Victor Pokrovsky

Victor Alexandrovich Pokrovsky was a choir director, translator, and music arranger. He worked for the Metropolitan Sergius (Tikhomirov) at Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Tokyo, Japan) from 1924 until 1962—except for during World War II and some of the first decade after the war. He followed in a tradition of Russian missionaries of bringing the Gospel to new people in their language. In Japan, he followed in the tradition of Ss. Innocent of Moscow and Nicholas of Japan, and of Nicholas's successor Sergius. In regard to liturgical music of the Japanese Orthodox Church, Victor Pokrovsky was to Sergius as Yakov Tikhai was to St. Nicholas. Victor successfully brought the Russian liturgical music masters to the Japanese in their own language. Metr. Sergius invited Victor, an émigré of the Russian civil war, to Tokyo to help him introduce 19th and 20th century Russian liturgical works in Japanese. Their close collaboration continued until World War II brought it to an end.

Victor was born on February 13, 1897, the first son of Fr. Alexander Andreevich and Nadezhda Petrovna (née Ismailov). His father was the priest at a church in the Suhaya Rika district near Kazan, Russia. The Pokrovskys were a priestly family. Their family name was Gremyashkin, but during the time of Tsar Paul I of Russia, Victor's priestly ancestor was given the family name of Pokrovsky by his bishop who visited his parish on the day of the Protection of the Theotokos (Pokrov).

Victor studied for four years at the Kazan Theological Seminary before entering Kazan University in 1914. As a university student he sang with the Morreff Choir, which Mr. Ivan Kolchin (later choir director of Holy Trinity Cathedral in San Francisco) also joined, and attended the conductor class at Kazan Hummert Music School. After three years of student life, he was called into the Army as an officer, but was released after the February Revolution. He then returned to the Kazan University for his fourth year.

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