Starorussky, Priest Vasily

STARORUSSKY, Priest Vasily Fyodorovich (b. 1818, place of birth unknown; d. 1871, Novgorod) — educated at the Novgorod Theological Seminary, where he conducted the seminary choir; in 1856 received a certificate of the Imperial Court Chapel as a teacher of singing; from 1863 was the precentor of the choir of the Novgorod archbishop; for a time also had a private choir. Starorussky’s sacred musical works were not approved by the censor of the Imperial Court Chapel during his lifetime. Twenty of his works were published at the beginning of the 20th century; they are entirely imitative of the Italian and German styles that reigned in Russian church music during the time of D. S. Bortniansky and A. F. Lvov. Despite their modest artistic qualities, some of Starorussky’s works, e.g. “Milost' mira” [“A mercy of peace”], “Ot unosti moyeya” [“From my youth”] and “Mnogaya leta” [“Many years”], became firmly established in the repertoire of church choirs.