Tchaikovsky
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Three Choruses
(Три хора)
For unaccompanied voices (1891).
No. 1. Tis Not the Cuckoo in the Damp Pinewood (Не кукушечка во сыром бору)
| Catalogue References | TH 87 ; ČW 74 (as "It's Not the Cuckoo in the Damp Pinewood") |
|---|---|
| Date | February 1891. |
| Text | Nikolay Grigoryevich Tsyganov (1797–1831) |
| Language | Russian |
| Key | E minor |
| Tempo/Section Listing | Moderato mosso (E minor, 81 bars) |
| Instrumentation | Chorus (SATB) |
| First Performance | Saint Petersburg, 23 April/5 May 1891, conducted by Fyodor Bekker |
| Autograph Location | Lost |
| First Publication | Moscow: P. Jurgenson, 1895 |
| Average Duration | 3 minutes |
| Dedication | To the Free Choral Class of Ivan Aleksandrovich Melnikov (1832–1906) |
| External Links | IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library
 (downloadable score) |
No. 2. Why Did the Merry Voice Grow Silent? (Что смолкнул веселия глас?)
| Catalogue References | TH 87 ; ČW 75 (as "Why Did the Merry Voices Grow Silent?") |
|---|---|
| Date | February 1891. |
| Text | Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799–1837), from his poem Bacchic Song (Бакхическая песня) (1825) |
| Language | Russian |
| Key | G minor |
| Tempo/Section Listing | Moderato assai (G minor, 48 bars) |
| Instrumentation | Chorus (TTBB) |
| First Performance | Saint Petersburg, 23 April/5 May 1891, conducted by Fyodor Bekker |
| Autograph Location | Lost |
| First Publication | Moscow: P. Jurgenson, 1894 |
| Average Duration | 2 minutes |
| Dedication | To the Free Choral Class of Ivan Aleksandrovich Melnikov (1832–1906) |
| External Links | IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library
(downloadable score) The Lied and Art Song Texts Page
(text and translations) |
No. 3. Without Time, Without Season (Без поры да без времени)
| Catalogue References | TH 87 ; ČW 76 |
|---|---|
| Date | February 1891. |
| Text | Nikolay Grigoryevich Tsyganov (1797–1831) |
| Language | Russian |
| Key | E minor |
| Tempo/Section Listing | Andante con moto (E minor, 80 bars) |
| Instrumentation | Chorus (SSAA) |
| First Performance | Saint Petersburg, 23 April/5 May 1891, conducted by Fyodor Bekker |
| Autograph Location | Lost |
| First Publication | Moscow: P. Jurgenson, 1894 |
| Average Duration | 2 minutes |
| Dedication | To the Free Choral Class of Ivan Aleksandrovich Melnikov (1832–1906) |
| External Links | IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library
(downloadable score) |
History
Written in February 1891 at Frolovskoye, at the request of Ivan Melnikov, for his Free Choral Class (according to Modest Tchaikovsky, the manuscript scores for all three pieces bear the date 14/26 February 1891) [1]. As soon as the choruses had been written, Tchaikovsky sent them to Ivan Melnikov, who in a letter of 20 February/4 March 1891, enthusiastically thanked Tchaikovsky for the contribution, and sought permission to publish the parts in lithograph, evidently under the impression that the rights to publish the full score belonged to Pyotr Jurgenson [2].
Tchaikovsky's letter of reply, which has not survived, evidently explained that the choruses were wholly the property of Ivan Melnikov, and that he may publish them in his collection [3]. The choruses were quickly learned and performed with success at a concert given by the choral class on 23 April/4 May 1891, in the City Council Chamber in Saint Petersburg, as Ivan Melnikov reported to Tchaikovsky in a letter of 11/23 June 1891 [4].
The choruses are dedicated to Ivan Melnikov's Free Choral Class, which was instructed by Fyodor Bekker. They were published by Pyotr Jurgenson in 1894–1895, and ‘Tis Not the Cuckoo in the Damp Pinewood in Melnikov's collection Russian choruses for mixed voices [Русские хоры для смешанных голоса] (Part 1, No. 7); The Merry Voice Grew Silent in Melnikov’s collection Russian choruses for men's voices [Русские хоры для мужских голосов] (No. 1); and Without Time, Without Season in Melnikov’s collection Russian choruses for women's voices [Русские хоры для женских голосов] (No. 6).
From:
Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), p. 358
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston
Notes:
- Modest Tchaikovsky, Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского, том 3 (1902), p. 503. The whereabouts of the manuscript scores are currently unknown [back]
- Letter from Ivan Melnikov to Tchaikovsky, 20 February/4 March 1891 — Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
- See letter from Ivan Melnikov to Tchaikovsky, 13/25 March 1891 — Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
- Letter from Ivan Melnikov to Tchaikovsky, 11/23 June 1891 — Klin House-Museum Archive. See also the yearbook Обзор деятельности бесплатного хорового класса И. А. Мельникова, под управлением Ф. Ф. Беккер, за первый сезон 1890–1891 года (1891) [back]