Name Aleksander Gurilyov | Role Composer | |
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Died August 30, 1858, Moscow, Russia Similar People Alexander Egorovich Varlamov, Alexander Alyabyev, Alexander Dargomyzhsky, Alexey Verstovsky, Mikhail Glinka | ||
Cœur - Romance (Aleksander Gurilyov
Aleksander L'vovich Gurilyov (Russian:Александр Львович Гурилёв) (3 September [O.S. 22 August] 1803 – 11 September [O.S. 30 August] 1858) was a composer, pianist and music teacher who largely enriched the traditional romantic Russian repertoire through his solid technical accomplishments. He composed well over two hundred musical pieces imbued with romantic, sentimental moods and subtle lyricism which enjoyed great success in Russia. His numerous morceaux in his dramatic declamatory style, pre-date the creative works of Dargomyzhsky, Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky.
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Biography
The young Aleksander was raised in the rich musical environment of Count Vladimir Orlov's country estate Otrada, near Moscow. He was taught violin by his father, Lev Gurilyov, a serf musician and kapellmeister in the orchestra of the Orlovs. Together with his children, he took lessons in piano playing from Russian-based pianist of Irish origin John Field and later studied music theory under the guidance of Iosif Genishta.
In 1831 he was freed after the death of his father's owner and moved to Moscow, where he soon became known as a composer of folk music, pianist and teacher. Having become acquainted with the representatives of the Moscow intelligentsia - artists and writers, Gurilyov wrote songs based on poems by Grekov, Aleksey Koltsov, Makarova, and rapidly acquired popularity. Some of his compositinons were published by well-known publishers in music magazines. Of great importance for him was his friendship with the composer Alexander Egorovich Varlamov, the warmth from whom in many ways brightened up his lonely life. Despite the success of his works, Gurilyov spent most of his life in poverty, earning his life as a private teacher and correcting musical notes. In his last years he was paralyzed and suffered from mental illness, which eventually became the cause of his death in Moscow in 1858.
Musical works
Alexander Gurilev was a popular composer of Russian vocal music very popular in the 1820s and 1830s. He wrote over 200 pieces, of which 50 are either folk pieces or were written in this style. Many of them are sung by the Don Cossack Choir and other renowned vocal companies.