Stepan Degtyarev
Latest Albums
- V. Lebetsky, Evgeny Andronov, S. Trifonov, A. Vrublevsky, N. Bultsevich, Grodno Intercession Cathedral Church Choir, B. Tikhonov
- The Rozhdestvo Choir of Solo Singers of St. Petersburg Philharmonia, Olga Stupneva
- Gennady Dmitriak, Moscow Kremlin Choir
Biography
Of peasant birth, Degtyaryov became independent of his serfdom through his achievement of the station of Kappelmeister in Sheremetev's court. It is thought that he traveled to Italy with Sarti which may have influenced his compositional textures. The only composition of Degtyarov's to survive was "Minin i Pozharsky, ili Osvobozhdeniye Moskvi" an oratorio depicting the liberation of Moscow from the hands of the Poles in 1612. (Undoubtedly a sub-textual analysis would reveal the influence of the war of 1812 as well as Stephan's own servile liberation.) It was unfortunate that he had to burn his manuscripts when he moved to Moscow during the Napoleonic invasions. ~ Keith Johnson