Boris Troianovskii

Born Apr. 3, (15), 1883, in the village of Rugodevo, in what is now Pskov Oblast; died June 12,1951, in Leningrad. Soviet virtuoso balalaika player and composer.

From 1904 to 1911, Troianovskii was a soloist in the orchestra of V. A. Andreev. He performed abroad from 1908 to 1915. In 1919 in Moscow he helped create the first professional ensemble of Russian folk instruments; conducted by P. I. Alekseev, the orchestra eventually became the N. P. Osipov State Russian Folk Orchestra. Troianovskii’s playing was distinguished by a bravura technique based on the playing methods of folk musicians.

Troianovskii wrote concert arrangements for balalaika and piano, including adaptations of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Spanish Capriccio; he also adapted Russian folk songs for the balalaika.