The Hunt for the Original Version

The recent discovery of previously unknown pages from the original manuscript of Liatoshynsky’s 3rd Symphony has transformed the understanding of its performance practice since its initial composition in 1951. Analysis of these pages revealed comparative and textural similarities, confirming their connection to the score of the symphony's third movement. This breakthrough necessitates a reevaluation of the differences between the symphony's original 1951 edition and its revised 1955 version. Traditionally, it was believed that the only significant revision pertained to the contentious fourth movement, titled "Peace Shall Defeat War." However, archival research—including manuscripts from the Central State Archive-Museum of Literature and Arts of Ukraine, the Archive of the Cabinet-Museum of Liatoshynsky, and his epistolary heritage—suggests that substantial changes were made not only to the fourth movement but also to the second and third movements. These alterations profoundly impact the composition's character and reveal the extent of censorship in the USSR that influenced the composer’s work.

“During this summer, which passed so quickly, I still managed to finish my ill-fated Third Symphony. I almost did not touch the first part, made some reductions in the second, replaced the trio in the third (Scherzo), and completely reworked the finale, so that no more than a quarter of the old score remained.”

-Liatoshynsky

Only after Ukraine gained its independence on August 24th 1991, was it possible for musicologists and historians to begin their understanding and actively search for the original version of the composition. It was only after 1991, when the realization of changes in all movements were discovered triggering the initial hunt.

  • Hanna Zeleniuk

    Transcriber/ Restorer

    Hanna Zeleniuk is a Ukrainian choir conductor, arranger, and transcriber. She graduated from the Odesa National Music Academy. Together with her husband, she created the digital version of Liatoshynsky’s Third Symphony based on the original manuscripts. Hanna is passionate about preserving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage and sharing it with the world.

  • Hlib Fareniuk, PhD Student

    Head of Restoration Project

    Hlib Fareniuk is a Ukrainian composer and music theorist. Born in 2000 in Odesa, he graduated from the Stoliarsky School and studied composition under Yevhen Stankovych in Kyiv, earning his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in 2021 and 2023 at the National Music Academy of Ukraine. Now he is a PhD student at the Music Theory Department (National Music Academy of Ukraine; scientific advisor — Iryna Tukova).

    In 2023, he founded the ensemble Piano Symphonies, dedicated to performing Borys Liatoshynsky’s symphonies in modern transcriptions for two pianos. So far, the Second, Third, and Fifth symphonies have been presented across Ukraine.

    Hlib was a scholar of Victor Pinchuk Foundation (2022) and the President of Ukraine scholarships twice (2023, 2025).

    In 2024, with support from a Presidential Grant, he reconstructed the first edition of Liatoshynsky’s Third Symphony for two pianos and toured eight cities with this project.
    He collaborates with the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, the Lviv National Philharmonic, and the National House of Music.

  • Petro Zeleniuk

    Transcriber/ Restorer

    Petro Zeleniuk is a Ukrainian arranger, bayanist, and transcriber. He graduated from the Odesa National Music Academy. Together with his wife, he created the digital version of Liatoshynsky’s Third Symphony based on the original manuscripts. Petro values this chance to support an important cultural restoration and to highlight the creativity of Ukraine on the international stage.

A Message To Our Transcribers.

With unwavering passion and resilience, even as Russian missiles thundered overhead, Hlib, Hanna, and Petro poured their hearts into reviving the powerful voice of Borys Liatoshynsky. In their hands, his music lives again—not as mere reproduction, but as a fierce act of cultural defiance and national pride. Though no one but the composer can write the original, these artists have given Ukraine something equally vital: a voice reclaimed, a soul reborn in sound. Their labor is a tribute to the unbreakable spirit of a people—echoing the hopes of generations past and the dreams of those yet to come.

Project Symphony 25 is deeply grateful for their extraordinary work and proud to present the world premiere of this monumental symphony at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, Minnesota, under the baton of conductor Nickolai Podvin, this August 31, 2025. This is more than music—it is Ukraine, triumphant.