Alexander Gurilov

Aleksander Gurilyov (1803–1858) went down in history as one of the bright representatives of Russian art song of the first half of the 19th century. He composed well over 200 pieces imbued with romantic, sentimental moods and subtle lyricism, which enjoyed great success in Russia. Aleksander was born into the family of serf musicians in the court of Count V. G. Orlov. He was taught violin by his father, Lev Gurilyov, a serf musician and Kapellmeister in the orchestra of the Orlovs. Within the serf orchestra, Aleksander played the violin and viola, and routinely played within the quartet of Prince Golitsyn. Having obtained his freedom from the status of a serf in 1831, he moved to Moscow, where he gave lessons in singing and piano. Having become acquainted with the representatives of the Moscow intelligentsia, namely the artists and writers, Gurilyov began to write songs, and rapidly acquired rapid popularity. Some of his compositions were published by well-known publishers in music magazines. He is accredited with writing over 60 individual songs among other incidental works. Some of his most popular songs are noted to be on the rather morose, melancholic, and sombre side such as, “"The bell rings monotonously”, “Justification”, “Both boring and sad”, “Winter evening”, “You cannot understand my sadness”, and “Parting“. Despite the rapid and sustained success of his published songs and compositions, Gurilyov spent most of his adult life in poverty, earning his keep as a private music teacher and editor. In his last years, he became paralyzed and suffered from mental illness, which eventually became the cause of his death in 1858.