Maxim Berezovsky

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Maxim Berezovsky

Maxim Sozontovich Berezovsky (Russian: Максим Созонтович Березовский; Ukrainian: Максим Созонтович Березовський, romanizedMaksym Sozontovych Berezovskyi, c. 1740 – 2 April 1777) was a Russian and Ukrainian[1] composer. He worked in St. Petersburg. He was the first Eastern Slavic composer to write an opera.[2]

Life[change | change source]

A lot of Berezovsky's early life is not known. His birth year is often said to be 1745. However, some musicologists doubt this.[3] In 1758 he became a tenor singer in Oranienbaum. He sang in some operas. He studied music composition with Baldassare Galuppi and Vincenzo Manfredini.[4] He wrote choral concertos in the 1760s.[3]

In 1769, he went to Italy. He studied with Padre Martini. In 1771 took an exam at the Bologna College of Music. He passed the exam. He wrote an opera called Il Demofonte in Italy. It was performed in 1773.[1] He also wrote a violin sonata in Italy.[2] He returned to Russia in 1773. He became a composer for the Imperial Theatres office. He died on April 2, 1777 in St. Petersburg.[4]

References[change | change source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Jaffe, Daniel (2012). Historical Dictionary of Russian Music. Scarecrow Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN 9780810879805.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Kuzma, Marika (2001). Berezovs′ky, Maksym Sozontovych. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.02764. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Ritzarev, Marina (2016). Eighteenth-Century Russian Music. Routledge. ISBN 9781351568609.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Boer, Bertil van (2012). Historical Dictionary of Music of the Classical Period. Scarecrow Press. p. 73. ISBN 9780810873865.