Baron Boris Alexandrovich Fitinhoff-Schell (russian: Борис Александрович Фитингоф-Шель, tr. ) (1829? in

Morshansk Morshansk (russian: Морша́нск) is a town in Tambov Oblast, Russia, located on the Tsna River (Oka's basin) north of Tambov. Population: 44,000 (1970). History The exact origins of Morshansk are unknown; however, documents mention ...

– in St. Petersburg, Russia) was a Russian composer of Baltic German descent.

Biography

Fitinhoff-Schell was born to Baltic German noble Baron Alexander Otto von Vietinghoff genannt Scheel and Yelisevet Pavlovna Yazykova. The Vietinghoff family, was considered part of the Uradel (or old nobility), the family was of

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

n origin, originating in

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

. The Baltic branch had moved to the Baltics since the 14th Century. Even though Boris’ father was a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

, he was baptised an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

, because his mother was a Russian. Fitinhoff-Schell was trained at the Moscow Conservatory under Field and Henselt, and was a classmate of Tchaikovsky's. His most noted work are the ballets ''

The Haarlem Tulip ''La Tulipe de Haarlem'' (ru: Гарлемский тюльпан) is a fantastic ballet in three acts and four scenes, with choreography by Lev Ivanov and music by Baron Boris Fitinhoff-Schell, first presented by the Imperial Ballet on at the ...

'' (1887) and '' Cinderella'' (1893), composed for the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg. He also scored four operas for the St. Petersburg Imperial Opera, which were commissioned by Ivan Vsevolozhsky, director of the Imperial Theatres.Opera Glass
/ref> His ''Wedding March'', scored especially for the wedding of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna is still occasionally heard. Fitinhoff-Schell is also noted for his ''Fantastic Overture'' to his opera '' Mazeppa'' (1859, libretto by Prince Grigory Kugushev), in which whole-tone scales were profusely employed.

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

greatly appreciated this piece, describing its effect as ''" ... terrifying to all long and protruding ears."'' Liszt himself made use of the whole-tone scale in his ''Divina Commedia'', illustrating the Inferno, and he used it systematically in his posthumously published organ and late piano pieces.

Works

Operas

*''Mazeppa'' (1859) *''Tamara'' (1886) *''Don Juan de Tenorio'' (1888) *''Mary Stuart'' (never performed) *''Heliodora'' (never performed)

Ballets

*''

'' (1885) *'' Cinderella'' (1893)

References

1829 births 1901 deaths Russian ballet composers Russian male classical composers Russian opera composers Male opera composers 19th-century male musicians Barons of the Russian Empire Baltic nobility {{russia-composer-stub