Stcherbatcheff, Nicolas de

1853-

Noted composer, belonging to the new Russian School. He was born in Russia; the son of a nobleman, received a good education and had also the advantage of several years of travel. His work in recent years has attracted considerable attention, and he is looked upon as a composer of originality, although some of his critics have called him audacious, had the advantage of a period of study under Liszt at Weimar and afterward turned to composition. He has to his credit a serenade and two idylls for orchestra. Almost all of his other compositions are for the piano, although he has also written several songs. Among the best known are six settings of the poems of Tolstoi and Heine, which have called forth commendation from musicians; fantasie -etudes; impromptucaprice and a mazurka. His Fairy Scenes and Pantomimes and the fantasie-etudes show the influence of Schumann.