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TH 67

Cantata for the Opening of the Polytechnic Exhibition

Кантата на открытие Политехнической выставке

For tenor solo, chorus and orchestra (1872).

  • Text by Iakov Polonskii.
  • Composed February - March 1872 (for the opening of the Moscow Polytechnic Exhibition, commemorating the bicentenary of the birth of Peter the Great).
  • Scored for tenor solo, SATB chorus + piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in B-flat, A), 2 bassoons, 4 horns (F), 2 trumpets (D, E), 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, side drum, cymbals, bass drum, violins I, violins II, violas, cellos, double basses.
  • First performed in Moscow, Polytechnic Exhibition, 31 May/12 June 1872, conducted by Karl Davydov, tenor soloist Aleksandr Dodonov.
  • Average duration: 32m.

History

At the end of 1871 (November or December) Tchaikovsky received a request from the musical organisers of Polytechnic Exhibition in Moscow to write a cantata in connection the Exhibition, which was being arranged to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Peter the Great [1]. The text of the cantata was to be supplied by the poet Iakov Polonskii. Because of Tchaikovsky’s travels abroad, the text of the cantata was only delivered to him upon his return to Saint Petersburg at the end of January 1872 [2]. A condition stipulated by the organisers was that the completed manuscript should be handed over to them not later than 1 April 1872, and it must be supposed that Tchaikovsky met this deadline.

The cantata was performed on 31 May 1872 at the opening of the Exhibition in Moscow, under a specially-erected marquee at the Trinity Bridge. The conductor was Karl Davydov, and the solo part was performed by Aleksandr Dodonov [3]. Tchaikovsky attended the performance, and on 2 June he wrote to Karl Davydov [4]: "The need for me to leave Moscow on 31 May prevented me from congratulating you on your efforts and benevolent attention to my cantata. This troubled me, and I had to write this quick note to express to you my most sincere gratitude. I heard the cantata from below [the bridge], not wishing to become an object of general curiosity" [5].

The cantata was performed again on 14 June at a grand concert held at the Bol’shoi Theatre. The soloist was again Aleksandr Dodonov, but the name of the conductor was not advertised on the concert bill. It seems likely that this would have been Karl Davydov once again.

To date, the autograph score has not been discovered. It was formerly preserved in the library of the Bol’shoi Theatre in Moscow [6]. In 1900, when Modest Tchaikovsky wanted to publish the cantata, it could not be found in the theatre library. However, some years previously the librarian A. Farskii had used the orchestral and choral parts to put together the full score [7], and this was acquired by Modest Tchaikovsky [8].

At Modest Tchaikovsky’s request, Iurii Pomerantsev made a piano arrangement from the full score compiled by A. Farskii. Sergei Taneev wrote about the arrangement to Modest Tchaikovsky: "Two days ago I returned from Iusha [Pomerantsev], bringing the cantata with me, but the parts still have to be written out, and the markings added" [9].

On 5 June 1902, Modest Tchaikovsky wrote to [10]: "I had Iusha bring along your work to me... As a result I am now familiar with the cantata. I am glad that Kashkin was not mistaken when he said that Petia borrowed one of the themes for his Third Symphony (the humorous fanfare in the symphony’s scherzo). The first half of it comes from the finale of the First Symphony. I do not agree with Iusha that this is a bad thing - it brings me great pleasure, and great satisfaction. On the manuscript of Iurii Pomerantsev’s arrangement is the date: "1902. 28 March".

In 1904, Aleksandr Ziloti wrote to Modest Tchaikovsky: "Petr Il’ich’s cantata is going ahead, probably on 8 January" [11]. This performance of the cantata did indeed take place at a concert organised by Ziloti on 8 January 1905, in the hall of the Nobles’ Society (now the Philharmonia) in Saint Petersburg. The conductor was Aleksandr Ziloti, and the solo performer F. L. Senius.

From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), pp. 344-346
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston

Text

The Soviet edition which appeared as part of Tchaikovsky's Collected Works, under the title Cantata to Commemorate the Bicentenary of the Birth of Peter the Great (P. I. Tchaikovsky, Полное собрание сочинении, том 27 (1960), pp. 189-337) is a reconstruction from the original orchestral and choral parts by Andrei Kovalev, and with a heavily revised text by S. M. Gorodetskii and A. I. Mashistov. The statement of the hymn God Save the Tsar is excised from the published score, and also from the only two recordings of the cantata (see the Discography), which both use quite different versions of the texts. Thus the cantata has yet to be published or recorded in its original form.

Polonskii's original text was published in M. I. Tchaikovsky, Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского, том 1 (1900), pp. 382-385. and is reproduced below:

Solo and Chorus (Andante)

Как сквозь ночной, туманный неба свод.
Далеких звезд мелькает хоровод,
Так в глубине неясной древних лет
Мелькает нам былин бродячий свет.

As the constellations of distant stars.
Flash through the misty firmament at night.
So in the obscure depths of years gone by,
The vacillating light of legends flashes before us.

То богатырь, то страшный чародей,
То на дубаx разбойник соловей
То княжний мир, то веча гам и вой
То раз лампад в пещерах под горой,
И слышатся – то песен голоса,
То скитников святые словеса.

Here a warrior knight, here a fearsome sorcerer,
Now the brigand nightingale in the oak trees,
Now a princely feast, now the hubbub and shouting of the vech,
Now a line of icon-lamps in caves beneath the mountain.
And we hear voices singing and the sacred words of monks.

Chorus (Moderato)

То было зерно нашеи Руси заветное,
Его затоптала орда – рать несметная.
Курганы росли, кровью Русь наливалася,
Зерно ее тихо на свет пробивалося!

That was the cherished seed of our Rus
But the Tartar horde, that army without number trampled her under foot.
The burial mounds grew, Rus was drenched in blood
But that seed quietly forced its way into the light!

Chorus (Allegro moderato e maestoso)

Взошла Москва с макушкой золотой!
Опять война и льется кровь рекой.

Golden-roofed Moscow rose up!
Again there is war and blood flows in rivers.

Solo (L'istesso tempo)

Набатный звой, набег или пожар,
И нарь Иван, и подвиги бояр.
От казнеи смрад, от погоревших гарь.
Мятнежный год и самозванный царь.
Но, может быть, от етих злых отцов
Осталось нам наследие годов
И не один богатый клад зарыт.

The tocsin bell, a raid or a fire.
And Tsar Ivan, and the exploits of the boyars.
The stench of execution, the burning of the victims.
A restless year and a self-proclaimed tsar.
But perhaps these savage fathers
Have bequeathed to us the heritage of years,
And more than one rich treasure lies buried.

Chorus (L'istesso tempo)

Там, где река бежит.
Где темный бор шумит.
Пойдем, и стар, и млад,
Искать зарытый клад!

There, where the river flows quickly.
Where the dark pine forest rustles.
Let us go, young and old,
To seek out that buried treasure!

Chorus (Moderato)

Оцы завешали нам Русь полудикую,
Но веру и терпенье и в силу великую,
В распятого Бога, молитву сердечную.
С людьми, да с природой борьбу вековечную.

Our fathers bequeathed to us a semi-barbarous Rus,
But also a great belief in patience, in great strength,
In the crucified Christ, in heartfelt prayer,
And in the eternal struggle with people and with nature.

Solo (Andante non tanto)

Ужели вновь бороться и страдать
И для молитв в пустыни убегать?
Искать в глуши таинственных лесов
Убежище от злобы и врагов,
Мечи точить, спасая города.
Переносить голодные года.
Не унывать и гибнуть в цвете лет.
Ужель таков отцов святой завет?

Can it be that we must fight and suffer again,
And for our prayers to flee into the wilderness?
And there, in the seclusion of mysterious forests
To seek out a refuge from malice and from enemies.
To sharpen our swords while rescuing our towns,
To endure years of hunger without losing heart
And perishing in the bloom of our years.
Can that be the sacred bidding of our fathers?

Chorus (Moderato)

Завещан простор нам в себе замыкающий
Юг бечно цветыщий и серев петающий,
Восток с его тайнами и запад, и множество
Путей от беды, от вражды и убожества

We were bequeathed a vast land that contains within it
An ever-blossoming South, a North of eternal snows,
An East with its mysteries, and a West, with many ways
To avert woes, enmity and wretchedness.

Solo (Andante cantabile)

Но кто, прости нам Царь небесный.
Кто обретет сей путь чудесный?
Кто на пути к такому кладу
Перешагнет невежд преграду?
Кто так велик, чтоб дух суровый
Народа вызвать к жизни новой?

But who, forgive us King of Heaven.
Who will find this wondrous path?
Who on the pathway to that treasure
Will cross the obstacle of ignoramuses?
Who is so great that he can summon
The stern spirit of the people to a new life?

Chorus (Moderato)

О, был етот гений, был царь и работник.
Он был мореплаватель, слесарь и плотник
Учась, он учил и божественно смело,
Им начато было народное дело.

O, he was a genius, he was tsar and a worker.
He was a seafarer, a metalworker and a carpenter.
As he studied, he taught, and with divine audacity,
he laid the foundations of the people's cause.

Solo (Andante)

Его нослал нам Царь Небесный,
Он указал нам путь чудесный.
Велик он был, он дух суровый
Народа вызвал к жизни новой
Но умер Великий и умерло дело
И к свету из мрака идем мы несмело.
Гордыне послушны, как дети мы свищем.
Ни громкого дела, ни славы не ищем!

The King of Heaven sent him to us
And he showed us the wondrous path.
He was Great and he summoned the stern spirit
Of the people to a new life.
But the Great tsar died and his cause died too.
Our passage from darkness into light was timid.
Remaining aloof, we sat whistling like children.
We sought neither clamorous deeds nor glory!

Chorus (Allegro giusto)

На русском престоле нотомок великого,
И Руси произвола не любит он дикого,
Ни рабства безглаcного, ни лени, позорящей
Народ, борьбы его стоящий!

On the Russian throne the descendant of the Great tsar
Loves not wild and arbitrary rule in Rus.
Nor mute slavery, nor sloth that disgraces
The people who are worthy of the struggle.

Chorus (Allegro molto)

Чтобы к счастью прамей нам шла дорога,
Благослови трыд народа. Помазанник Бога.
Да ликует мир, да царит ввек свобода!

So that our road towards happiness might be the more direct
Be grateful for the labours of the people, the annointed soverign of God.
Let peace rejoice, may freedom reign forevermore!

English translation ©1999 Philip Taylor

Notes:
  1. M. I. Tchaikovsky, Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского, том 1 (1900), pp. 375-377 [back]
  2. Letter from H. A. Laroche to Tchaikovsky, 7/19 January 1872 - Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
  3. M. I. Tchaikovsky, Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского, том 1 (1900), p. 377 [back]
  4. Letter 264 to Karl Davydov, 2/14 June 1872 [back]
  5. Part of the audience was accommodated in a stand, the remainder listed from the garden - see Московские ведомости (1872), No. 136 and M. I. Tchaikovsky, Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского, том 1 (1900), p. 378 [back]
  6. See letter 2219 to Petr Jurgenson, 6/18 February 1883 [back]
  7. Farskii’s manuscript score carries the notes: "September 19th 1896", "Moscow, May 4th 1897" and "Completed in Moscow July 21st 1898, using the orchestral parts and a copy of the printed text. A. Farskii [back]
  8. See letters from Boris Jurgenson to Modest Tchaikovsky of 8/21 December and 12/25 December 1900 - Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
  9. Undated letter from Sergei Taneev to Modest Tchaikovsky - Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
  10. Letter from Modest Tchaikovsky to Sergei Taneev, 5/18 June 1902 - Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
  11. Letter from Aleksandr Ziloti to Modest Tchaikovsky, 11/24 May 1904 - Klin House-Museum Archive [back]