Lev Gurilyov
Russian musician, composer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Russian musician, composer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lev Stepanovich Gurilyov (Russian: Лев Степанович Гурылёв; 1770–1844) was a Russian serf musician and liturgical music composer, along with pedagogue and composer, who was active in Moscow during the late-18th to early-19th centuries.[1] The father of pianist and composer Aleksander Gurilyov, Lev was a violin player and kapellmeister in the orchestra of Count Vladimir Grigorievich Orlov, the younger brother of Catherine the Great, to which was owned according to the principles of serfdom.[2][3] The majority of his life was spent on the Semenovskoye-Otrada estate[rus], owned by the Orlov family, although several moves occurred. Due to the inherited musical aptitude in his son Aleksander, Count Orlov had the son sent to study under the guidance of Irish composer John Field for music composition,[4][5] and Joseph Iosifovich Genishta[rus] for music theory.[2]
He was most notably the contemporary of other late-baroque and early-classical, serf composers in Russia like Dmitry Bortniansky, Stepan Degtyarev, and Daniil Kashin.[2]
He was a pupil of Giuseppe Sarti,[4] although this cannot be confirmed.[2]
For almost the entirety of his career, Gurilyov composed and played for the Orlov family in the chapel on their estate. Among his duties were teaching musicians, running rehearsals, leading the divine liturgy for the family, composing secular and sacred compositions, and various other kinds of rehearsal and practices.[2] It is speculated that Gurilyov operated within the "Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker," located on the property of the estate.[6] So competent and proficient was Gurilyov at his duties that performances had become well-attended, with popularity of work reaching other royal families and being notable for its praised combination of serf musicians from other regions.[2]
Emancipated after the death of his owner in 1831, Lev Gurilyov composed many piano pieces and variations on Russian folk themes.[4]
