Konstantin Petrovich Villebois (Вильбоа Константин Петрович) (1817–1882) was a Russian composer. The name Villebois (transliterated sometimes as Vilboa) is of

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

origin (Villebois). Vilboa was an autodidact who never received any musical education. He became a friend of Glinka around 1850. Vilboa wrote nearly 200 popular songs such as the duet "The seafarers" ("unfriendly is our sea.." - "Нелюдимо наше море..") recorded by

Maxim Mikhailov Maxim Dormidontovich Mikhailov (russian: Максим Дормидонтович Михайлов; – Moscow 30 March 1971) was a Russian bass. His son, Igor Mikhailov (1920-1983) was the bass of the Bolshoi for several decades. His grandson M ...

. These songs remained popular, for instance being sung at home by

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

's engineer father.Sofia Moshevich Dmitri Shostakovich, pianist, with similar duets by

Alexander Egorovich Varlamov Alexander Egorovich Varlamov (or ''Aleksandr Yegorovich Varlamov''; russian: Александр Егорович Варламов; 27 November 1801 – 27 October 1848) was a 19th-century composer, singer, teacher, conductor, and one of the fo ...

. p6 Vilboa's song collection ''100 Russian National Songs'' (''Сто русских народных песен''

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

1860) was an anthology of melodies collected by playwright

Alexander Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Остро́вский; ) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 origina ...

on a

River Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchmen ...

steamer in 1856. This collection was used by, among other composers,

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

in his ''By the gate a pine tree was swaying'' and other songs. Vilboa wrote three operas, but only one, ''Natasha'', was staged in St. Petersburg, and left the repertoire after a few weeks.

References

External links

Lyrics for some of Vilboa's songs at The LiederNet Archive
* 1817 births 1882 deaths Russian male composers 19th-century composers 19th-century male musicians {{Russia-composer-stub