Daniil Nikitich Kashin

Daniil Nikititsch Kaschin (born 1769; died December, 1841) was a Russian composer, pianist, conductor, and folk-song collector.

Kaschin was born the son of a serf of General Bibikov. He was a student of Giuseppe Sarti in Bessarabia in 1788. [ [http://www.guitarandluteissues.com/ferranti/ferranti.htm Guitar and Lute issues] ] In 1790, he performed two of his own works in Moscow with a serf orchestra; Kashin went on to direct this ensemble in the 1790s. He was liberated from serfdom in 1798, and thereafter was one of the more important players in the musical life of Moscow. He often conducted concerts involving extremely large forces - choirs of 300 and orchestras of 200 players.David Brown, "Daniil Nikitich Kashin". "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians" online]

Kashin was a dedicated collector of Russian folk songs. He founded the "Zhurnal otechestvennoy muzïki" (Journal of National Music), which ran from 1806-1809, and published three volumes of Russian folk songs in his 1833-1834 "Russkiye narodnïye pesni". Some of his works make use of folk melodies, patriotic themes, and other nationalistic elements.

He composed five operas, a piano concerto, additional pieces for piano, songs, and choir works. Most of his works are now lost.

Works [ [http://www.italianopera.org/compositori/K/c218823E.htm Italian Opera site for list] ]

Operas

*"Natalya, boyarskaya doch" was performed on October 21, 1801 in Moscow
*"Selskiy prazdnik" was performed in 1807
*"Olga prekrasnaya" was performed in Moscow on January 14, 1809
*"The One-Day Reign of Nourmahal" has been represented in 1817

Web sources