But there was the time when 23-year-old composer tested himself for this genre for the first time. During the graduation concert in composer’s faculty the listeners were waiting impatiently for Igor Shamo’s ‘Kontsert-Ballada’ (‘Concert-Ballade’) in the author’s performance. This work determined the further way of Igor Shamo as a symphonist. The composer travelled much around the country, met with working people, students, scientists and builders. He was in the thick of the things, and it gave him materials for creative research. In 50-60s ‘Festivalnaya suita’ (‘Festival suite’), ‘Moldavskaya poema-rapsodiya’ (‘Moldavian poem-rhapsody’), ‘Teatralny kaleydoskop’ (‘Theatre kaleidoscope’) and the others works appeared. In 1964 the Symphony No. 1 was written. It summed up the new period of composer’s activity and marked the beginning of a new period. His Symphony No. 3 for string orchestra (in memory of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War) became logic continuation and the highest point of Igor Shamo’s ‘symphonic’ research. It is that work which concentrated the best and the most typical features of Shamo as a symphonist, a painter and just a man.
Unlike the first works of the author - ‘Kontsert-Ballada’ (‘Concert-Ballade’) – the next compositions were bright and unique: Concert for flute and string orchestra, Concert for bayan and string orchestra.

The composer’s address to chamber is not accidental. He thought:

« I want to express the idea in more complicated conditions. They say that everything sounds in big orchestra. I want everything to sound in small one. The more honorable and interesting the creative task is. »

Concert for flute	Symphony № 3

SYMPHONIC MUSIC

1951	Concert-Ballade for piano and orchestra	Manuscript
1954	Festival Suite	Score. K., 1963
1956	Moldavian poem-rhapsody ‘Fluerash’.	Score. N., 1961
1963	Symphonic picture	Manuscript
1964	Symphony No. 1 for string orchestra	Score. M., 1969
1967	‘Simfonietta-concert’ for chamber orchestra	Score. M., 1972
1967	Overture ‘Komsomolia’	Score. K., 1970
1968	‘Chamber suite’	Score. K., 1973
1969	‘Theatre kaleidoscope’ , suite for chamber orchestra	Score. M., 1976
1971	‘Evening music’	Score. K., 1978
1972	‘Suite-variations’	Manuscript
1975	Symphony No. 23 ‘In memory of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War’	Score. K., 1978
1975	‘Morning music’	Manuscript
1977	Concert for flute and string orchestra	Score. K., 1980
1981	Concert for bayan and string orchestra	Manuscript

VOCAL-SYMPHONIC COMPOSITIONS

1948	Cantata ‘Duma o trekh vetrakh’ (‘Thought on the three winds’) on a poem of P. Tychyna	Manuscript
1961	Cantata ‘Poet Ukraina’ (‘Ukraine sings’) on a poem of D. Lutsenko	К., 1961
1980	Cantata-oratorio ‘Lenin’ on a poem of V. Mayakovsky	Manuscript
1981	Cantata ‘V kazhdom serdtse golos Rodiny’ (‘Fatherland’s voice in every heart’) on a poem of A. Demidenko	Manuscript
1981	Cantata ‘Vesna Rodiny’ (‘Fatherland’s Spring’) on a poem of A. Demidenko	Manuscript
1982	Oratorio ‘Smorokshyny’ on a poem of V. Kurpisky	Manuscript

 

CHAMBER INSTRUMENTAL COMPOSITIONS

Piano was an old friend, dear and usual instrument for Igor. He wrote original, fascinating compositions with bright characters, but popular and easy at the same time, which can be reached only by high creative perfection and irreproachable knowledge of piano. It is therefore, probably, he is one of the most popular Ukrainian composers. We know his ‘Kartiny russkih zhyvopistsev’ (‘The pictures of Russian painters’), ‘Preludes’, and later – his ‘Tarasovi dumy’ (‘Taras’s thoughts’) and ‘Gutsulsky_akvareli’ (‘Gutsul water-colors’) from childhood up.
In 1981 Igor Shamo wrote piano cycle on romantic fairy tale of Arkady Gaydar ‘Malchish-Kibalchish’. Later, a composer’s nephew, Honoured Worker of Ukraine, pianist Vladimir Shamo, made an archival recording on Ukrainian radio. His pieces have a unique feature – they develop creative thinking and their artistic world is inexhaustible rich. First of all, one should stress an important role of melodious origin and strongly pronounced folklore in his works.

1946	‘Prelude’, ‘Humoresque’ for piano	К., 1955
1947	Piano trio, ‘Two toccatas’, ‘Variation-fantasy’ .	Manuscript
1948	‘Ukrainian suite’ for piano.	M1., 1951.
1949	‘Five miniatures’ for piano	Manuscript
1950	Sonata for violin and piano.	Manuscript
1954	‘The friend’s songs’. Piano suite.	К., 1954
1955- -1962	Four string quartets:
	Quartet No. 1 ‘Ukrainian quartet’	К., 1958
	Quartet No. 2 ‘Friendship’	М., 1958
	Quartet No. 3	Manuscript
	Quartet No. 4	Manuscript
1958	Piano quintet ‘Classic suite’ for piano.	М., 1958
1959	‘The pictures of Russian painters’. Piano suite.	К., 1973
1960	‘Tarasovi dumy’ (‘Taras’s thoughts’). Piano suite .	К., 1965
1961	‘Ukrainian quartet’ for wooden wind instruments.	К., 1961
1962	’12 preludes’ for piano.	К., 1964
1972	‘Gutsulsky akvareli’ (‘Gutsul water-colors’). Piano suite.	К., 1972
1973	‘Dance suite’ for piano.	К., 1974
1977	10 concert pieces for pandora.	К., 1979
1980	‘Bulgarian quartet’ (No. 5) .	Manuscript
1981	‘Malchish-Kibalchish’. Piano cycle .	Manuscript
1981	‘Meridian’ (seven pieces for string quartet) .	Manuscript

SONGS

Igor Shamo was generously endowed by nature. But the most precious thing in his talent wass his uncommon gift of a song-writer. Because a song arises in the heart.
Let’s start with some facts. In 1964 in Kiev a festival of amateur art was held. Jury marked that 28 collectives from 31 performed Igor Shamo’s songs. The same year the composer was awarded the status of Honoured worker of arts of Ukraine. In 1970 Igor Shamo together with B. Aleksandrov, V. Soloviev-Sedoy, V. Muradeli and S. Tulikov were awarded the newly instituted Aleksandrov medal for creation of highly artistic songs on the subject of war and patriotism. In 1972 Shamo won the Ostrovsky Republican Komsomol prize for his cycle called ‘Strana Komsomolia’ (‘Country Komsomolia’). In 1975 he became the laureate of the T.G. Shevchenko State prize. His songs were appreciated again. In sum, Igor Shamo wrote more than 300 songs, many of which became the masterpieces. Legendary ‘Kyeve_miy’ (‘My Kiev’) written on the words of D. Lutsenko performed by Y. Guliaev is among them. The song was written in 1961, but it is musical symbol of Kiev, its visiting card up to now. It can be heard on the city central square. It is radio calling signal. It is beloved by more than one generation of Kievers and it is known outside Ukraine.
A song ‘Tovarysh Pisnya’ (‘Friend Song’) on the words of R. Rozhdestvensky has bright life also. Many songs written by Igor Shamo are thought to be folk ones (‘Oy, verbychenko’ (‘Oh, willow’), ‘Zacharovana Desna’ (‘Enchanted Desna’), ‘Ne_shumy,_kalynonko’ (‘Do not rustle, snowball tree’)). People know and love them.

Here is a fragment from a letter: «... Your songs are not the ‘butterflies’ of fashion. They are deep and eternal».

The composer was lucky to work with many famous poets and song-writers, such as D. Lutsenko, V. Kurinsky, I. Lazarekvsky,
L. Smirnov, Y. Rybchinsky and the others.

Y. Guliaev and I. Shamo at the piano.	«My Kiev» on the words of D. Lutsenko performed by Y. Guliaev.

 

CHAMBER VOCAL WORKS

1950	‘Medotsvety’. Vocal cycle on a poem of A. Malyshko.	К., 1972
1958	‘Love’. Vocal cycle on a poem of R. Burns.	К., 1969
1959	10 romances on a poem of T. Shevhenko.	К., 1961
1960	‘Poems about Lenin’. Cycle of romances on a poem R. Rzyyu	К., 1960
1966-1967	‘10 ballads about love’ on a poem of A. Slesarenko .	К., 1974

 

CHORUSES WITHOUT ACCOMPANIMENT

1958	Four choruses on a poem of I. Franko	М., 1958
1964	‘Carpathian suite’.	К., 1964
1980	10 choruses A Capella on a poem of the Ukrainian poets	Manuscript

 

SONGS (CYCLES AND COLLECTIONS)

1950- -1982	‘Selected songs’ .	К., 1966
	‘Strana Komsomolia’ (‘Country Komsomolia’) .	К., 1967
	‘Pesni rodnogo kraya’ (‘The songs of dear land’) (‘Barvynky’ (‘Periwinkles’ )) for popular chorus.	К., 1967
	‘Songs about youth, friendship and love’ .	К., 1970
	‘Lyrical songs’ .	М., 1973
	‘Rovesnik’ (‘Coeval’) .	М., 1975
	‘The songs from the films’.	К., 1976
	‘Tovarysh pisnya’ (‘Friend Song’) .	К., 1974
	‘Komsomolskoe serdtse’ (‘Komsomol heart’) .	Manuscript
	‘Pesni plamennykh let’ (‘The songs of burning years’).	Manuscript
	‘Nezabutnye’ (‘Unforgettable’).	К., 1978
	‘Pershoprohodtsy’ (‘Trailblazers’) .	Manuscript

 

MUSIC in FILMS

Igor Shamo’s music for the films is various and fascinating. From 1951 to 1981 the composer took part in creation of 43 films. Characteristic feature of composer’s creative work in cinema is predominance of song and leitmotif principle. A lot of songs began their own life from the films. The most cult songs are ‘Matros Chizhyk’ (‘Chizhyk the Sailor’) (director: V. Braun), ‘Ty svity, moya zorya’ (‘Burn, my star’) (director: A. Slesarenko), ‘Chrezvychaynoe proisschestvie’ (‘Extraordinary event’) (director: V. Ivchenko), ‘Daleko vid Batkivschyny’ (‘Far from the Fatherland’) (director: L. Shvachko), ‘Vid Bugu do Visly’ (‘From Bug to Visla’) (director: T. Levchuk). But ‘Tovarysh_pesnya’ (‘Friend Song’) from film ‘Kak zakalyalas stal’ (‘How the steel was tempered’) (director: N. Maschenko) enjoyed the widest popularity. It should be mentioned that in 1954 a well-known director Sergey Paradzhanov started shooting his first independent film called ‘Andriesh’. Igor Shamo created music to the film. In 1976 the composer was admitted into the Cinematographers’ Union of Ukraine.

MUSIC TO FEATURE FILMS

1952	‘Maksimka’ .	The A. Dovzhenko Kiev Film Studio.
1954	‘Andriesh’, ‘Komandir korablya’ (‘A captain’).
1955	‘Matros Chizhyk’ (‘Chizhyk the Sailor’).
1956	‘More zovet’ (‘The sea is calling’), ‘Malva’ (‘Mallow’) .
1957	‘Ty svity, moya zorya’ (‘Burn, my star’) .
1958	‘Chrezvychaynoe proisschestvie’ (‘Extraordinary event’).
1960	‘Daleko vid Batkivschyny’ (‘Far from the Fatherland’).
1961	‘Lesnaya pesnya’ (‘Forest song’).
1962	‘Tsvetok na kamne’ (‘A flower on a stone’).
1963	‘Bukhta ‘Elena’’ (‘Bay ‘Helen’’).
1966	‘Ikh znali tolko v litso’ (‘They know them by sight only’) .
1967	‘Zapadnya’ (‘A trap’).
1969	‘Poznay sebya’ (‘Know yourself’).	Studio ‘Ukrtelefilm’ .
1971	‘Noch pered rassvetom’ (‘A night before the dawn’) (6 series).
1972	‘Cherny kapitan’ (‘Black captain’).	The A. Dovzhenko Kiev Film Studio.
1973	‘Kak zakalyalas stal’ (‘How the steel was tempered’) (6 series).
1977	‘Tachanka s yuga’ (‘A cart from the South’).
1979	‘Karpaty-Karpaty’ (‘Carpathian Mountains-Carpathian Mountains’) (2 series).
7980	‘Vid Bugu do Visly’ (‘From Bug to Visla’) (2 series).
7981	‘Tankodrom’ (‘Tank training area’).

 

MUSIC TO THEATRE PERFORMANCES

Being the student of the conservatory, Igor Shamo was invited to create music to Olga Kobylanska’s performance ‘V voskresenye rano zelye kopala’ (‘Early on Sunday I dug up a herb’) in Chernovitsky Musical and Drama theatre. Since then he created more than 21 musical compositions to dramatic performances. The composer worked actively with such creative collectives as the I. Franko Kiev Academic Ukrainian Drama theatre and the Lesya Ukrainka Kiev Academic Russian Drama theatre.
Igor Shamo was lucky to work with well-known dramatists like A. Korneychuk, A. Kolomiets, N. Zarudny. He wrote music for the performances on the plays of P. Karpenko-Kary ‘Bestalannaya’ (‘Ill-starred’), W. Shakespeare ‘Macbeth’, C. Gualdoni ‘Marriage of convenience’ and many others. The composer continued his tradition – he used song material through the outline of a performance, strengthening dramatic and comic effect. Such songs as ‘Kamen_solntsa’ (‘The sun stone’) and especially ‘Osennee zoloto’ (‘Autumn gold’) were written for the performances, and then they began their own life.

1947- -1979	O. Kobylanska ‘V voskresenye rano zelye kopala’ (‘Early on Sunday I dug up a herb’)	The O. Kobylanska Chernovitsky Musical and Drama theatre.
	A. Safronov ‘Kariera Beketova’ (‘Beletov’s career’)	The I. Franko Kiev academic Ukrainian Drama Theatre.
	P. Karpenko-Kary ‘Bestalannaya’ (‘Ill-starred’)
	A. Kolomiets ‘Gorlitsa’ (‘A turtle-dove’), ’Planeta Speranta’ (‘Sperant’s Planet’), ‘Pervyy grekh’ (‘Original sin’), ‘Golubye oleni’ (‘Blue deer’), ‘Kravtsov’
	A. Korneychuk ‘Stranitsa dnevnika’ (‘A page from the diary’), ‘Pravda’ (‘The truth’)
	V. Zarudny ‘Pora zheltykh listiev’ (‘Time of golden leaves’), ‘Tyl’ (‘Rear’)
	W. Shakespeare ‘Macbeth’	the Lesya Ukrainka Kiev Academic Russian Drama Theatre.
	C. Gualdoni ‘Marriage by contest’
	B. Lavrenev ‘Razlom’ (‘A break’)
	V. Panova ‘Vstrechi pozdnie, vstrechi rannie’ (‘Late meetings, early meetings’)

Igor Shamo’s writing table in his room had never knew accurate and cold emptiness. Till the last days the composer had creative energy and worked hard. Music was his lifework and it can be heard nowadays, brightening and giving hope.