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 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 ...

) was a Russian composer of

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

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 (, German: "ancient nobility"; adjective or ) is a genealogical term introduced in late 18th-century Germany to distinguish those families whose noble rank can be traced to the 14th century or earlier. The word stands opposed to '' Briefadel'', ...

(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. The Baltic branch had moved to the

Baltics The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

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 Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

, 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-pa ...

, because his mother was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. Fitinhoff-Schell was trained at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

under Field and Henselt, and was a classmate of

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

's. His most noted work are the ballets '' The Haarlem Tulip'' (1887) and ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' (1893), composed for the

Imperial Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet (russian: Балет Мариинского театра) is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russ ...

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 Nicholas II of Russia, Tsar Nicholas II and Alexandra Fyodorovna (Alix of Hesse), Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna is still occasionally heard. Fitinhoff-Schell is also noted for his ''Fantastic Overture'' to his opera ''Mazeppa (1859 opera), Mazeppa'' (1859, libretto by Prince Grigory Kugushev), in which whole-tone scales were profusely employed. Franz Liszt 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

*'' The Haarlem Tulip'' (1885) *''

'' (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