Nikolai Zaremba

Until 2010 almost nobody knew what he had composed.

Nikolai Zaremba studied at Saint Petersburg State University. Training under Anton Gerke is recorded. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Ella Adayevskaya and Karel van Ark are recorded as having studied under Nikolai Zaremba. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classical music. Places of work recorded in the authority are Saint Petersburg. Employment is recorded with Saint Petersburg Conservatory.

Zaremba was born in a Polish noble family on the family estate Ozupiene in the countryside of Vitebsk Governorate, at one time Polish Livonia, nowadays Ludza Municipality in Latvia. His birth date according to the Russian Biographical Dictionary was 3/15 June 1821 (however, the date shown on his gravestone is 31 May/12 June 1821). He went to grammar school in Daugavpils. During his law study (1840-1844) at the Saint Petersburg Imperial University, Anton Gerke was his piano teacher; Johann Benjamin Gross became his cello and theory teacher. He composed a Concert-Overture for full orchestra (1842), influenced by Beethoven (the premiere was held in the hall of the University of December 28, 1842, conducted by Karl Schubert); around 1843 a mazurka, influenced by Frédéric Chopin. Zaremba was appointed at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He escaped from a transport to Siberia after he had joined the utopian Petrashevsky Circle, just like Dostoevsky. When his father, a colonel in the army, died Zaremba changed his goal. In 1852 he moved to Berlin and studied composition under Adolf Bernhard Marx. He met with Franz Liszt and Hans von Bülow, a famous director. In 1854 he left Germany. Zaremba started a career as cantor of the Lutheran Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, after he married the Lutheran Jacobine Philippine Adeleide von Klugen. In 1860 he joined the Russian Musical Society. • Illustration — Saint Petersburg Conservatory He was appointed as one of the professors at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory when it was founded in 1862. Zaremba taught composition and harmony in the Russian language, then not very common. In 1867, he succeeded Anton Rubinstein as director of the conservatory. (For a while Modest Mussorgsky lived at Zaremba's brother's house.) In 1871 Zaremba moved to Ludwigsburg, after a conflict with Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was appointed as his successor. Zaremba composed most of his piano works and the oratorio in Württemberg. He returned to the Russian Empire after two years. Then Vasily Safonov became his (private) pupil. In 1878 he had a stroke and died the following year; he was buried at Volkovo Cemetery. His wife and daughters moved to Clarens, Switzerland, near Montreux, with many of his compositions, which were given to Basel University and traced in 2010. His daughter Lydia Zaremba was married to Theo Heemskerk, a Dutch politician. Zaremba's life and work was studied by Andrey Alexeev-Boretsky, a librarian and musicologist at the St. Peterburg conservatory. A small exhibition was held, commemorating its founders after 150 years. The Dutch online radio station Concertzender, recorded some of his music.

• Two overtures, 1 string quartet, 9 piano works, many choir works, and an oratorio John the Baptist.

Nikolai Zaremba is recorded as composer, music educator, musicologist, music theorist and music teacher.