3.1. Evolution and influence of piano performance in Ukraine

The specificity of piano performance is formed in the context of such blocks as historical period, stylistic palette, national school, and the system of expressive means. Each of these elements has a leading role in the development of this branch of Ukrainian musical culture (Table 1).

Some spheres influence the nature of piano performance in Ukraine and its spread in the public sphere. These include pedagogy, aesthetics, cultural studies, religion, and society (Table 2).

This reveals the interaction and interpenetration of the leading elements of the movements and music (in particular pianism).

It should be noted that each epoch, national school, and stylistic movement demonstrated an individual, inherent spectrum of means of expression of piano playing, thus defining its specificity. The set of artistic and technical performance techniques under Classicism, and Romanticism, in the twentieth century, as well as in the present time, combined the practical achievements of previous generations of masters with the progressive approach to interpretation raised by artists from each of the above eras (Table 3).

M. Lysenko is one of the revolutionaries and the most prominent Ukrainian pianists who have gained fame in the world piano heritage. His innovative compositions, infused with Ukrainian folk elements and Cossack themes, garnered international attention and admiration. His influence extended beyond borders, as his piano works found a place in the Romantic repertoire across Europe, and composers like Debussy were inspired by his harmonisations and piano compositions. Notably, K. Szymanowski, a Polish composer, incorporated Lysenko’s Ukrainian idioms into his style, highlighting Lysenko’s far-reaching impact. Following Ukrainian independence in 1991, Lysenko’s legacy was rightfully restored, and his operas, such as Natalka Poltavka, were finally staged internationally, cementing his status as the founding figure of Ukrainian national music.

Current trends and innovations in performing and interpreting Ukrainian piano music are firmly embedded within the contemporary cultural context. As a result, they play a crucial role in preserving Ukraine’s vast musical heritage, spanning several centuries. Tradition plays a critical role in shaping modern piano pedagogy in Ukraine. Recent records exhibit historical compositions from the XVII-XIX centuries. They provide a glimpse into Ukrainian sentimentalism and romanticism. These records skillfully present the compositions through the piano. Ukrainian music intertwines elements from Western and Eastern musical traditions due to its unique geographical position at the crossroads of Asia and Europe. Fundamentally, current developments in Ukrainian piano music demonstrate a balanced amalgamation of convention, modernity, safeguarding culture, and creative inquiry.

The presentation of Ukrainian piano music plays a pivotal role in the preservation and promotion of Ukrainian culture and heritage by functioning as a potent vehicle for cultural expression and emotional resonance. Through the moving melodies and compositions grounded in Ukrainian traditions, it conveys the quintessence of the country’s history and folklore. This music enhances worldwide knowledge and esteem for Ukrainian culture, encouraging forthcoming generations of musicians and artists to sustain the heritage.

3.2. Piano performance in Ukraine in the context of different spheres of social life

In the process of shaping Ukraine’s pianistic academic tradition, areas on which piano performance has a direct influence, expanding their functions and modernising them have become evident. These are education, training in institutions of various levels, psychology, medicine, software (in constant search of the best way to evaluate interpretation and performance training) and the cultural progress of society. In this way, educational activities, through exposure to outstanding examples of piano performance, become effective, versatile, flexible, and dynamic, making it easier for the younger generation to learn the necessary system of skills to interact with society, through classical examples of its high academic culture.

In the field of education for children and young people, the acquisition of a knowledge base and the formation of a harmonious, well-rounded individual and society is more profound and meaningful, since music, by taking part in the sector mentioned, activates the integral spectrum of emotional perception of the environment, which by stimulating, intellectual activity, in turn, stimulates the human mind to make discoveries. For the development of psychology as a science, the art of sound has one of the leading meanings. Piano performance contributes to the voluminous disclosure of the nature of consciousness, as well as the subconscious of people, their response to the nature and content of the information contained in the interpreted works, hence the response to the diversity of environmental phenomena (^{Obukhova, 2019}) ⁽⁶⁾.

Medicine is also directly related to this field of creative activity. The effectiveness of certain therapies, the range of which has become richer and more diverse over time, is directly linked to the involvement of masterpieces of musical culture, in particular piano music, from different eras, styles, and imagery contexts in the field of healing and rehabilitation. Piano playing in Ukraine, as a sector of music production, is responsible for preserving traditions of previous epochs and, at the same time, is open to modernization, broadening themes and means of interpretation. It is a unique mechanism, that positively influences the spiritual and material activity of society through the organic synthesis of leading tendencies of different periods, styles, and creative directions, different in their inner meaning.

3.3. Stages in the formation of Ukrainian piano art: the development of a modern national pianism school and the specifics of interpretation

In Ukrainian musical culture, piano playing is considered a significant discipline that encompasses technical and stylistic accomplishments from various eras. It also shows the realization of the wide world fund of expressive means of interpretation, realized on the ground of rich historical traditions of the ethnos. The style of classicism, the palette of inherent methods of performance on the piano and characteristic means of expression were embodied in the works of D. Bortnianskyy (1751-1825), who composed a whole series of large-scale clavier songs (Figure 1).

Fig. 1 D. Bortnianskyy: Sonata for Clavier in C Major (¹⁷⁸⁴) (excerpt). Source: ⁽⁷⁾ . 

The performer is required to master fine finger technique and maintain a lively tempo when playing sixteenths. The system of attributes characteristic of the Romantic era is reflected in the music of M. Lysenko (1842-1912). The composer and virtuoso pianist, a classic of the Ukrainian school of composition, created works that embody the leading aspects of the highlighted trend - the programme idea (piano piece “Elegy” (1902)) (Figure 2).

The broad implementation of melody in all its diversity (from dramatic intensity to deep, gentle and fragile lyricism) and the concert performance style in the traditions of F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy, F. Chopin, F. Liszt, R. Schumann, J. Brahms (solo and ensemble), use of national folklore (“First Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes” (1908)) in brilliant improvisations, arrangements and transcriptions. One of the leading meanings for the achievement of a high level of interpretation of Lysenko’s compositions is free possession of the system of technical methods discovered by Chopin and Liszt which implies the relief display of a melody as a fundamental element of the composition, virtuoso performance of passages in octaves, expansion of timbre possibilities of the piano, employing the use of volumetric resources of its outer registers.

Fig. 2 M. Lysenko: “Elegy” for piano. Source: ⁽⁷⁾ . 

The same tendencies determined the creative personality of V.V. Pukhalskyy (1848-1933), who was recognised as the founder of the Kyiv school of piano. The images, expressive techniques and technical principles of performance formed in the epoch of Romanticism were realized in his piano works (Piano Concerto in D Minor (1924)). V. Barvinskyy (1888-1963), a pupil of the famous Czech composer V. Novák embodied in his music the unique melos of Ukraine in the context of stylistic atmosphere and traditions of neo-romanticism and impressionism. The spectrum of technical performing techniques, reflected in his works, echoes the concert version of interpretation, typical for E. Grieg, C. Debussy and M. Long. He has actively and fruitfully developed a foundation of the Ukrainian folk song “Dumka” (1926) (Figure 3).

Fig. 3 V. Barvinskyy “Dumka”. Source: ⁽⁷⁾ . 

L. Revutskyy (1889-1977) in his piano music “Concerto F-dur” (1934); “Sonata” (1912); “7 Preludes” (1924); “Transcriptions” (1934) and chamber instrumental music “Intermezzo for Violin and Piano” (1955); “Ballad for Cello and Piano” (1933) revealed the traditions of Romanticism and Impressionism by combining melodicism, which draws its sources from Ukrainian folk music, with colourful chords, using a brilliant concert style of interpretation. A similar trend is reflected in the compositions of V. Kosenko (1896-1938), who demonstrated unique musical abilities in his childhood years and studied under professors of the Warsaw Conservatory. He wrote a whole series of piano works (sonatas, etudes, preludes, poems, children’s pieces) and chamber ensemble (trio; sonata for cello and piano; sonata for violin and piano; sonata for viola and piano). The tradition of the monumental polyphonic cycle was revived in Ukrainian music of the first half of the twentieth century by V. Zaderatskyy (1891-1953), who made “24 Preludes and Fugues” (1937-1939).

The twentieth century was characterised by a variety of schools - the National Music Academy of Ukraine (in 1913, the Kyiv Conservatory), the Lviv National Musical Academy (1854) and the Odesa Conservatory (1913). It was at the then Kyiv Conservatory that he began to create B. Lyatoshinskyi (1895-1968), who embodied the era of modernism in Ukrainian art. He created the “Ukrainian Quintet” (1945), sonatas for piano, for violin and piano, trios No 1 and No 2, and the “Slavonic Concerto” (1953), where the tendencies of this style were revealed using the broad tonal system and complicated chords, the active use of dissonant harmonies, the rich polyphonic warehouse fabric combined with relief extended melody (Figure 4).

Fig. 4 B. Lyatoshynskyy: “Ukrainian Quintet” (excerpt). Source: ⁽⁷⁾ . 

Typical features of neo-romanticism and impressionism, a branch of the movement, were realized. The pianist must have a wide range of techniques and possibilities of the performing apparatus to convey the rich and complex chords, the rapid and wide-ranging passages of arpeggios with their small durations, and the extended cantilena of the composer’s theme. Special attention to national roots, to musical folklore, also characteristic of the period under consideration, was manifested in the piano music of composer, teacher, and pianist I. Berkovych (1902-1972). In the large-scale works (sonatinas, piano concertos), as well as works for children and youth, he tried to capture the most expressive intonation and rhythmic turns of Ukrainian folk music. He is close to the traditions of classicism, including the principles of performance peculiar to his era, but they are embodied in the context of the rich, colourful, and unique nature of Ukrainian folk music.

The tendencies of neo-folklore were realized in the piano works of M. Kolessa (1903-2006), who studied at the Prague Conservatory (composition, direction). Typical turns of Ukrainian folk melodies, among which the intonations inherent to the folklore of Western Ukraine play an essential role, are reflected in compositions different in a genre (Piano Quartet, two suites for piano: “Dribnychky” (1928), “Passacaglia, Scherzo and Fugue” (1929)). D. Zador (1912-1985), a brilliant graduate of the Prague Conservatory in piano, organ, and composition, revealed the versatility, colours and originality of the folklore of Western Ukraine in large-scale works (Piano and Orchestra Concerto (1965)) and a cycle of miniatures (piano pieces “Transcarpathian Sketches” (1974)). I. Shamo (1925-1982), a student of L. Revutskyy and B. Lyatoshynskyy, created piano works (“Hutsul Aquarelles” (1972)), plays) in which he used the refined style of impressionists, the most striking intonation, and rhythmic turns of Ukrainian folk songs (“Ukrainian Suite” (1948)), actively using large chord and fine finger techniques of interpretation.

The original style of Ukrainian piano music, combining the traditions of the Romantic era, the expanded tonality of the twentieth century (linear embodiment and colourful chords, including a wide palette of chromatisms, and dissonances), as well as elements of melodies and rhythms formed in the folklore of ethnicity, becomes one of the brightest trends of national Ukrainian culture of the second half of the twentieth - early twenty-first centuries. Among its leading representatives is M. Skoryk (1938-2020). The above-mentioned features of compositional writing are reflected in the piano transcription of his famous “Melody” (1982), in the “Aria” from “Partita No. 5” (1976), and in “Burlesque” (1968) (Figures 5-7).

Fig. 5 Melodic and harmonic layers of the piano part in “Melody” by M. Skoryk. Source: ⁽⁷⁾ . 

Fig. 6 M. Skoryk “Aria” from “Partita No. 5”. Source: ⁽⁷⁾ . 

Fig. 7 M. Skoryk “Burlesque”. Source: ⁽⁷⁾ . 

In “Melody” (1982), the use of seventh chords (including those responsible for transitions to a different key) makes the material sound particularly colourful. In the “Aria” (1976) there is an extended tonality that conveys the colourfulness and freshness of the melody, which also requires a fine finger technique and arpeggio technique. Modern Ukrainian composers are actively developing a piano repertoire designed for the creative development and realization of the young pianists’ performing apparatus. It is in this area are implemented different techniques of interpretation, as well as developing a comprehensive arsenal of techniques for piano playing: gamma and arpeggiated passages, embellishment and large finger technique, the flexibility of the wrist in the performance and brush coverage of wide melodic intervals and chords. The aspects noted are reflected in the works of M. Shukh (1952-2018). Figure 8 shows an excerpt from his piano piece “Town in a Snuffbox” (1969).

Fig. 8 M. Shukh: Piano piece “Town in a Snuffbox”. Source: ⁽⁷⁾ . 

Piano music is richly and originally represented in the works of such outstanding representatives of the modern Ukrainian academic composing school as V. Sylvestrov; I. Shcherbakov; O. Bezborodko; B. Froliak; M. Lastovetskyy. By generalizing the vast fund of music of the twentieth to twenty-first centuries, they have modernized centuries-old traditions of folklore, expanding the boundaries of artistic thought and concert-performance practice.

3.4. Piano art in Ukraine as a diverse, unified system

This research addresses a complex and extensive issue, examining the impact of historical developments on Ukrainian culture while shaping its present state and prospects. Figure 9 illustrates the leading components of the modern piano performance in Ukraine, constituting an integral spacious system.

Fig. 9 Elements of the Ukrainian pianistic system. Source: compiled by the authors. 

Concert pianism, as a leading aspect of pianism, encompasses the fusion of past achievements with contemporary innovations, allowing soloists and ensemble members to convey artistic ideas and images to the audience. The next - educational training aspect is based on familiarizing future stage performers with the skills of piano interpretation and their development to the necessary extent through training. The third aspect - the solo performance - represents the essence of the pianist’s profession, combining an indicator of technical skill, the preparedness of the performing apparatus for concert activities, the degree of realization of its potential and creative individuality. The fourth aspect, ensemble performance, showcases a high-performing culture through the interaction of artists within the creative group. It reflects technical preparedness, shared ideology, vision, and transmission of marked elements. The fifth aspect of integrating piano performance into the modern global space serves as a multifaceted platform. It encompasses preserving, expanding, modernizing, and popularizing Ukraine's high academic art traditions to enhance its cultural development. Additionally, it facilitates the expression of creative ideas and practical endeavours by contemporary pianists within the broader social context, providing a unique artistic embodiment. A key aspect of the embodiment process involves integrating performing activities with modern information and communication technologies. These technologies are adapted to aid in composition perception, performance instruction, assessment of playing quality, and style interpretation recognition.

When comparing and contrasting Ukrainian piano music with another national tradition, such as Polish, it is important to understand the unique characteristics of each tradition. Ukrainian piano music has a blend of Western and Eastern musical elements, as well as a strong indigenous Slavic and Christian influence. Ukrainian folk music is characterized by the use of minor modes or keys that incorporate augmented 2nd intervals, and Ukrainian choral music reached its peak in the 18th and early 19th centuries. On the other hand, Polish music has a rich history of classical music, with composers such as Frédéric Chopin and Henryk Wieniawski being some of the most well-known. Polish folk music is characterized by the use of the pentatonic scale, and Polish music also has a strong tradition of choral music (Table 4).

The specificity of Ukrainian piano art is based on a profound synthesis of the academic base of pianistic skill, acquiring different shades in certain historical periods, and the modernization of the principles of interpretation, mechanisms of performance design (solo as well as an ensemble), as a phenomenon of artistic culture. In addition, the presence of close interaction between the traditional practice of authentic sound and engineering is manifested here. The artificial intelligence system, in turn, acquires several essential functions in the process of preserving, expanding, and popularizing piano music and teaching its basics to people of different ages. The paramount value in this context, both historically and presently, remains the pianist's skill and the ability to convey the depth and expressiveness of the composer's ideas. It encompasses the interpretation of music, the richness of its ideas and imagery, the quality of the instrument, and the pianist's capacity to fully realize their potential. This potential encompasses a wide range of performance techniques that blend classical and romantic traditions with the broader trends of the 20th century, as well as innovative individual creative projects in contemporary piano music.

4.1. Pianistic art in the context of history and modernity from the perspective of scientific thought

The specificity of piano performance as a phenomenon of artistic culture has been investigated by scientists of different countries, periods, and spheres of activity. Their attention was drawn to such aspects as music pedagogy, social activities of composers and performers, the influence of ethnic roots on the character of piano art, modernization of the content of works under the influence of stylistic direction and era, the relationship of modern software and the process of interpretation, principles of implementation of the technical arsenal of pianists.

As such, O. ^{Spolska (2021}) ⁽⁸⁾ studied the significance of creative partnerships and communities of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in preparing the ground for the establishment of professional academic schools of piano excellence. It highlights the active social and creative attitudes and activities of composers, performers, and teachers represented by S. Lyudkevych, V. Barvinskyy, N. Nyzhankivskyy, contributing to the development of professional education and performing arts, the musical culture of Ukraine as a whole. The author’s coverage of the historical, cultural, social, and artistic sides of the large-scale problem of piano art, played a significant role in the process of its comprehensive disclosure in the study.

S. ^{Rafee et al. (2022}) ⁽⁹⁾ found that modern software can comprehend individual performance styles. The engineering equipment (in particular, the ATEPP dataset) considers such categories of interpretation as tempo, dynamics, synchronization of movement patterns, and principles of pedal operation. The artificial intelligence model reads the information contained in the sound music and summarizes the data it perceives. The materials of the noted study testify to the integration of piano performance into the modernized information and communication environment, which in this publication is considered one of the leading components of modern musical culture.

4.2. Psychology of music perception and the system of means of expression in modern research

Р. ^{Solomonick (2022}) ⁽¹⁰⁾ highlights the process of transformation of expressive means of piano performance, their expansion and modernization to convey universal problems, ideas, images and subjects more deeply. In particular, the specialist focuses on the fact that the outstanding representative of the Viennese classical school - L. van Beethoven changed the key aspects of the sonata form to achieve a unique dramatic narrative about the interaction of two opposing forces, which are inextricably linked and at the same time can come into open conflict with each other. The specific structure of large-scale works for piano and the establishment of a series of principles in their creation were also the guiding points of this study, which aims to present the performing arts as a unified multi-dimensional system.

An analysis of the performer perceptions (mainly among amateurs) during a performance proved to be the basis of a study by some scholars. The specialists were able to reveal the psychological aspect of the nature of the performer and the processes of interpretation. They found that the concentration of the performer’s attention on the external, surrounding environment allows for improving musical performance and should be considered in the practice of music teaching. This fact has become the basis of one of the links of the present study, which aims to show a holistic picture of the phenomenon of piano performance specificity.

Recently, the importance and necessity of monitoring the emotional state of young children learning the fundamentals of piano playing has been determined. In particular, the focus is on the success of educational programs in the field of musical performance during the school year (^{Nikulina, 2022}) ⁽¹¹⁾. This aspect contributes to enriching the panorama of the present study, as it touches upon such phenomena as a synthesis of musical art, pedagogy, and psychology (interdisciplinary principle of learning). N. ^{Kengerli-Najafova (2020}) ⁽¹²⁾ is a pianist who has devoted her work to articulation as one of the leading categories of the pianist’s art. The specialist reveals the content and role of the author’s (editorial) and performer’s versions of this component of interpretation, reveals possibilities of realization of the creative potential of the performer, due to the deep knowledge of the text of original composition and bringing in his manner of reading it, expressed in a unique interpretation. The study of articulation is of relevance to the study as this area of pianistic art defines its specificity as an artistic sound phenomenon.

The study of the phenomenon of the pianist’s performance appraisal is reflected in some studies. In particular, the criteria of the definition of a level of preparation of professional personnel of the given domain and skill of interpretation (quality of a sound, the approach to phrasing, techniques of work with a pedal) have received illumination, the individual differences of self-assessments became clear, the perception of the individual interpretation of a work in a context of the mass performance of performers was renewed. Thanks to the study of the nature and functions of the evaluative aspect in the context of contemporary culture, it has become possible to illustrate the panorama of the problem analysed in this article on a larger scale and more multifaceted basis.

The pianist’s movements and coordination while playing influence the sound quality directly through the way and nature of touching the keys of the piano. This, in turn, provides a range of sensory experiences for both performer and listener. This is one of the aspects of the specificity of piano performance that this publication explores. One of the key notions of pianistic culture, the expressiveness of performance, is studied. A. ^{Rumyantseva (2018}) ⁽¹³⁾ highlights its content, listing the leading categories of the mentioned phenomenon: tempo, meter and rhythm, melody and its characteristic intonation structure, dynamics and timbre, and touch and pedalization. Following the specialist, the presence and indissoluble unity of all the above-mentioned components in the interpretation provide an opportunity to fully reveal the composer’s intentions in the work and show the colourful and multi-faceted emotional palette of his characters. The above study has contributed to illuminating one aspect of piano performance as a large-scale, complex and at the same time, holistic system.

4.3. The problem of studying and shaping the performing apparatus

The question of optimising and strategically assigning a set of movements (hands, shoulders, trunk) in the training of future pianists is also raised. S. ^{Turner et al. (2022}) ⁽¹⁴⁾ draw attention to the need to comprehend several fundamental biomechanical and ergonomic principles that contribute to the effectiveness of piano training. This is one of the vectors of the modern performing arts, the research of which has helped to reveal the problem studied in this study comprehensively and extensively. The process of the universal academic professional style of a pianist allows one to develop, and implement oneself as a creator of high artistic art. The above-mentioned scientific and practical concept also proved to be fundamental to this study, as it highlighted aspects of one of the significant components of the specificity of piano performance.

Aspects of the piano performance methodology. The effectiveness of the combination of theoretical and practical methods of teaching in the process of mastering the profession of a performer, including piano. This aspect is very important for the proposed publication, as it highlights the progressive nature of the educational system of Ukraine. Some scholars focus on the search for methods of fruitful development of professional competencies of performing students (pianistic direction). This is essential for the present article, as it is directly connected with the quality of pedagogical activity in modern Ukraine.

А. ^{Telles (2022}) ⁽¹⁵⁾ offers an optimal (balanced) kind of piano technique for the present period. It combines principles characteristic of the interpretation of several previous centuries and a radical modern type of pianism, where forte dynamics, clusters and a set of movements that create considerable tension for the performer prevail. For the proposed study, the aspect noted is important in that it helps to illuminate the panorama of piano art in the globalised context of the twentieth to twenty-first centuries. The ability of next-generation neural networks to perceive and read polyphonic piano music and make its transcriptions is being studied by L. ^{Martak et al. (2022}) ⁽¹⁶⁾. This factor contributes to better disclosure of the relationship between such different spheres as artificial intelligence and the culture of interpretation.

The relationship between musical performance and psychology is reflected in scientific publications. I. ^{Franceschi and I. Ercegovac (2022}) ⁽¹⁷⁾ emphasize the role of personal qualities and students’ intrinsic motivation for learning in the context of the academic tradition. Some researchers pay special attention to the psychological state of the students and the coefficient of quality of preparation for classes. These phenomena are the basis for the present paper’s understanding of piano performance as a system based on a multitude of components, including those reflecting findings in the field of psychology.

The profile of a successful performer in the contemporary context is explored by D. ^{Iusca (2021}) ⁽¹⁸⁾. Following the specialist, such personality traits of a musician as androgyny, originality, independence, self-motivation, perseverance, sensitivity, high capacity for interpersonal communication, extraversion, need for attention and anxiety acquired in a single complex the leading importance for his formation and career development.

R. ^{Parncutt and G. McPherson (2002}) ⁽¹⁹⁾ focus on the development of a field called “musical psychology”. It is based on the search for new and modernized approaches to the acquisition of musical disciplines and the creation of compositions. Their conclusions are of value for the present study in terms of the integration of piano performance into the system of sciences, among which psychology occupies one of the key places. The questions of specificity of piano performance, concerning such an aspect as reading from the sheet by professional musicians and amateurs have been raised by K. ^{Imai-Matsumura and M. Mutou (2021}) ⁽²⁰⁾. The search for strategies to realise the creative potential of students, through a voluminous multifaceted complex of expressions and conveying emotions in the process of interpretation is considered by S. ^{Bonastre-Valles et al. (2020}) ⁽²¹⁾. These data represent an analysis of the fundamental components of music pedagogy, which becomes important for the study. Problems of management in the field of musical art, in the concert practice of pianists, are becoming more and more relevant at present. In the context of this research, the mentioned phenomenon appears as one of the aspects of music integration into the social sphere.

However, all the above studies were focused on one particular aspect of the topic researched in this publication. Its disclosure, as a comprehensive, complex, and holistic structure, embodying the progress of the cultural sphere in Ukraine, is still waiting to be discovered. This fact has defined the necessity for the study, which has been undertaken in this article.