Serov A.N., (1820-1871), composer

Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Personalia
SEROV Alexander Nikolaevich (1820 - 1871, St. Petersburg), composer, music critic, father of artist V.A. Serov. Graduated from the Legal School (1840), where he befriended V.V. Stasov. In 1840 he started serving in the Senate, in 1841-45 at the Ministry of Justice, and in 1855 joined the Ministry of the Interior. In 1845-50 and in 1852-54 he lived in the Crimea. From 1851 he regularly published reviews and critical notes in The Contemporary, Library for Reading, The Son of the Fatherland, Pantheon, The Illustration, The Music and Theatre Bulletin, and other magazines. In 1867 he began publishing Music and Theatre magazine (17 issues released). In the 1860s he clashed with the Stasovs and Balakiryev's Circle, and became closely acquainted with German composer R. Wagner, aspiring to explain to the public the theory behind the brave beauty of the latter's works. Serov was an excellent music-theorist, and his interpretations are still studied in conservatories. He wrote three operas for the Mariinsky Theatre: Judith (staged in 1863), Rogneda (staged in 1865) and The Power of the Fiend (staged in 1871, posthumously), all a success. Judith held out on stage for over 40 years; in the 20th century, F.I. Chaliapin played the role of Holofernes, one of the most famous in his repertoire. In the early 1860s Serov lived at 29 Ofitserskaya Street (today Dekabristov Street), where he organised musical salons on Tuesdays; in 1865-71 he lived on the corner of Bolshoy Avenue and the Fifteenth Line of Vasilievsky Island (house № 40/8, memorial plaque installed). He was buried at the Necropolis of Artists, with a bronze bust on his grave (1885, sculptor P.P. Zabello, architect L.N. Benois).

References: Серова В. С. Серовы, Александр Николаевич и Валентин Александрович: Воспоминания В. С. Серовой. СПб., 1914.

A. L. Porfiryeva. Benois Leonty Nikolaevich
Chaliapin Fedor Ivanovich
Serov Alexander Nikolaevich
Serov Valentin Alexandrovich
Stasov Vladimir Vasilievich
Wagner Richard
Zabello Parmen Petrovich
15th Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 8
Bolshoy Ave of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 40
Dekabristov St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 29
Серова В. С. Серовы, Александр Николаевич и Валентин Александрович: Воспоминания В. С. Серовой. СПб., 1914
Критические статьи: В 4 т. СПб., 1892-1895 Law School
Senate
Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Internal Affairs
Sovremennik (Contemporary), journal
Biblioteka Dlya Chteniya (The Reader's Library), journal
Syn Otechestva (Son of the Fatherland), journal
Mariinsky Theatre
Necropolis of Artists