Published June 25, 2021 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Maksym Berezovsky's Marriage. Review of Documentary Materials: on the Issue of His Creative Work

Authors/Creators

  • 1. Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts, Ukraine

Description

The purpose of the article is to reconstruct the real events of Maksym Berezovsky’s life based on a thorough analysis of documents as to the marriage of the outstanding composer. In the course of the work, the author of the article mainly used empirical research methods, such as logical and analytical analysis, observation, description, generalisation, assumption, comparison. Scientific novelty. Today, the search for new musical works continues, and well-known documentary data on the life of M. Berezovsky is carefully studied. Previously published documents about his marriage depicted a picture of the composer’s happy married life, but a closer analysis revealed a number of misunderstandings that questioned the official version. The article analyses six handwritten documents (from August 1763 to January 1778) from the archives of St. Petersburg. One document is published for the first time, and images of two archival manuscripts are also published for the first time. Conclusions. The article contains all known documents (including recently found) concerning the marriage of M. Berezovsky and reveals important discrepancies in the documents about the marriage of the court singer Maksym Berezovsky with the court dancer Franzina Uberscher. Probably, this fact is explained by different faiths of the newlyweds, but their marriage affected the interests of high-ranking officials of the Russian Empire. The involvement of previously unpublished documents helps to clarify some details of the marriage, to introduce the name of the actor Vasyl Chernikov (who was Maksym’s groomsman) to scientific circulation, to find out the name and patronymic of Berezovsky’s second wife - Nadiia Matviivna. The article analyses various versions, among which two opposite ones are considered as possible in this situation. Introducing new data helps to expand the search for documents on the life of Maksym Berezovsky.

Files

Maksym_Berezovskys_Marriage_Review_of_Documentary_Materials_on_the_Issue_of_His_Creative_Work.pdf

Files (410.8 kB)

Additional details

References

  • Arbatskii, Yu. (1956). Etyudy po Istorii Russkoi Muzyki [Etudes on the History of Russian Music]. Izdatel'stvo imeni Chekhova [in Russian].
  • Chernikov, Vasilii Mikhailovich [Chernikov, Vasily Mikhailovich]. (2020, May 21). In Wikipedia. https://cutt.ly/ Qbulezp [in Russian].
  • Findeizen, N. F. (1928). Ocherki po Istorii Muzyki v Rossii s Drevneishikh Vremen do Kontsa XVIII Veka [Essays on the History of Music in Russia from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century] (Vol. 1, Iss. 2). Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvo [in Russian].
  • Jurčenko, M. (1999). Berezovskij, Maksim Sozontovič [Berezovsky, Maxim Sozontovich]. In Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: allgemeine Enzyklopëdie der Musik [Music Past and Present: General Encyclopedia of Music] (2nd ed.; Personenteil 2; pp. 1188-1189). Kassel; Bärenreiter; Metzler [in German].
  • Kabinet Ego Imperatorskogo Velichestva [Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty]. (1774). Grossbukh Kontory Pridvornogo Teatra [Ledger of the Court Theater Office] (Fund 468, Inventory 36, File 40), Russian State Historical Archives, St. Petersburg [in Russian].
  • Kobyliukh, V. (2012). V Chomu Trahediia Maksyma Berezovskoho? [What is the Tragedy of Maxim Berezovsky?] (Series "Chest i Chyn") [in Ukrainian].
  • Kukolnik, N. V. (1844). Maksim Sozontovich Berezovskii [Maxim Sozontovich Berezovsky]. In N. V. Kukolnik (Ed.), Skazka za Skazkoi [Fairy Tale after Tale] (pp. 283-396). Izdanie M. D. Ol'khina [in Russian].
  • Lebedeva-Emelina, A. V. (2017). Biografika Kompozitorov Ekaterininskoi Epokhi: Sootnoshenie Dokumentov, Legend i Mifov [Biographic Writings on the Composers of the Era of Catherine the Great: Correlation Between Documents, Legends, And Myths]. Iskusstvo Muzyki: Teoriya i Istoriya [Art of Music. Theory and History], 17, 3-78. http://imti.sias.ru/upload/iblock/132/imti_2017_17_3_78_lebedeva_emelina.pdf [in Russian].
  • Petrogradskaya Dukhovnaya Konsistoriya [Petrograd Spiritual Consistory]. (n.d.). (Fund 19), Central State Historical Archives of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg [in Russian].
  • Petrov, P. N. (1778). Volkovskoe Kladbishche. 1 yanvarya [Volkovskoe Cemetery. January 1] (Fund 575, File 341, Book 8), National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg [in Russian].
  • Plachynda, S. (2006). Henii i Katy: Povist pro Kompozytora Maksyma Berezovskoho (1745–1777) [Genius and Executioners: The Tale of the Composer Maxim Berezovsky (1745–1777)]. In S. Plachynda, Kozak – Dusha Pravdyvaia... [A Cossack is a True Soul...] (pp. 117-174). Veles [in Ukrainian].
  • Pridvornaya e.i.v. Kontora [The Courtier of His Imperial Majesty's Office]. (n.d.). (Fund 469, Inventory 14, File 9), Russian State Historical Archives, St. Petersburg [in Russian].
  • Rytsareva, M. (1983). Kompozitor M. S. Berezovskii: Zhizn' i Tvorchestvo [Composer M. S. Berezovsky: Life and Work]. Muzyka [in Russian].
  • Rytsareva, M. (2013). Maksim Berezovskii: Zhizn' i Tvorchestvo Kompozitora [Maxim Berezovsky: The Life and Work of the Composer] (2nd ed.). Kompozitor [in Russian].
  • Smirnov, P. A. (1841). Maksim Sozontovich Berezovskii: Original'naya Istoricheskaya Byl' v Dvukh Deistviyakh s Prologom [Maxim Sozontovich Berezovsky: An Original Historical Story in Two Acts with a Prologue] [in Russian].
  • Sumarokov, P. I. (1823). O Rossiiskom Teatre, s Nachala Ego Osnovaniya do Kontsa Tsarstvovaniya Ekateriny ІІ (okonchanie) [About the Russian Theater, from the Beginning of its Foundation until the End of the Reign of Catherine II (ending)]. Otechestvennye Zapiski [Notes of the Fatherland], 13(35), 370-399 [in Russian].
  • Volkovskoe Kladbishche (Sankt-Peterburg) [Volkovskoe Cemetery (St. Petersburg)]. (2020, October 11). In Wikipedia. https://cutt.ly/VbukVFi [in Russian].