Also transliterated as Dmytro Bortnyans’ky
Born in Hlukhiv, Ukraine, 1751
Died in St Petersburg, 28 Sept/Oct 10, 1825
- Bortniansky was a singer, conductor, and a composer who specialized in vocal music (opera and choral music).
- Bortniansky received his education as a choirboy in the court chapel in St. Petersburg. His talent was recognized and he received extra training as an opera singer, and lessons in composition from Baldassare Galuppi. When Galuppi returned to Italy, Catherine the Great sent Bortniansky there to continue his studies.
- Bortniansky worked in the court of Catherine the Great, as a court composer, and as Kapellmeister to the chapel of her son Paul. With the accession of Paul as Paul I, Bortniansky became the first native Slavonic composer to direct the Imperial Court Chapel.
- Bortniansky composed copious amounts of Orthodox liturgical music. One specialty was a multimovment a cappella genre called choral concerto; Bortniansky composed around 45 of them.1
Sources
- Marika Kuzma, “Bortnyans′ky [Bortniansky, Dmytro Stepanovych,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed March 18, 2022, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000003638.