Tchaikovsky
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TH 221

Songs for Children

Песни для детей

Five projected songs (1883).

1. Night
   Ночь
   • Text by Aleksei Pleshcheev, from poem No. 6 in the cycle Summer Songs VI [Летние песни VI] (1862).
2. The Vampire
   Вурдалак

   • Text by Aleksandr Pushkin, from the poem No. 13  in the cycle Song of the Western Slavs [Песни западных славян] (1834).

3. The Beggars
   Нищие
   • Text by Aleksei Pleshcheev, from his poem of the same name (1861).
4. The Poor Child
   Больное дитя
   • Text by Vasilii Tumanskii, from his poem of the same name (1823).
5. The Complaint
   Жалоба
   • Text by Vasilii Tumanskii, from his poem of the same name (1823).

• Unrealised projects dating from July - October 1883.
• Written for high or medium voice (No. 1), or high voice (No. 2) with piano

History

In 1883, Tchaikovsky considered using these five songs in his set of Sixteen Songs for Children, but they were not subsequently included in that collection.

Musical sketches for Nos. 1 and 2, and textual notes for No. 3 are found among sketches for the other children’s songs. Nos. 4 and 5 are referred to in the composer’s Notebook for 1883: " "If going to write children’s songs, use two texts by Tumanskii from Old Russia), July, p. 124" [1]. Vasilii Tumanskii’s poems The Poor Child and The Complaint were both published in the July 1883 edition of the journal Old Russia [Русская старина]. No musical sketches have survived for these two projected songs.

From: The Tchaikovsky Handbook, vol. 1 (2002), p. 406
Copyright © 2002 Alexander Poznansky and Brett Langston

Notes:

1. Notebook No. 14 - Klin House-Museum Archive [back]