Tchaikovsky
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TH 182

Children's Songs on Russian and Ukrainian Melodies

Детские песнии на русские и малороссийские напевы

Compiled by Mariia Mamontova, harmonized and edited by Tchaikovsky (1872–77)

• Arranged May 1872 (set 1) and spring 1877 (set 2).
• Scored for Voice and Piano solo (2 hands).
• Set 1 comprises 24 songs; Set 2 comprises 15 songs.

History

The first set of twenty songs with harmonizations by Tchaikovsky was prepared in response to a pressing request from the compiler – Mariia Mamontova [1] – early in 1872 . In May. Tchaikovsky sent Petr Jurgenson the proofs of the songs. which appeared in print in August the same year [2].

Tchaikovsky worked on the second set of songs during the first half of 1877, but they were not published at that time. It seems that Tchaikovsky did not send off the manuscript right away, and it was subsequently mislaid [3]. In 1878 Mariia Mamontova sent him still more songs to work on, but the composer, who had worked on the first two sets with great reluctance, flatly refused the request and returned her manuscript. But he asked Petr Jurgenson to refund Mariia Mamontova the money she had lost from the second set [4]. When Jurgenson reprinted the songs in 1888, Tchaikovsky wanted his name taken off the title page of the songs, but this was not possible, and the composer had to reconcile himself to this fact [5].

Tchaikovsky was probably rather embarrassed by the nature of the songs in Mariia Mamontova's collection—ranging from ancient peasant songs to modern town songs—and which were not always accurately transcribed. It seems that Mamontova was not responsible herself for recording the songs used in both collections, which were taken from a variety of sources.

The first set was published in Moscow by A. I. Mamontov in August 1872 [6]. The second set was published for the first time in 1949 as part of the collected edition of Tchaikovsky’s works [7].

From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), p. 487–488
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston

References:

1. Mariia Aleksandrovna Mamontova (1845–1904, b. Lyalina) was the wife of Anatolii Ivanovich Mamontov (1839–1905), a Russian publisher, translator and art collector. The family also owned the Moscow Children's Education Workshop in Moscow, where various toys for children were manufactured, including the famous "Matryoshka" dolls.
2. See letter 258 to Petr Jurgenson, 16/28 May 1872 [back]
3. See letter 660 to Nikolai Kashkin, 26 November/8 December 1877 [back]
4. See letter 872 to Petr Jurgenson, 18/30 July 1878 [back]
5. See letters 3639 and 3646 to Petr Jurgenson, 9/21 and 14/26 August 1888, and also from Petr Jurgenson to Modest Tchaikovsky, 10/23 September 1901 — Klin House Museum Archive [back]
6. Passed by the censor on 26 August 1872. Reprinted by Jurgenson in 1888 [back]
7. P. I. Tchaikovsky, Полное собрание сочинений, том 61 (1949) [back]