Iwan Knorr’s Ukrainian Love Songs op. 5 for four voices and piano have the same flexible choral or one-per-part scoring as the Liebeslieder Waltzes Op. 65 by Johannes Brahms, to which they compare also in terms of compositional quality. Inspired by the Ukrainian Cossack tradition, Knorr’s cycle of nine settings combines lyrically romantic vocal writing with spirited virtuoso piano accompaniments.

The poems tell stories of impassioned love, heroic warriors and the anxious wait for their safe ...