Ivan Khandoshkin

Born 1747; died Mar. 18 (30), 1804, in St. Petersburg. Russian violinist, composer, conductor, teacher, and collector of folk songs.

In the early 1760’s, Khandoshkin became a chamber musician at the imperial court in St. Petersburg. He was a founder of the Russian school of violin performance and the greatest Russian virtuoso of the second half of the 18th century. Renowned as an improviser and as a performer of Russian folk songs, he also played the seven-string guitar and the balalaika. Khandoshkin composed numerous works for violin, piano, viola, guitar, and orchestra. His violin compositions, some of which have been lost, helped establish the Russian style of instrumental concert performance. Khandoshkin created a genre of violin music with his Russian Songs and Variations, the first collection of which appeared in 1781.