 Born in St. Petersburg, Shcherbachov was an uncle of fellow composer Vladimir Vladimirovich Shcherbachov, who was a second cousin of Andrei Vladimirovich Shcherbachov (1869–1916).Beginning in 1871 he was associated with "The Five" (or, more broadly, the Balakirev circle).He composed piano pieces, songs, and works for orchestra.