Tchaikovsky
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To Forget So Soon
(Забыть так скоро)
Song with piano accompaniment (?1870).
| Catalogue References | TH 94 ; ČW 217 |
|---|---|
| Date | By October 1870 |
| Text | Aleksey Nikolayevich Apukhtin (1841–1893), from his poem of the same name (?1870) |
| Language | Russian |
| Key | F major |
| Instrumentation | High voice + Piano |
| Autograph Location | Lost |
| First Publication | Moscow: P. Jurgenson, 1870 |
| Average Duration | 3 minutes |
| Dedication | Aleksandra Panayeva-Kartsova (1853–1942) |
| External Links |
IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library
 (downloadable score)The Lied and Art Song Texts Page (text and
translations) |
History
In a letter of 26 October/7 November 1870, the composer told Ivan Klimenko: "I have written three new pieces, a romance, something for an opera, and have completely revised the overture to Romeo" [1].
The romance referred to was, evidently, To Forget so Soon. According to the memoirs of Aleksandra Panayeva-Kartsova [2], it was composed in the early 1870s. She recalled that the text of Aleksey Apukhtin’s poem was considerably altered by Tchaikovsky, which was the cause of a dispute between the two friends. The autograph of the poem, except for the third stanza, has been lost.
It is possible that the original draft of the romances was made earlier, in 1867 or 1868, since it is to be found among sketches for the opera The Voyevoda. These preserved sketches have clearly been later reworked. The most important revision came at the romance's climax—"Forget love, forget dreams...". In the definitive version of the romance, Tchaikovsky also made additional changes in the vocal part, added and removed repeats. etc.
The romance To Forget So Soon was published for the first time in November 1873 by Pyotr Jurgenson [3]. It appears to have been performed for the first time by Aleksandra Aleksandrova-Kochetova in Moscow, in the Little Hall of the Nobles’ Society, on 16/28 March 1871.
The romance is dedicated to Aleksandra Panayeva-Kartsova.
From:
Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), p. 435
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston
Notes:
- Letter 213 to Ivan Klimenko; the other works referred to were the Three Pieces, Op. 9, for piano, the opera The Oprichnik, and the overture-fantasia Romeo and Juliet [back]
- See Fyodor Malinin’s unpublished article on Apukhtin’s To Forget So Soon, which contains extracts from Aleksandra Panayeva-Kartsova’s memoirs — Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
- Passed by the censor on 25 September/7 October 1873 [back]