View source for Alexander Dargomyzhsky

{{Short description|Russian composer (1813–1869)}}

{{family name hatnote|Sergeyevich |Dargomyzhsky|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
[[Image:Makovskiy Dargomyzhsky.jpg|thumb|200px|Alexander Dargomyzhsky<br>(Portrait by [[Konstantin Makovsky]], 1869)]]

'''Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky''' ({{lang-rus|links=no|Александр Сергеевич Даргомыжский|Aleksandr Sergeyevich Dargomyzhskiy{{efn|The BGN/PCGN [[Romanization of Russian|transliteration of Russian]] is used for his name here. ALA-LC system: ''Aleksandr Sergeevich Dargomyzhskiĭ'', ISO 9 system: ''Aleksandr Sergeevič Dargomyžskij''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Russian – BGN/PCGN transliteration system |url=https://www.translitteration.com/transliteration/en/russian/bgn-pcgn/ |website=transliteration.com |access-date=2 December 2020}}</ref> {{langx|la|Alexander Sergii filius Dargomyžskij}}.}}|ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪdʑ dərɡɐˈmɨʂskʲɪj|Ru-Aleksandr-Sergeevich-Dargomyzhsky.ogg}}; {{OldStyleDate|14 February|1813|2 February}}{{spaced ndash}}{{OldStyleDate|17 January|1869|5 January}}) was a 19th-century Russian composer. He bridged the gap in Russian opera composition between [[Mikhail Glinka]] and the later generation of [[The Five (composers)|The Five]] and [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]].

== Biography ==
Dargomyzhsky was born in village Troitskoye, Belyov uyezd, [[Tula Governorate]] (now [[Arsenyevsky District]], [[Tula Oblast]]), and educated in [[Saint Petersburg]]. He was already known as a talented musical amateur when in 1833 he met Mikhail Glinka and was encouraged to devote himself to composition. His opera ''[[Esmeralda (Dargomyzhsky)|Esmeralda]]'' (libretto by composer, based on [[Victor Hugo]]'s ''[[The Hunchback of Notre-Dame]]'') was composed in 1839 (performed 1847), and his ''[[Rusalka (Dargomyzhsky)|Rusalka]]'' was performed in 1856; but he had little success or recognition either at home or abroad, except in [[Belgium]], until the 1860s,<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y |wstitle=Dargomijsky, Alexander Sergeivich |volume=7 |page=832 }}</ref> when he became the elder statesman, but not a member, of The Five.

His last opera, ''[[The Stone Guest (Dargomyzhsky)|The Stone Guest]]'', is his most famous work, known as a pioneering effort in melodic recitative.  With the orchestration and the end of the first scene left incomplete at his death, it was finished by [[César Cui]] and [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]], and was much prized by The Five for what was perceived as its progressive approach to operatic expression.  It was premiered in 1872, but never became a lasting standard operatic repertoire item.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Dargomyzhsky also left some unfinished opera projects, among them an attempted setting of [[Alexander Pushkin|Pushkin]]'s ''Poltava'', from which a duet survives.  Besides operas, his other compositions include numerous songs, piano pieces, and some orchestral works.<ref name="EB1911"/>

He died in Saint Petersburg in 1869, aged 55.

== Bibliography ==
* [[Richard Taruskin]], ''Opera and Drama in Russia As Preached and Practiced in the 1860s''.  New ed.  Rochester:  University of Rochester Press, 1993.
* [[César Cui|Cui]], ''La musique en Russie'' (Paris, 1880)
* [[Arthur Pougin|Pougin]], ''Essai historique sur la musique en Russie'' (Turin, 1897)
* [[François-Joseph Fétis|Fétis]], ''Biographie universelle des musiciens'' (Paris, 1862)

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}
*{{NIE|title=Dargomyzhsky, Alexander Sergeyevich|volume=5|page=789|url=https://archive.org/stream/newinternational05gilm#page/788/mode/2up}} This work in turn cites:

== External links ==
*{{IMSLP|id=Dargomyzhsky, Alexander Sergeyevich}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dargomyzhsky, Alexander}}
[[Category:1813 births]]
[[Category:1869 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century classical composers from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:19th-century male musicians from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Burials at Tikhvin Cemetery]]
[[Category:Russian male opera composers]]
[[Category:People from Belyovsky District]]
[[Category:Composers from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Russian opera composers]]
[[Category:Russian Romantic composers]]


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