Yevhen Stankovych is a pioneer in the rebirth of the neo-romantic style in the second half of the 20th century. At the beginning of the 1980s he developed his own musical system, which he calls polyphony of layers. Dictum forpiano and strings is among the works written in this manner, composed shortly following the Chernobyl disaster. It is regarded as the only composition which adequately expresses the tragedy.