Vasily Fyodorovich Trutovsky (russian: Василий Фёдорович Трутовский) (c. 1740 – c. 1810) was a

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 ...

folk-song 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 be ...

collector,

gusli ''Gusli'' ( rus, гусли, p=ˈɡuslʲɪ) is the oldest East Slavic multi-string plucked instrument, belonging to the zither family, due to its strings being parallel to its resonance board. Its roots lie in Veliky Novgorod in Novgorodian Ru ...

player, and composer, in the Russian Empire. He compiled and published the earliest printed collection of Russian folk-music. He was born near

Belgorod Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics The population of Be ...

, in Ivanovskaya Sloboda, where his father was assigned as a priest for the regimental settlement. In 1762 Trutovsky entered the Russian Imperial court as a singer and gusli player; he left the court some 30 years later. By 1792 Trutovsky was still active as a collector and composer, supported by various patrons from aristocratic families. He died around 1810 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 ...

. Trutovsky's most important work is ''Sobraniye russkikh prostïkh pesen s notami'' (''Собрание русских простых песен с нотами'', "Collection of simple Russian songs with scores"), a collection of 80 folk-songs with melodies. It was the earliest published collection of its kind: the first three volumes appeared between 1776 and 1779, and one more followed in 1795. Trutovsky drew the material from both his own studies and from manuscripts compiled by others; he also included some Ukrainian songs, music by Russian composers, his own arrangements of music by others, etc. At first, Trutovsky only included the melody and a bass line, but volume 4 and a reprint of volume 1 contained more harmonic filling done by him. The ''Sobraine'' proved to be an influential work: more than half of its contents was published in a later important collection by Johann Gottfried Pratsch, and some of the songs provided inspiration and models for composers such as

Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

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 ...

, and others. Only a few of Trutovsky's own compositions survived: ''Kruzhka'' (''Кружка'', "A Cup"), a song for voice and piano (1777), and two sets of

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

variations on folk-songs (1780): "Vo lesochke komarochkov" (''Во лесочке комарочков'', ''Lots of Gnats in Our Forest'') and "Ty, detinushka, sirotinushka" (''Ты, детинушка, сиротинушка'', ''You, My Little Nowhere Child''). Both sets are notable for transfer of some of

-specific technique to keyboard.

Recordings

* ''Russian Clavichords of the 18th century''. 1996. Aleksei Lubimov (piano, hammered clavichord). Facsimile RCD19101

References

* * Simoni, P.K.. ''Kamer-guslist V.F. Trutovskiy i izdannïy im pervпy russkiy notnïy pesennik’ he chamber gusli player Trutovsky and the first Russian songbook with music edited by him Trudï XII arkheologicheskogo s''yezda: Khar'kove 1902 roceedings of the 12th archeological congress at Khar'kiv ii (Moscow, 1905)

External links

"You, My Little Nowhere Child"
performed by Alexei Lubimov {{DEFAULTSORT:Trutovsky, Vasily Fyodorovich Russian folk-song collectors Ukrainian folk-song collectors Harpsichordists from the Russian Empire Composers from the Russian Empire 1740s births 1810s deaths