Maria Voinovna Zubova (Russian: ''Мария Воиновна Зубова''), (1749?–1799) was a Russian poet,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, and

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

singer, known for her rendition of

folksong Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

s. She was born in

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 ...

and was the daughter of Vice-Admiral Warrior Yakovlevich Rimsky-Korsakov. She was married to Afanasy Nikolaevich Zubov (1738-1822), Governor of

Kursk Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...

from 1782 to 1791. With her husband, on June 19, 1780, they moved into an estate located near

Murom Murom ( rus, Муром, p=ˈmurəm; Old Norse: ''Moramar'') is a historical city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which sprawls along the left bank of the Oka River. Population: History In the 9th century AD, the city marked the easternmost settle ...

Vladimir Oblast Vladimir Oblast (russian: Влади́мирская о́бласть, ''Vladimirskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its closest border 66 Meter, km east of central Moscow, the administrative cen ...

, regarded as one of the most ancient cities within Russia.

Composer

Zubova was the creator of heartfelt poems and a composer of salon songs during the late 18th and was considered by the Russian Writer Daniil Mordovtsev as one of the ''"literary daughters of

Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; russian: Михаил (Михайло) Васильевич Ломоносов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ , a=Ru-Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov.ogg; – ) was a Russian Empire, Russian polymath, s ...

and

Sumarokov Sumarokov (russian: Сумароков) is a Russian masculine surname, its feminine counterpart is Sumarokova. It may refer to * Alexander Sumarokov (1717–1777), Russian poet and playwright * Ekaterina Kniazhnina (née Sumarokova, 1746–1797), R ...

''." Only a small portion of her musical work was published, the majority being published in Saint Petersburg during 1770. She was also a minor translator of French literature, although her work remains unpublished. She is most recognized for her folksong ''"I am moving to the desert..."'' written in 1791, whose words are now commonly used within the Russian vernacular. The second line of the first stanza is used, e.g., "''From the beautiful places here,"'' to denote a cynically tongue-in-cheek attitude of fake nostalgic sadness at one's departure from a less-than-satisfactory place of dwelling. Hence, they prefer the heat of the desert over the inferior conditions of the present. The date attributed to the song is disputed, as many of her songs were printed 10 years earlier in an anthology published by the duo M. D Chulkov and N. I Novikov. The song is present within several different anthologies, the most recent being the Soviet collection of songs called "Monuments of Russian Musical Art" as collected by the Soviet Musicologist Yuri V. Keldysh in 1979. It was presented by Keldysh in the

Classical style Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

, unadorned and with no given bass accompaniment, only

figured bass Figured bass is musical notation in which numerals and symbols appear above or below (or next to) a bass note. The numerals and symbols (often accidentals) indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones that a musician playing piano, harpsic ...

. Zubova's songs featured her own poetic verse and was heavily influenced by pre-Revolutionary expansionism as a result of Peter's 1st Petrian reforms and further intellectual cultivations under

Catherine The Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

during the

Russian Enlightenment The Russian Age of Enlightenment was a period in the 18th century in which the government began to actively encourage the proliferation of arts and sciences, which had a profound impact on Russian culture. During this time, the first Russian unive ...

. Because she was mostly active during the latter half of the 18th-century, themes used in her romances and folksongs dealt with expressing the naturality of life and the realistic experiences of the folk people, all the while maintaining sophisticated objectivity. Because of this, she won much support from Russian society and her career was immensely fruitful throughout Russia's societal hierarchy. Mordovtsev notes that Zubova's songs were "the first" compositions that were emotionally able to be sung due to Russia's demoralized and socioculturally bruised position as a result of the mid/late 17th century

Raskol The Schism of the Russian Church, also known as Raskol (russian: раскол, , meaning "split" or " schism"), was the splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in the mid-17th century. It ...

movement, a religious

Schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

led by

Patriarch Nikon Nikon ( ru , Ни́кон, Old Russian: ''Нїконъ''), born Nikita Minin (''Никита Минин''; 7 May 1605 – 17 August 1681) was the seventh Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' of the Russian Orthodox Church, serving officially from ...

to centralize the Russian Orthodox faith and its practices, as well as consolidate the chain of command, leading to widespread persecution against the "

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow bet ...

Performance career

Along with her compositional career, she was widely known for being a highly skilled folk-song performer, often performing at parties and salons to high praise. The Russian folklorist Mikhail Nikolaevich Makarov (1785-1847) said she was, ''"the best singer in the early reign of

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

."'' Her musical talent was steeped in the Italian style and participated in the 18th-century convention of ornamentation and melodic improvisation while performing, as per the custom during the Baroque period. This style was known as "figured singing," with the focus on dexterous movement and emotional fervanices all the while retaining a cool demeanor and composed vibrancy a quintessentiality of Zubova's singing style.

Personality and death

Natalia Kirillovna Zagryazhskaya (1747-1837), a lady in waiting to

and close acquaintance of

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

, called Zubova "''an intelligent and amiable woman''", akin to the behavioral style of "''Monsieur Morte,''" the Marquise de Merteuil and hero of the novel ''

Les Liaisons dangereuses ''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (; English: ''Dangerous Liaisons'') is a French epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu from March 23, 1782. It is the story of the Marquise de Merteuil and ...

'' by

Choderlos de Laclos Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos (; 18 October 1741 – 5 September 1803) was a French novelist, official, Freemason and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel ''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (''Dangerous Liaisons'' ...

. On October 9, 1799, Count Fyodor Vasilievich Rostopchin (1763-1826) and Count

Semyon Vorontsov Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov (or Woronzow, russian: Семён Романович Воронцо́в; 26 June 17449 July 1832) was a Russian diplomat from the aristocratic Russian Vorontsov family, whose siblings included Alexander Vorontso ...

(1744-1832) notified Zubova's relatives that she had suddenly died after suffering a stroke during a card game with friends.

Compositions

Songs

* 1791'': I am moving away from the beautiful local places into the desert,'' for piano and voice

Anthologies

* 1770: ''Collection of Various Songs (Собрание разных песен:(Second version,1788)'', by M. D Chulkov and N. I Novikov * 1827: ''Newest Selected Songbook'' *1979: ''Monuments of Russian musical art. Issue 1: Russian vocal lyrics of the 18th century'', curated and published by Yuri. V. Keldysh

Cantatas

* hey are said to have existed, but no more detail is providedref name=":1" />

Poem

* According to Amanda Ewington, "Zubova's present obscurity belies the intense popularity once enjoyed by her poem 'I am Leaving for the Wilds.' This poem long attributed to Zubova, was a staple in Russian culture among all social classes."

Recordings

# ''I am banished to the Desert'': Ensemble Talisman, Oleg Timofeyev (Guitar), Anne Harley (Soprano) Dorian Recordings, ''Music of Russian Princesses'' (2013) #''I am retiring to the Desert:'' M. Zhilkin (soprano), E. Mityushkina (mezzo-soprano), I. Malyshev (piano)