Aleksandr L’vovich Gurilyov was a Russian composer and teacher. He studied music with his father (a pupil of Italian composer Giuseppe Sarti, who resided and worked in Russia in the 18th century), and the director of the serf orchestra held by Count Vladimir Grigor’yevich Orlov. Having obtained his freedom from the status of a serf in 1831, he moved to Moscow, where he gave lessons in singing and piano. Gurilyov went down in history as one of the bright representatives of Russian art song of the first half of the 19th century. His intimate-sounding, lyrical songs (“Matushka-golubushka” – “Mother Dear,” “Razluka” – “Parting,” “V’yotsya lastochka” – “The Lark Hovers,” “Kolokol’chik” – “The Little Bell,” altogether about 100) obtained recognition during the composer’s lifetime and form an indispensable part of many Russian singers’ repertoires up to the present day.
