He was a Romantic period composer, singer and pianist born in Tolbolsk, Siberia, Russia, to a wealthy family. After completing his studies he served in the military in the Patriotic War of 1812 and remained in service until 1823, where he had risen to officer status and received two awards for courage.
In 1820 he began to write works for the theatre and in 1834 his Ukrainian folk melodies publication was issued.
He moved to Moscow in 1824 and in 1825 he was sent to prison after an incident one night where there had been gambling and a man had died. Fortunately he was acquitted of murder and he was allowed to return to Moscow after having been sent to Siberia in exile.
His compositions include the operas The Water Nymph and The Enchanted Night, the ballet Magic Drum, The Nightingale, 20 musical comedies, choral works, numerous love songs, and chamber works that include piano trios, Variations on the Russian theme “In the Garden”, a quintet and String Quartet in E flat major.
He died aged 64 in Moscow.
Quintet
Fine Arts Brass Ensemble
Nimbus NI 5645 (CD: Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition with works by Glnka, Bohme & Alabiev)
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Alyabyev
- http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/artist/artist.cgi?ARTISTID=1081516&TMPL=LONG#bio
- http://www.vor.ru/English/MTales/tales_084.html
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/1437102-%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80-%D0%90%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%B1%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2
- http://www.allmusic.com/artist/alexander-alyabyev-mn0001193619/biography