Tchaikovsky
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Two Songs

Две песни

With piano accompaniment (1873).

No. 1. Take My Heart Away (Уноси мое сердце)

Catalogue References	TH 96 ; ČW 224
Date	(?)September 1873.
Text	Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet (1820–1892), from his poem To a Songstress (Певице) (1857)
Language	Russian
Key	A minor
Tempo/Section Listing	Allegro moderato (A minor, 66 bars)
Instrumentation	Medium voice + Piano
Autograph Location	Lost
First Publication	Saint Petersburg: M. Bernard, 1873
Average Duration	2 minutes
External Links	IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library (downloadable score) The Lied and Art Songs Text Page (text and translations)

No. 2. Blue Eyes of Spring (Глазки весны голубые)

Catalogue References	TH 96 ; ČW 225
Date	(?)September 1873
Text	Mikhail Larionovich Mikhaylov (1829–1865), from an untitled poem in the cycle New Spring (Новая весна) (1857) — a translation from the German of Die blauen Frühlingsaugen (1831) by Heinrich Heine (1797–1856)
Language	Russian
Key	A major
Tempo/Section Listing	Allegro grazioso, ma non tanto (A major, 103 bars)
Instrumentation	Medium voice + Piano
Autograph Location	Lost
First Publication	Saint Petersburg: M. Bernard, 1873
Average Duration	3 minutes
External Links	IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library (downloadable score) The Lied and Art Songs Text Page (text and translations)

History

The origins of these two romances are unknown. They were first published individually in the November 1873 and January 1874 editions of the journal Nuvellist respectively [1].

They were later published independently by Nikolay Bernard with other works, and reprinted by Pyotr Jurgenson in October 1885 [2].

Some of the words of the poem Blue Eyes of Spring (No. 2) were altered by Tchaikovsky.

From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), pp. 438–439
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston

Notes:

1. Both songs were passed by the censor on 29 September/11 October 1873 [back]
2. Both songs were passed by the censor on 2/14 September 1885 [back]