Ukrainian composer Dmytro (Dmitri) Stepanovich Bortniansky was born in 1751. He was sent to sing with the Imperial Chapel Choir in St. Petersburg at age 7 and was soon learning music theory, harmony, and harpsichord. He studied in Italy and returned as a master of choral composition, blending his western education with traditional Ukrainian music. Before his death in 1825, he wrote wrote 35 choral concertos for four-part mixed choir, 10 concertos for double choirs, 14 panegyric hymns, and a many liturgical works for three and four voices and for double choirs.