Matvei VielGorskii

Viel’Gorskii, Matvei Lur’evich 

(also V’el’gorskii and Vel’gorskii). Born Apr. 15 (26), 1794, in St. Petersburg; died Feb. 21 (Mar. 5), 1866, in Nice; buried in St. Petersburg. A count; Russian cellist and music figure.

Viel’gorskii organized evenings of symphonic and chamber music together with his brother, Mikhail lur’evich Viel’gorskii (1788-1856). The home of the Viel’gorskii brothers was the center of St. Petersburg’s musical life beginning in 1826 (as it had been in Moscow from 1823 to 1825). Viel’gorskii was the first prominent Russian cello soloist, and he took part in quartets. He was one of the organizers of the Symphony Society (during the second half of the 1840’s) and the Concert Society (1850) in St. Petersburg, as well as one of the founders and first directors of the Russian Music Society (1859).

REFERENCE

Ginzburg, L. “M. lu. Vel’gorskii.” In his book Istoriia violonchel’nogo iskusstva, book 2: Russkoe violonchel’noe iskusstvo do 60-kh godov XIX veka. Moscow, 1957. Pages 278-330. (See also the name index.)