Tchaikovsky
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TH 18

The Barber of Seville

Севильский циргюльник

Music for Count Almaviva's couplets in Beaumarchais' comedy (1872).

• Composed January or February 1872.
• Text by Pierre Beaumarchais. Russian translation by Mikhail Sadovskii.
• Scored for Tenor solo; Violin I; Violin II.
• First performed in Moscow, 12/24 February 1872.
• Average duration: 1m 45s

History

Composed early in 1872. for a student production of Beaumarchais’ The Barber of Seville at the Moscow Conservatory. Tchaikovsky composed music for Count Almaviva's couplets (for tenor. accompanied by two violins).

The production took place on 12/24 February 1872 at the Moscow Conservatory. No information survives concerning further performances of the couplets during Tchaikovsky's lifetime.

In 1900 the couplets were published by the firm of Petr Jurgenson.

From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), p. 192
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston