Titov, Nikolai Alexeievich
Titov, Nikolai Alexeievich
Titov, Nikolai Alexeievich, Russian composer, son of Alexei Nikolaievich Titov; b. St. Petersburg, May 10, 1800; d. there, Dec. 22, 1875. He received a military upbringing, and, like his father, reached the rank of major general before retiring in 1867. He had no formal musical education, but took some singing lessons, and studied a manual of thoroughbass. He was a typical dilettante, but possessed a gift of melodic invention; he knew Glinka and Dargomyzhsky, who helped him to develop his ability. He wrote about 60 songs, which were extremely popular in his time; his early song Sosna (The Pine) was erroneously believed to be the first Russian art song, but it had precursors. Other of his songs that were popular include Sharfgoluboy (The Blue Scarf; 1830) and Kovarniy drug (Treacherous Friend; 1831). He wrote a curious Quadrille for Piano, 3-Hands, the treble part to be played by a beginner. Another interesting project was a “musical romance in 12 waltzes” (under the general title When I Was Young), which remained incomplete.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire