Aleksander Gurilyov

Aleksander L’vovich Gurilyov (Russian: Александр Львович Гурилёв; 3 September 1803 – 11 September 1858) was a composer, pianist, violinist, and music teacher who largely enriched the traditional romantic Russian repertoire through his solid technical accomplishments. He composed well over 200 pieces imbued with romantic, sentimental moods and subtle lyricism which enjoyed great success in Russia. He wrote numerous morceaux (short pieces) in a proto-dramatic, lyric declamatory style, all pre-dating the aesthetics of Dargomyzhsky, Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky. Family Aleksander was born in Semyonovskoye, Serpukhov Oblast into the family of serf musicians in the court of Count V.G. Orlov. His father, Lev Gurilyov, was the first to teach him music, beginning with rudimentary introductions. Training Aleksander was raised as a member of the court of Count Vladimir Orlov’s country estate Otrada, near Moscow. He was taught violin by his father, Lev Gurilyov, a serf musician and kapellmeister in the orchestra of the Orlovs. Together with his children, he took lessons in piano playing from Russian-based pianist of Irish origin John Field and later studied music theory under the guidance of Ios