Get this: there’s actually a pupil of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov buried outside Six Flags Great Adventure.

That’s right, Alexander Gretchaninov, who began composing in pre-revolutionary Russia, opted to decompose in New Jersey.

Gretchaninov, born on this date in 1864, wrote five symphonies, four string quartets, two piano trios, sonatas for violin, cello, clarinet and balalaika, several operas and numerous other works.

He claimed not even to have seen a piano until the age of 14, when he entered the Moscow Conservatory. He did so without the approval or even the knowledge of his father, a businessman who wholly expected his son to take over the family firm.

Gretchaninov studied there with Sergei Taneyev (who had studied with Tchaikovsky) and Anton Arensky. After a quarrel with Arensky, he moved to St. Petersburg to study with Arensky’s teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov.

By that point, Gretchaninov’s parents had basically disowned him. Rimsky, who recognized the teenager’s extraordinary talent, devoted extra time to his instruction and even assumed the role of a surrogate father, helping to support him financially. The two formed an intimate bond which lasted until Rimsky’s death in 1908.

Gretchaninov returned to Moscow and wrote quite a bit of music for the theater and the Russian Orthodox Church. He achieved such acclaim that in 1910 the Tsar awarded him an annual pension.

After the Revolution, Gretchaninov hung on for about eight years. Eventually he decided he’d had enough and left for France in 1925. In 1939, at the age of 75, he settled in the United States. He finally became an American citizen.

He died in New York in 1956, at the age of 91. His remains are buried outside the church at Rova Farms, a Russian enclave in Jackson Township, Ocean County. One hopes he was buried deep enough that the lions don’t get him.

Happy Birthday, Alexander Gretchaninov!

Here’s sampler of Gretchaninov’s liturgical music:

And a cross-section of his symphonies: