Daniil Kashin

Who was Daniil Kashin?

Daniil Nikititsch Kaschin was a Russian composer, pianist, conductor, and folk-song collector.

Kaschin was born the son of a serf of General Bibikov. He was a student of Giuseppe Sarti in Bessarabia in 1788. In 1790, he performed two of his own works in Moscow with a serf orchestra; Kashin went on to direct this ensemble in the 1790s. He was liberated from serfdom in 1798, and thereafter was one of the more important players in the musical life of Moscow. He often conducted concerts involving extremely large forces - choirs of 300 and orchestras of 200 players.

Kashin was a dedicated collector of Russian folk songs. He founded the Zhurnal otechestvennoy muzïki, which ran from 1806-1809, and published three volumes of Russian folk songs in his 1833-1834 Russkiye narodnïye pesni. Some of his works make use of folk melodies, patriotic themes, and other nationalistic elements.

He composed five operas, a piano concerto, additional pieces for piano, songs, and choir works. Most of his works are now lost.