Timofiy Bilohradsky () was a

lutenist A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" commonly r ...

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 ...

and

kobzar A ''kobzar'' ( ; ) was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment, played on a multistringed kobza or bandura. Tradition The professional kobzar tradition was established during the Hetmanate Era around the sixteenth cen ...

bandurist A bandurist () is a person who plays the Ruthenian plucked string instrument known as the bandura. Types of performers There are a number of different types of bandurist who differ in their particular choice of instrument, the specific reperto ...

of Ukrainian ethnicity, active in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

and

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

. Little is known about his childhood. He is thought to have been born in or near the city of

Cherkasy Cherkasy (, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy serves as the administrative centre of Cherkasy Oblast as well as Cherkasy Raion within the oblast. The city has a population of Cherkasy is the cultural, educational and industrial centre ...

in Ukraine and that he learned to play the

kobza The kobza (), also called bandura () is a Ukrainian folk music instrument of the lute family (Hornbostel-Sachs classification number 321.321-5+6), a relative of the Central European mandora. The term ''kobza'' however, has also been applied to ...

and

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

at the Hlukhiv Music Academy in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He had an excellent voice and great musical aptitude. In 1725 he was invited to

St 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 ...

to sing in the Imperial Church Capella. In 1733 Tsarina Anna sent Bilohradsky to

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

in the retinue of the ambassador Count Keyserlinck to perfect his lute playing under the tutelage of

Silvius Leopold Weiss Sylvius Leopold Weiss (12 October 168716 October 1750) was a German composer and lutenist. Born in Grottkau near Breslau, the son of Johann Jacob Weiss, also a lutenist, Weiss was one of the most important and most prolific composers of lute m ...

- the most important lutenist-composer of the 18th century. He also studied voice with

Faustina Bordoni Faustina Bordoni (30 March 1697 – 4 November 1781) was an Italian mezzo-soprano. In Hamburg, Germany, the Johann Adolph Hasse Museum is dedicated to her husband and partly to Bordoni. Early career She was born in Venice and brought up und ...

-Hasse, and

castrato A castrato (Italian; : castrati) is a male singer who underwent castration before puberty in order to retain a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice can also occur in one who, due to an endocrino ...

Domenico Annibali Domenico Annibali (c. 1705 – 1779) was an Italian castrato who had an active international career from 1725–1764. He began his career in his native country and was then committed to the Grosses Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden from 17 ...

. Bilohradsky eventually became one of the highest trained musicians in the Russian Court Capella. In 1739, Bilohradsky returned to St Petersburg, where he continued to work as a court musician. In 1741 he returned to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

where he became known as a virtuoso lutenist and singer and for some time lived in

where he had a number of students - notably Johann Reichardt (father of

Johann Friedrich Reichardt Johann Friedrich Reichardt (25 November 1752 – 27 June 1814) was a German composer, writer and music critic. Early life Reichardt was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, to lutenist and ''Stadtmusiker'' Johann Reichardt (1720–1780). Johann F ...

), and

Johann Georg Hamann Johann Georg Hamann (; ; 27 August 1730 – 21 June 1788) was a German Lutheran philosopher from Königsberg known as "the Wizard of the North" who was one of the leading figures of post-Kantian philosophy. His work was used by his student J. G ...

, the Sturm-und-Drang

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. In his last years he lived in Petersburg. The " Moscow Weiss Manuscript" is ascribed to Bilohradsky or his circle. As a composer Bilohradsky is known for a set of songs and romances to the texts by

Sumarokov The Sumarokov family is an old Russian noble family dating back to the 15th century, originated in either Sweden or Lithuania. Members of the family held the title of Count in the Russian Empire. Notable people * Alexander Sumarokov (1717–1777) ...

that enjoyed considerable popularity in the 18th century. His niece,

Yelizaveta Belogradskaya Yelizaveta Osipovna Belogradskaya (1739 – ca. 1764 was a Russian Imperial Court opera singer and composer for keyboard. She was born in St. Petersburg in 1739, the daughter of Osip Bilohradsky, a court singer and choral conductor, and niece o ...

, became famous as a first Russian opera-singer, she sang at the Imperial St. Petersburg opera and was also known as a composer.

Notes

References

1710s births 1780s deaths Musicians from Cherkasy Bandurists Kobzars Torbanists Ukrainian classical musicians Ukrainian classical composers Classical-period composers Ukrainian lutenists 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians Ukrainian male classical composers {{Ukraine-musician-stub