BORTNYANSKY Dmitry Stepanovich (1751-1825, St. Petersburg), chorister, composer, Kapellmeister, director of the Court Capella (from 1801), Actual Civil Counsellor (1806). In 1758, he was brought from Malorossiya (Eastern Ukraine) to St. Petersburg as a choirboy, enjoying the favour of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. Received musical and general education at the Capella, studied composition under B. Galuppi, and was sent with him for further instruction to Italy in 1768.Upon returning to St. Petersburg in 1779, he was appointed Kapellmeister of the Capella, for which he wrote many choral concertos, making him a classic of Russian Church Music. After 1783, he was appointed Kapellmeister of the "Small Court" of Grand Prince Pavel Petrovich, holding concerts and amateur musical performances in Pavlovsk and Gatchina, composing instrumental music and romances; in 1786-1787, he wrote three (Creonte, Alcide, and Quinto Fabio) French operas, which were performed by courtiers each year on the future Emperor's birthday. Among Bortnyansky's friends were G.R. Derzhavin, Count A.S. Stroganov (see the Stroganov Family), and I.A. Dmitrevsky. A member of the Musical Club and the Philharmonic Society, he took part in city-wide musical events, including J. Haydn oratorio The Creation (1802), and the Ludwig van Beethoven's Masses (1824). Bortnyansky was a Mason and wrote music for Masonic hymns based on poems by M.M. Kheraskov, including How Glorious is Our Lord in Zion and others. Composed over 200 musical works. As a boy, Bortnyansky most likely lived in the Corps of Court Choirboys on Novoisaakievskaya Street. In 1797, he bought and renovated the residence of Countess M.N. Skavronskaya (today 9 Millionnaya Street, since rebuilt). Buried at Smolenskoe Orthodox Cemetery, his remains were moved in 1936 to the Necropolis of Artists. 

By the second half of the eighteenth century, a number of native composers began to gain prominence in Russia. One was Maxim Berezovsky (1745-1777), who studied under Padre Martini (Mozart's teacher), and became an outstanding composer in Italy. He received the title of Maestro, with a marble plaque dedicated to him at the Bologna Academy. In 1774 he returned to Russia where he died at a young age. His works show less reliance on the Italian school, an individualized style with a more national inclination and a sense of unity and aesthetic beauty that complemented the text. Staehlin observed that among the many composers at court, Berezovsky was especially gifted, with an ability to compose in the delicate church manner, with such taste that it elicited praise from the authorities and approval from the Court. 

Quotes  from St'Petersburg encyclopedia.