Mikhail Matveyevich Sokolovsky (russian: Михаи́л Матве́евич Соколо́вский (1756 – after 1795) was a late 18th-century
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
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 ...
,
conductor and
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
ist.
Sokolovsky played the violin in the
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
of the Maddox Theatre in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. It is known that he also taught singing at the
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
. The music of the renowned-in-its-day opera ''
The miller who was a wizard, a cheat and a matchmaker
''The miller who was a wizard, a cheat and a matchmaker'' (Russian: Мельник – колдун, обманщик и сват 'Melnik – koldun, obmanshchik i svat'' – is a Russian ballad opera in three acts with a libretto by Alexander Abl ...
'' (''Мельник–колдун, обманщик и сват'') to the text by
Aleksandr Ablesimov (Moscow, 1779;
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 ...
, circa 1795) is attributed to him. Only part of the score survived but
Nikolai Tcherepnin
Nikolai Nikolayevich Tcherepnin (Russian: Николай Николаевич Черепнин; – 26 June 1945) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He was born in Saint Petersburg and studied under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at t ...
completed the missing portions in 1925, enabling the work to be revived. Sokolovsky's contemporary, composer
Yevstigney Fomin
Yevstigney Ipat'yevich Fomin (russian: Евстигне́й Ипа́тьевич Фоми́н) (born St. Petersburg – died St. Petersburg c ) was a Russian opera composer of Ukrainian originShuliar, Orest: History of Vocal Art. Ivano- ...
later revised the music of the opera adding an
overture
Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...
to it.
Under the reign of autocratic Czar
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , group=pron ( – ) was List of Russian rulers, Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He was the third son of Paul I of Russia, Paul I and younger brother of his predecessor, Alexander I ...
, verses of Sokolovsky that were critical of Nicholas's predecessors were often sung at anti-Nicholas rallies.
See also
*
Nikolai Sheremetev
Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev (russian: Никола́й Петро́вич Шереметев) (28 June 1751 - 2 January 1809 O.S., 9 July 1751 - 14 January 1809 N.S.) was a Russian count, the son of Petr Borisovich Sheremetev, notable grandee ...
Bibliography
*Sokolova, A. "Fomin", the article in ''Tvorcheskie portrety kompozitorov''. Moskva: Muzyka, 1989, p. 360-362.
*Abraham, Gerald. ''The Concise Oxford History of Music''. Oxford, 1979, p. 479-481.
*
Taruskin, Richard. "Fomin, Yevstigney Ipat'yevich" in ''The
New Grove Dictionary of Opera
''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...
'' (editor,
Stanley Sadie
Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...
). London, 1992 .
External links
Russia—1000 years of music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sokolovsky, Mikhail Matveyevich
Classical-period composers
Russian opera composers
Male opera composers
Russian male classical composers
Russian classical violinists
Male classical violinists
Russian conductors (music)
Russian male conductors (music)
1756 births
Place of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
Place of death unknown
19th-century male musicians