Pyotr Shchurovsky

Pyotr Andreyevich Shchurovsky (; 12/24 February 1850 – 14/27 September 1908) was a Russian conductor and composer known for composing the music of Sansoen Phra Barami. Life Shchurovsky was born on 12 February 1850, in Zolotonoshsky Uyezd, Poltava Governorate into a noble family. He spent his early life in Moscow and was interested in instruments and music when he was young. He studied piano and music theory at the Moscow Conservatory, whose director at the time was Nikolai Rubinstein. During that time he also befriended Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, his teacher. After finishing, he began conducting at the Imperial Theatres in Moscow and organised concerts and musical lectures. He was the organizer of musical education in Poltava, where he also tutored Ukrainian composer . In 1870, he became an opera band leader in Kharkiv. Later, he became the head of the Bolshoi Theatre, one of the most famous music theatres in Russia but then resigned to continue giving lectures on music. He dedicated his romance “To You, My Friend” to his long-time friend, , a famous Bolshoi Theatre soloist and baritone in Russia. Shchurovsky, Khokhlov, and Tchaikovsky were, according to his wife’s memoirs, reported