Maksym Berezovsky

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Maksym Berezovsky
Maksym Berezovsky

Maksym Sozontovych Berezovsky (Ukrainian: Максим Созонтович Березовський, Maksym Sozontovych Berezovskyi; Polish: Berezowski; c 1745–1777) was a Ukrainian-Russian composer, opera singer, and violinist. His first name is sometimes translated as Maxim.

Berezovsky was the first Ukrainian or Russian composer to be recognized throughout Europe and the first to compose an opera, symphony, and violin sonata. His most popular works are his sacred choral pieces written for the Russian Orthodox Church. Much of his work have been lost; only 3 of the 18 known choral concertos have been found. Dmytro Bortniansky was thought to be the first Ukrainian-Russian symphonic composer until the discovery of Berezovsky's Symphony in C by Steven Fox in the Vatican archives in 2002, which was composed around 1770-72.

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[edit] Early life

Not much is known about Berezovsky’s biography. His life story was reconstructed in a short novel written in 1840 by Nestor Kukolnik and a play by Peter Smirnov staged at the Alexandrine Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg. Many particulars from these works of fiction had been accepted as fact, but have since been proven inaccurate.

Some accounts speculate that Berezovsky was born on October 27, 1745 in Hlukhiv, and studied at the Kyiv Mohyla Academy. However, no hard evidence exists for this information, and his name is missing from the annals of the Academy. Since Hlukhiv had a strong musical school training singers for the Imperial Court Choir, it is very likely that he did spend at least some of his childhood there.

[edit] Education

On June 29, 1758 he was accepted as a singer into the Prince Peter Fedorovych capella in Oranienbaum (now known as Lomonosov), near St. Petersburg. Berezovsky participated in Italian operas and his name appears in printed librettos of the operas Alessandro nell'Indie by Francesco Araja and La Semiramide riconosciuta by Vincenzo Manfredini given in Oranienbaum in 1759 and 1760.

In 1762 he became an artist of the Italian Capella of the St. Petersburg Imperial palace, which was the palace chapel choir. Here he studied under singer N. Garani and Capella director F. Zoppis and likely composers Vincenzo Manfredini and Baldassare Galuppi. He continued as court musician and composer for the majority of the 1760s.

In 1763 Berezovsky wed Franzina Uberscher (also translated as Francisca Iberchere), a graduate of the Oranienbaum theatrical school. Not much is known about their life together. When he died in 1777, the composer's government funeral allowance was given to court singer J. Timchenko. This implies that Berezovsky was not with his wife during his final days, since this allowance would normally be given to the wife of the deceased.

Berezovsky went to Italy in the spring of 1769 to train with renowned padre Giovanni Battista Martini at the Bologna Philharmonic Academy, where he graduated with distinction. Along with fellow graduate Josef Mysliveček, Berezowsky wrote an exam to compose a polyphonic work on a given theme. This was a similar exam to that given to fellow alumnus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart several months earlier. Berezovsky's piece for four voices is still kept in the Academy’s archives. On May 15, 1771 he became the member of the Accademia Filarmonica.

[edit] Later years

His opera Demofonte to the Italian libretto by Pietro Metastasio was staged in Livorno, Italy, and premiered in February 1773.

Berezovsky returned to St. Petersburg in October 1773 (early biographies indicate that he returned in 1775). According to archival discoveries in the late 20th century, Berezovsky was appointed a staff member of the imperial theatres and capellmeister of the Royal court capella eight months later. This was a high ranking position for a musician and contradicts the notion that Berezovsky’s talent was not appreciated upon his return to St. Petersburg. Some sources state that the he committed suicide as a result of depression for not being accepted upon his return to St. Petersburg. His first biographer, Y. Bolkhovitinov, made this assertion in 1804 based on testimonials of those who knew Berezovsky. Marina Ritzarev, a contemporary scholar, asserts that he did not commit suicide but rather likely caught a sudden fever resulting in his death after developing some psychic disease. He died in St. Petersburg on March 24, 1777 (April 2, 1777 N.S.).

[edit] References

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