Alexander Alyabyev

Alexander Aleksandrovich Alyabyev, also rendered as Alabiev or Alabieff (Russian: Александр Александрович Алябьев) (15 August [O.S. 4 August] 1787, Tobolsk – 6 March [O.S. 22 February] 1851, Moscow) was a Russian composer. He wrote seven operas, twenty musical comedies, more than 200 songs, and many other pieces. His most famous work is The Nightingale, a song based on a poem by Anton Delvig. It was composed while Alyabyev was in prison, in 1825. Both Franz Liszt and Mikhail Glinka wrote piano variations based on the song.

Biography

Born to a wealthy family, he learned music in his early years. He joined the Russian Army in 1812, during the Napoleonic war, and fought as an officer until 1823. He won two awards.

Arrested in 1825, after the mysterious death of a man he spent all night gambling with, he was banished to Siberia in 1828. Freed in 1843, he lived mostly in Moscow until his death in 1851.

Compositions

• Morning and Evening (a vaudeville);
• Moonlit night, or The House-spirits (opera);
• Celebration of muses (which opened the Bolshoi Theatre (1825);
• Magic drum, or the Consequence of the Magic flute (a ballet);

External links

• Walker, William Thomas (March 2002). "The Artaria String Quartet at UNC: Who's on First? (Account of a performance of one of Alyabyev's string quartets)". Classical Voice of North Carolina. http://www.cvnc.org/reviews/2002/march/ArtariaString.html. Retrieved 2009-01-27. 
• "Musical Tales: Three Alexanders". The Voice of Russia. July 28, 2005. http://english.ruvr.ru/radio_broadcast/2248383/2315565.html. Retrieved 2011-12-07. 
• "Alyabyev Biography at Bashedu.ru" (in Russian). http://www.bashedu.ru/konkurs/polovyanyuk/russian/kompozitor/alabyev.html. Retrieved 2009-01-27. 
• "ALYABIEV - russian composer (chamber vocal music - art songs, lieder)". RUVO-classic Artists Management. 2000. http://www.classicalmusic.spb.ru/ruvoclassic/composers/alyabiev/index.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-27. 
• Free scores by Alexander Alyabyev at the International Music Score Library Project
• Free scores by Alexander Alyabyev in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Free scores Mutopia Project
• Free scores by Alexander Alyabyev in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)