Ilya Shatrov

Ilya Alekseevich Shatrov (Russian: Илья Алексеевич Шатров; April 1, 1879 (or 1885) – May 2, 1952) was a Russian military musician, conductor and composer. He is known for composing the waltz On the Hills of Manchuria in 1906. The waltz recounts his experiences at the Battle of Mukden during the Russo-Japanese War, and he dedicated it to one of his comrades who was killed in the battle. Biography Shatrov was born in Zemlyansk, Semilukskiy, Voronezh Oblast, Russia, on 1 April 1879 to Aleksei Mikhailovich Shatrov, a retired non-commissioned officer of the Lithuanian Life Guards Regiment of the Russian Imperial Guard. In 1905, Shatrov became the bandmaster of the Mokshansky Regimental Orchestra and served in the Russo-Japanese War. In February 1905, the 214th Reserve Mokshan Infantry Regiment took part in the Battle of Mukden and Liaoyang. In one of the battles the regiment was surrounded by the Japanese and was constantly attacked by the enemy. At a critical moment, when the ammunition was already spent, the regiment commander Colonel Pavel Pobyvanets gave the order: “The banner and the orchestra will go ahead!” Kapellmeister Shatrov led the orchestra to the parapet of the trenches, g