazz-fusion band Jungle Snow received the 3rd Prize and Oleg had also gotten the Special Prize of Jury as a pianist.
    
    Later on, Polyanskiy has performed around the world in countries such as Ukraine, Belarus, France, Turkey, USA, Qatar, UAE, Thailand, China, and has had the privilege of sharing the stage with many renowned musicians such as Ray Coussins (Frank Sinatra’s former pianist); Tempei Nakamura (acclaimed Japanese pianist-composer); leading Ukrainian progressive rock bands Sunchild and Karfagen; Ray Brown Jr. (the famous jazz vocalist, son of Ray Brown and Ella Fitzgerald); trumpeter Dominick Farinacci; and Qatar-based multi-national bands such as Doha Jazz and The Awakenings Ensemble. He also recorded albums with the latter 2 bands. From 2012 to 2015 Oleg taught at piano faculty of Qatar Music Academy (Doha, Qatar).
    
    The idea of “music without limits” has become Oleg's artistic credo. With his highly diverse piano repertoire and original compositions, Oleg combines classical music (remaining his strong background), jazz, fusion, progressive rock and new age. Oleg’s first piano solo album From Bloom to Gloom and Back to Front was released in 2008 by the American label Eroica Classical Recordings. The material for the album consisted of mostly original Oleg’s compositions mixed with the homages to some of his music heroes such as Keith Emerson and Frank Zappa as well as the rendition of the challenging Sergei Prokofiev’s Toccata Op. 11. Oleg’s second album, the cutting-edge progressive metal/fusion Visions Project, was released by Musea Records (France) in 2013. The latest 3rd album by Polyanskiy is a classical piano CD focused on Romantic sound and repertoire. In 2019, Oleg won the international «Creativity on Piano» competition in Spain with his composition One Burning Night in Sharm-el-Sheikh. Since November 2019 Oleg currently resides and teaches piano and music in China.
    
    In June 2022, the song Ding Dong Jester written by Polyanskiy together with Terry Heimat won 3 prizes at Paris Film Awards, Munich Short Film competition (Best Music Video) and an honorable mention at Venice Short Film Festival. This is the bonus track for the forthcoming release The Power of Nature in China - the cycle of songs written by Oleg Polyanskiy on the lyrics of ancient Chinese poems.

• Credits +

  • Front Cover graphics and layout: Nicola Lee
    Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
    Copyright © Edition SVITZER
    www.editionsvitzer.com
    ℗2023 Svitzer Music
    
    

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