Andreev V.V., (1861-1918) musician

Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Personalia
ANDREEV Vasily Vasilievich (1861-1918, Petrograd), musician, pedagogue, virtuoso balalaika-player, inventor of the instrument's concert version, creator of various "national instrument" ensembles and orchestras whose repertoire, arrangement, and performance style he directed, and promoter of this type of musical art. Collegiate Counsellor (1907), soloist for His Imperial Majesty (1914). Graduated from the Bezhetskaya Gymnasium. Lived in St. Petersburg from 1884. Under his guidance, instrument-craftsman F.S. Paserbsky first designed a 12-fret chromatic balalaika in 1886, and then several concert versions (piccolo, viola and bass). In 1887, Andreev founded a Circle of Amateurs Balalaika-Players (ensemble of eight musicians). On 22 March 1888 his first concert at the Loan Society took place (7 Ostrovskogo Square; memorial plaque installed); this performance and the ones that followed scored huge success. In 1889, concerts at the World Exhibition in Paris brought Andreev and his Circle wide European acclaim. In 1892, Andreev was elected honorary member of French Academy of Fine Arts. In 1896, the Circle was transformed into the All-Russian Orchestra. Its repertoire included adaptations of Russian national songs, works by Andreev (waltzes, polonaises), and popular arrangements of classics. In 1903, the orchestra came under the patronage of His Imperial Majesty; in 1914-17, it maintained its "Imperial" title and received annual subsidies from His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery (25,000 Roubles). In late 1917 it became a state orchestra; in 1923, it was named after Andreev, and in 1936 came to be known as the Andreev Orchestra of Folk Instruments of the Leningrad State Philharmonic. It ceased to exist in December 1941. Until October 1917, benefit performances by Andreev and his orchestra were given at the Mariinsky Theatre and at the Noble Assembly Hall in the presence of the Imperial family, gathering the capital's high society. From the 1890s, Andreev was in charge of teaching folk music to the Guard units, and organising balalaika courses at railway schools and for village teachers. He published two books, including Balalaika Performance Hand-Book, or the Quick-Reference Guide to Establish an All-Russian Orchestra (Petrograd, 1916), and others. He lived at 77 Nevsky Prospect (the mid-1890s), 13-15 Panteleimonovskaya (today Pestelya) Street (early 1900s), and from 1912 until his death at 64 Moika River Embankment (memorial plaque installed). Buried at Necropolis of Artists.

References: В. В. Андреев: Материалы и док. / Сост. Б. Б. Грановский. М., 1986; В. В. Андреев в зеркале русской прессы, 1888-1917. СПб., 1998.

A. L. Porfiryeva. Andreev Vasily Vasilievich
Paserbsky Franz Stanislavovich
Moika River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 64
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city, house 77
Ostrovsky Square/Saint Petersburg, city, house 7
Pestelya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 15
Pestelya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 13
В. В. Андреев: Материалы и док. / Сост. Б. Б. Грановский. М., 1986
В. В. Андреев в зеркале русской прессы, 1888-1917. СПб., 1998 Mariinsky Theatre
Necropolis of Artists
1888