Timofiy Bilohradsky (also Belogradsky, Pelogradsky; uk, Тимофій Білоградський; ca. 1710 — ca. 1782) was a

lutenist A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can re ...

, composer and

kobzar A ''kobzar'' ( ua, кобзар, pl. kobzari ua, кобзарі) was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment, played on a multistringed bandura or kobza. Tradition Kobzars were often blind and became predominantly so b ...

bandurist A banduryst ( uk, бандури́ст) is a person who plays the Ukrainian plucked string instrument known as the bandura. Types of performers There are a number of different types of bandurist who differ in their particular choice of instrumen ...

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

ethnicity, active in

St. 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

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

. Little is known about his childhood. He is thought to have been born in or near the city of

Cherkasy Cherkasy ( uk, Черка́си, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy is the capital of Cherkasy Oblast ( province), as well as the administrative center of Cherkasky Raion (district) within the oblast. The city has a population of C ...

in Ukraine and that he learned to play the

kobza The kobza ( uk , кобза), also called bandurka ( uk , бандурка) is a Ukrainian folk music instrument of the lute family ( Hornbostel-Sachs classification number 321.321-5+6), a relative of the Central European mandora. The term ''kob ...

and lute at the Hlukhiv Music Academy in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. He had an excellent voice and great musical aptitude. In 1725 he was invited to St Petersburg to sing in the Imperial Church Capella. In 1733 Tsarina Anna sent Bilohradsky to

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

in the retinue of the ambassador Count Keyserlinck to perfect his lute playing under the tutelage of

Silvius Leopold Weiss Sylvius Leopold Weiss (12 October 168716 October 1750) was a German composer and lutenist. Born in Grottkau near Breslau, the son of Johann Jacob Weiss, also a lutenist, he served at courts in Breslau, Rome, and Dresden, where he died. Until re ...

- the most important lutenist-composer of the 18th century. He also studied voice with

Faustina Bordoni Faustina Bordoni (30 March 1697 – 4 November 1781) was an Italian mezzo-soprano. In Hamburg, Germany, the Johann Adolph Hasse Museum is dedicated to her husband and partly to Bordoni. Early career She was born in Venice and brought up unde ...

-Hasse, and castrato

Domenico Annibali Domenico Annibali (c. 1705 – 1779) was an Italian castrato who had an active international career from 1725–1764. He began his career in his native country and was then committed to the Grosses Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden from 1 ...

. Bilohradsky eventually became one of the highest trained musicians in the Russian Court Capella. In 1739, Bilohradsky returned to St Petersburg, where he continued to work as a court musician. In 1741 he returned to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

where he became known as a virtuoso lutenist and singer and for some time lived in

where he had a number of students - notably Johann Reichardt (father of

Johann Friedrich Reichardt Johann Friedrich Reichardt (25 November 1752 – 27 June 1814) was a German composer, writer and music critic. Early life Reichardt was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, to lutenist and ''Stadtmusiker'' Johann Reichardt (1720–1780). Johann Fr ...

), and

Johann Georg Hamann Johann Georg Hamann (; ; 27 August 1730 – 21 June 1788) was a German Lutheran philosopher from Königsberg known as "the Wizard of the North" who was one of the leader figures of post-Kantian philosophy. His work was used by his student J. G. ...

, the

Sturm-und-Drang ''Sturm und Drang'' (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto- Romantic movement in German literature and music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity and, in particul ...

philosopher. In his last years he lived in Petersburg. The "

Moscow Weiss Manuscript 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 re ...

" is ascribed to Bilohradsky or his circle. As a composer Bilohradsky is known for a set of songs and romances to the texts by

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 ...

that enjoyed considerable popularity in the 18th century. His niece,

Yelizaveta Belogradskaya Yelizaveta Osipovna Belogradskaya (1739 – ca. 1764 was a Russian Imperial Court opera singer and composer for keyboard. She was born in St. Petersburg in 1739, the daughter of Osip Bilohradsky, a court singer and choral conductor, and niece o ...

, became famous as a first Russian opera-singer, she sang at the Imperial St. Petersburg opera and was also known as a composer.

References

Biodata (in Russian)
1710s births 1780s deaths Musicians from Cherkasy People from Kiev Voivodeship Bandurists Kobzars Torbanists Ukrainian classical musicians Ukrainian classical composers Classical-period composers Ukrainian lutenists 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians Male classical composers {{Ukraine-musician-stub