Statement of the problem.The article is devoted to the performance analysis ofthe suite for solo cello “Seven Simple Dawns” by Viktor Rekalo, which was created in 2022 as a significant artistic reflection of the current realities, memories, and experiences related to pre-war life and modern wartime. In this context, the work holds a crucial place in the modern Ukrainian cello repertoire as a document of its time, providing a new perspective on the genre and its expressive potential in the face of immense social and cultural challenges. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the article is to identify the genre-stylistic, dramaturgical, and technical features of the work, and to determine its place in the modern Ukrainian cello repertoire. The research methodology include genre and stylistic analysis, aimed at identifying the continuity of the instrumental suite tradition and its authorial modifications; structural-functional and semantic approaches, employed to reveal the dramaturgy and semantic interrelations between the movements of the work; and an interpretive method, which takes into account technical-performance aspects as well as the practical realization of the composition.The scientific novelty of the study lies in the first comprehensive scholarly examination of V. Rekalo’s suite within the context of the solo cello suite tradition and contemporary compositional and performance practices, with particular attention to the author’s interpretation. Research results.The solo cello suite “Seven Simple Dawns” by Viktor Rekalo constitutes a significant contribution to contemporary Ukrainian chamber-instrumental repertoire and exemplifies the rethinking of the suite genre in the context of the twenty-first century. The work combines late-Romantic expressiveness with modern compositional techniques—pointillism, aleatorics, sound imitation, and polystylistic devices—resulting in a complex dramaturgical and semantic structure. The performative analysis revealed that the interpretative concept of the suite is based on a balance between the composer’s individual intent and the genre-stylistic logic. The contrasts between movements are achieved not only through texture and tempo-dynamic means, but also through diverse stylistic-intonational models integrated into a unified artistic space. Of particular significance is the sound imitation of an air raid siren, which transforms the work into a cultural document of its epoch and foregrounds its semantic dimensions. Conclusion. The performance experience of the suite – in different interpretations and within interdisciplinary projects combining music and choreography – has confirmed both the flexibility of its content and its ability to integrate organically with other art forms. At the same time, the musical text requires from the performer not only high technical mastery but also the capacity to navigate diverse stylistic contexts and to synthesize them into a coherent interpretation, thereby shaping a personal polystylistic experience. In this sense, “Seven Simple Dawns” emerges not only as an individual artistic statement but also as a cultural artifact of contemporary Ukrainian art, uniting tradition and innovation while opening perspectives for further research in the field of performance analysis of modern chamber-instrumental music.
Karachevtsev et al. (Tue,) studied this question.