Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky ( rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич Даргомыжский, Aleksandr Sergeyevich Dargomyzhskiy, ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪdʑ dərɡɐˈmɨʂskʲɪj, Ru-Aleksandr-Sergeevich-Dargomyzhsky.ogg; ) was a 19th-century Russian composer. He bridged the gap in Russian opera composition between

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

and the later generation of The Five and

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

Biography

Dargomyzhsky was born in village Troitskoye, Belyov uyezd,

Tula Governorate Tula Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR. The governate existed from 1796 to 1929; its seat was in the city of Tula. It was divided into 12 districts. The main towns w ...

(now

Arsenyevsky District Arsenyevsky District (. ''Arsěńěvskij rajon'') is an administrative district (raion), one of the twenty-three in Tula Oblast, Russia.Law #954-ZTO It is located in the west of the oblast. The area of the district is . Its administrative center ...

Tula Oblast Tula Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an Oblasts of Russia, oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in European Russia and is administratively part of the Central Federal District, covering an area of . It has a ...

), and educated in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. He was already known as a talented musical amateur when in 1833 he met Mikhail Glinka and was encouraged to devote himself to composition. His opera '' Esmeralda'' (libretto by composer, based on

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

's ''

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (, originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. The title refers to the Notre-Dame Cathedral, which features prominently throughout the novel. I ...

'') was composed in 1839 (performed 1847), and his ''

Rusalka In Slavic folklore, the rusalka (plural: rusalki; , plural: русалки; , plural: ''rusałki'') is a female entity, often malicious toward mankind and frequently associated with water. It has counterparts in other parts of Europe, such as th ...

'' was performed in 1856; but he had little success or recognition either at home or abroad, except in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, until the 1860s, when he became the elder statesman, but not a member, of The Five. His last opera, '' The Stone Guest'', is his most famous work, known as a pioneering effort in melodic recitative. With the orchestration and the end of the first scene left incomplete at his death, it was finished by

César Cui César Antonovich Cui (; ; ; 26 March 1918) was a Russian composer and music critic, member of the Belyayev circle and The Five – a group of composers combined by the idea of creating a specifically Russian type of music. As an officer o ...

and

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...

, and was much prized by The Five for what was perceived as its progressive approach to operatic expression. It was premiered in 1872, but never became a lasting standard operatic repertoire item. Dargomyzhsky also left some unfinished opera projects, among them an attempted setting of

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is conside ...

's ''Poltava'', from which a duet survives. Besides operas, his other compositions include numerous songs, piano pieces, and some orchestral works. He died in Saint Petersburg in 1869, aged 55.

Bibliography

Richard Taruskin Richard Filler Taruskin (April 2, 1945 – July 1, 2022) was an American musicologist and music critic who was among the leading and most prominent music historians of his generation. The breadth of his scrutiny into source material as well as ...

, ''Opera and Drama in Russia As Preached and Practiced in the 1860s''. New ed. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 1993. * Cui, ''La musique en Russie'' (Paris, 1880) * Pougin, ''Essai historique sur la musique en Russie'' (Turin, 1897) * Fétis, ''Biographie universelle des musiciens'' (Paris, 1862)

Notes

References

* This work in turn cites:

External links

* 1813 births 1869 deaths 19th-century classical composers from the Russian Empire 19th-century male musicians from the Russian Empire Burials at Tikhvin Cemetery Russian male opera composers People from Belyovsky District Composers from the Russian Empire Russian opera composers Russian Romantic composers {{Russia-composer-stub