BORTNIANSKY Dmitri

Bio

Dmytro Bortniansky (1751 – 1825) was an Ukrainian composer and conductor of Rusyn descent. A unique and influential figure in Russian and Ukrainian music, Dimitry Bortnyansky was primarily known for his sacred choral concertos and multi-movement a cappella compositions that both struck out new paths for various combinations of tutti and solo voices and helped Westernize the Eastern Slavonic tradition. He also wrote many hymns, which, like his choral concertos, gained wide currency throughout late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century Europe. Bortnyansky wrote 55 surviving choral concertos (at least 23 others are lost), and also composed operas, keyboard sonatas, and chamber works.