Alexander Ilyinsky was born in
Tsarskoye Selo, Russia, in 1859. His father was a physician in the
Alexander Cadet Corps. His general education was in the First Cadet Corps at
St Petersburg, and he served in the Artillery from 1877 to 1879. His music studies were in
Berlin, under
Theodor Kullak and Natanael Betcher He returned to Russia in 1885, graduated from the
St Petersburg Conservatory, His major work, the 4-act opera
The Fountain of Bakhchisaray, to a libretto based on
Alexander Pushkin's
poem, was produced in Moscow in 1911. He also wrote a symphony, a Concert Overture, He died in 1920 in Moscow.
Orgy of the Spirits, an excerpt from
The Fountain of Bakhchisaray, was used in the scores of the film
East of Java (1935), as well as the adventure serials ''
Tim Tyler's Luck (1937) and Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars'' (1938). ==References==