Ryazan Governorate
Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov, known as Sasha, was born on 13 April 1883 in Plakhino, a village in Ryazan Governorate south-east of Moscow. As a boy, his singing was so impressive that he traveled to Saint Petersburg to become a chorister at Kazan Cathedral. A pupil of Medtner, he studied composition at Saint Petersburg and in Moscow, where he eventually became professor of music in 1918 and choirmaster at Christ the Saviour from 1918 to 1922.