Alexey Nikolayevich Verstovsky (russian: Алексéй Никола́евич Верстóвский) () was a Russian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

, musical bureaucrat and rival of

Mikhail Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka ( rus, link=no, Михаил Иванович Глинка, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka., mʲɪxɐˈil ɪˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈɡlʲinkə, Ru-Mikhail-Ivanovich-Glinka.ogg; ) was the first Russian composer to gain wide recogni ...

Biography

Alexey Verstovsky was born at Seliverstovo Estate,

Kozlovsky Uyezd Kozlovsky Uyezd (''Козловский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Tambov Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the western part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Kozlov (Michurinsk). Demographics ...

Tambov Governorate Tambov Governorate was an administrative unit of the Russian Empire, Russian Republic, and later the Russian SFSR, centred around the city of Tambov. The governorate was located between 51°14' and 55°6' north and between 38°9' and 43°38' east ...

. The grandson of General A. Seliverstov and a captured Turkish woman, he was also a descendant of the Polish

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in ...

(

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

). A civil engineer by training, he became interested in music while he was studying at the Corps of Engineers in

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. He also studied

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

musical theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (k ...

and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

. John Field was among his teachers. At the age of 20 he became famous for his 'opera-

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

' ''Grandmother's Parrots'' (1819). Excited by the success he continued to compose light music for this currently fashionable genre and composed more than 30 of them. He also created a series of

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s for voice and piano, which he called ''

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning o ...

s''. The performance of them had often involved a theatrical action. One of them ''The Black Shawl or Moldavian

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

'' (1823) a setting of

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

's poem, became immensely popular in the

aristocrats Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...

s. In 1825 he was appointed as an 'inspector of music' in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, in charge of the imperial theatres including the Maly and Bolshoi, controlling all the repertoire (from 1830) and chairing the board of directors (from 1848 until 1860). He turned to the genre of opera in 1828 and wrote six works. The romantic opera ''

Askold's Grave Askold's Grave ( uk, Аскольдова могила, translit=Askoldova Mohyla) is a historical park on the steep right bank of the Dnipro River in Kyiv between Mariinskyi Park and the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex. Overview The park was ...

'', written on a subject from Russian history, was the most successful of the six. It has been claimed that the music for ''Askold's Grave'' was polished up by

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards ...

, based on Verstovsky's ideas, for a fee that covered a gambling debt.Yuri Arbatsky, ''Studies in the History of Russian Music'', New York, 1956 (in Russian) pp. 231-2 First performed in 1835 (a year before

's ''

A Life for the Tsar ''A Life for the Tsar'' ( rus, "Жизнь за царя", italic=yes, Zhizn za tsarya ) is a "patriotic-heroic tragic opera" in four acts with an epilogue by Mikhail Glinka. During the Soviet era the opera was known under the name '' Ivan Susanin' ...

'') ''Askold's Grave'' received about 200 performances in St Petersburg and 400 in Moscow in its first 25 years. This was the first Russian opera performed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

(in 1869). In the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

era the opera was forgotten for decades, until it was revised in 1944 at the Moscow Theatre of Operetta under the title ''Украденная невеста'' (''Ukradennaya Nevesta'' – ''The Stolen Bride''), and then returned to the stage in 1959 after its performance in a new version at the

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

State Opera Theatre. However the "Epoch of Verstovsky" soon changed to the "Epoch of Glinka" and Verstovsky's operas fell into oblivion once more. He was a friend and correspondent with many famous writers, among them Alexander Pushkin,

Vasily Zhukovsky Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (russian: Василий Андреевич Жуковский, Vasiliy Andreyevich Zhukovskiy; – ) was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s and a leading figure in Russian literature in the first half of the 19t ...

, Aleksander Griboyedov,

Pyotr Vyazemsky Prince Pyotr Andreyevich Vyazemsky ( rus, Пëтр Андре́евич Вя́земский, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐnˈdrʲejɪvʲɪt͡ɕ ˈvʲæzʲɪmskʲɪj; 23 July 1792 – 22 November 1878) was a Russian Imperial poet, a leading personality of ...

Vladimir Odoevsky Prince Vladimir Fyodorovich Odoyevsky (russian: Влади́мир Фёдорович Одо́евский, p=ɐˈdojɪfskʲɪj; Владимир Федорович Одоевский. Библиографический указатель. Энц ...

, and Aleksander Pisarev. However he was not so popular among his colleagues. Glinka avoided mentioning him in his memoirs;

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

nicknamed him ''Gemoroy'' (

Haemorrhoid Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with stool control. They become a disease when swollen or inflamed; the unqualified term ''hem ...

) by association with the title of his opera ''Gromoboy''. He died in

in 1862, aged 63. His wife a famous Russian actress and singer Nadezhda Repina survived her husband for five years.

Works

* Operas ** '' Pan Tvardovsky'' (russian: Пан Твердовский, libretto by Mikhail Zagoskin, 1828); **''Vadim, or the wakening of the twelve sleeping maidens'' (''Вадим, или пробуждение двенадцати спящих дев – Vadim, ili probuzhdenie dvenadtsati spyashchikh dev'', after

, 1832) ** ''

'' (also: ''Askold's Tomb'', ''Аскольдова могила – Askol'dova mogila'', 1835) **''Longing for Home'' (Тоска по родине – Toska po rodine, 1839) **''Day Dream or The Chur Valley'' (''Сон наяву, или Чурова долина – Son nayavu, or Churova dolina'', 1844) **''Gromoboy'' (''Громобой'', after Zhukovsky, composed 1854, staged 1857) * Operas-vaudevilles (more than 30) including: **''The Sentimental Landlord in the Steppe’s Village'' (to the text translated from French by Verstovsky, 1817) **''Grandmother's Parrots'' (''Бабушкины попугаи – Babushkiny popugai'', to the text translated from French by N. I. Khmelnitsky, 1819) **''The Crazy House, or Strange Wedding'' (to the text translated from French by Verstovsky, 1822), **''Who is a Brother, Who is a Sister, or a Trick after a Trick'' (to the text written together with Aleksander Griboyedov, 1824) *Music to Dramatic Theatre *Cantatas including ''The Feast of

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

'' (after

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

) *Choruses *Songs, Romances and Ballads including famous ''The Black Shawl or Moldavian Song'' (to the poem by

) *Piano music, etc.

Music and sound sample

References

Bibliography

*Abraham G.: The Operas of Alexei Verstovsky, 19th Century Music, 7 (1983) no. 3, 326–335. *Dobrokhotov, B.: A.N. Verstovsky, Zhizn', Teatral'naya Deyatelnost', Opernoye Tvorchestvo, Moscow/Leningrad, 1949 *Keldysh, Yu. V.: Istoriya Russkoy Muzyki, 1948. Vol. 1, p. 345–368. *Levasheva O. E.: Istoriya Russkoy Muzyki ed. by N.V. Tumanina, 1957. Tom 1, p. 216–234. *Shcherbakova M.: Introduction to piano score of Askold's Grave, 1983. *Tvorcheskiye Portrety Kompozitorov (Reference book), Moscow, Muzyka, 1989 *''Verstovsky, Alexey Nikolayevich'' by Richard Taruskin, in 'The

New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992)

External links

classical composers databaseAskold's Grave, you can listen some tracks
and Gurilyov] {{DEFAULTSORT:Verstovsky, Alexey 1799 births 1862 deaths People from Staroyuryevsky District People from Kozlovsky Uyezd Russian people of Polish descent People from the Russian Empire of Turkish descent Composers from the Russian Empire Male opera composers Russian male classical composers Russian opera composers Russian Romantic composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century male musicians Imperial Moscow University alumni