Tchaikovsky
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TH 102

Six Duets

Шесть дуетов

With piano accompaniment, Op. 46 (1880).

• Composed June - August 1880.
• Scored for soprano and mezzo-soprano (Nos. 1, 3, 4, 6), soprano and tenor (No. 5) and soprano and baritone (No. 2) with piano.
• No. 6 was orchestrated by Tchaikovsky in December 1889. This version is scored for soprano, mezzo-soprano soloists + 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (A), 2 bassoons, 4 horns (F), violins I, violins II, violas, cellos, double basses. First performed in Saint Petersburg, 17/29 December 1889, by Evgeniia Mravina and Nina Fride, conducted by Eduard Nápravník.
• Average duration: 27m (set).

History

Written at Kamenka and Simaki in July and August 1880. While correcting proofs of the opera The Maid of Orleans in May and June 1880, Tchaikovsky considered writing a vocal work [2]. On 5 June he told Nadezhda von Meck: "Yesterday I started to compose some small vocal pieces, and began with a duet to words to A. K. Tolstoi's Passion Spent" [3]. In this same letter he wrote of his intention to use verses by the poet Ivan Surikov ("He was quite a talented man, and his pieces are shot through with genuine sentiment") for his future work. References to work on the duets is also found in a letter to Karl Albrecht of 21 June [4].

On 10 July, Tchaikovsky wrote from Simaki to Nadezhda von Meck that he was making fair copies of the "the romances for two voices written at Kamenka" [5]. Returning to Kamenka, the composer completed the fair copies of the duets, and also the fair copies of the Seven Romances, Op. 47, written at Brailov and Simaki. Duets Nos. 1 and 2 were written on separate sheets, but the remaining duets are together one after another. On 24 August he wrote to Petr Jurgenson and Sergei. Taneev that he had completed the duets and romances and would be sending them to Jurgenson via Anatolii Tchaikovsky [6] (who left Kamenka on 30 August).

Finally, at the end of August, Tchaikovsky informed Nadezhda von Meck that he had completed the fair copies of the vocal pieces and sent them to Petr Jurgenson [7].

Out of all the duets, Tchaikovsky greatly favoured Tears (No. 3). In a letter of 3 July 1881, he wrote to Nadezhda von Meck: "The Scottish Ballad is also among my favourite offspring, but I am quite certain, alas, that it will never be performed as I imagined. It must not be sung, but declaimed quickly and with great passion" [8].

One further reference to the duets survives, in a letter of 4 June 1881 to Sergei Flerov. The latter approved of the duets, but criticised the "impossible words" of the Scottish Ballad (No. 2), and made remarks concerning the duet Dawn (No. 6): "in the second edition you need to change just one word in No. 6, namely: ‘Well, pray quickly’. This ‘well, pray’ is terribly odd. It would be better to put ‘O, pray’ [9]. Although he took exception to the first remark, the composer agreed with the second: "With regard to ‘well, pray’, your comment is absolutely right, and I shall certainly attend to this matter, if and when the second edition is printed" [10]. However, in the next edition this passage remained unchanged.

In the Scottish Ballad (No. 2), five stanzas of Aleksei Tolstoi’s poem were omitted, as was the refrain "Mother, my mother" before each repeated word in Edward’s retort.

The duet In the Garden, By the Ford (No. 4) sets the title to the tune of a Ukrainian folk song.

The duets were published by Petr Jurgenson in April 1881 [11].  All the duets are dedicated to Tat'iana Davydova.

The duet Dawn (No. 6) was orchestrated by Tchaikovsky at the request of Nina Fride and Evgeniia Mravina for a royal command performance which took place on 17 December 1889, conducted by Eduard Nápravník. According to Nina Fride, the duet was orchestrated by Tchaikovsky in just one night [12].

The request to orchestrate the duet was made to Tchaikovsky in a letter from Nina Fride of 11 November 1889: "I ask a big favour from you, which I hope you will not refuse. For our concert tour, Evgeniia Konstantinovna Mravina and I have chosen your duet Dawn. Would you be so kind and obliging as to orchestrate it, if at all possible, without delay, i.e. the concert is due to take place very soon, on 20 November" [13]. Later that month, Evgeniia Mravina repeated Nina Fride’s request, and told Tchaikovsky that the concert had been postponed until the beginning of December" [14].

On the manuscript of the orchestration, the composer added the notes "E. K. Mravina" and "N. A. Fride" to the vocal lines.

In 1898 the duet In the Garden, By the Ford (No. 4) was orchestrated by Sergei. Taneev at the request of Modest Tchaikovsky for a concert in memory of the composer, which took place on 24 October 1898 [15]. The score was published by Muzgiz in 1957.

From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского(1958), pp. 477-480
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston

Texts

1. Evening

2. Scottish Ballad (Edward)

3. Tears

4. In the Garden, By the Ford

5. Passion Spent

6. Dawn

Notes:

1. On the autograph score the original title To the Mountains [Горе-горюшко] is struck out [back]
2. See letter 1508 to Nadezhda von Meck, 2/14 June 1880 [back]
3. Letter 1509 to Nadezhda von Meck, 5/17 June 1880. See also letter 1510 to Anatolii Tchaikovsky of the same date [back]
4. See letter 1518 to Karl Albrecht, 24 June/6 July 1880 [back]
5. Letter 1533 to Nadezhda von Meck, 12/24-15/27 July 1880 – Tchaikovsky was at Kamenka until 30 June. See also letter 1540 to Petr Jurgenson, 18/30 July, and letter 1544 to Sergei Taneev, 21 July/2 August 1880 [back]
6. See letter 1565 to Sergei Taneev, 15/27 August-24 August/5 September 1880, and undated letter 1566 from mid/late August to Petr Jurgenson [back]
7. See letter 1572 to Nadezhda von Meck, 26-31 August/7-12 September 1880 [back]
8. Letter 1523 to Nadezhda von Meck, 3/15 July 1881 [back]
9. Letter from Sergei Flerov to Tchaikovsky, 28 May/9 June 1881 - Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
10. Letter 1774 to Sergei Flerov, 4/16 June 1881 [back]
11. Passed by the censor on 1 March 1881 [back]
12. See П. И. Чайковский на сцене театра оперы и балета им. С. М. Кирова (б. Марийнский): Сборник статей (1940), p. 409 [back]
13. Letter from Nina Fride to Tchaikovsky, 11/23 November 1889 - State Central Archive for Literature and the Arts [back]
14. Undated letter from Evgeniia Mravina to Tchaikovsky - State Central Archive for Literature and the Arts [back]
15. See letter from Modest Tchaikovsky to Petr Jurgenson, 15/27 October 1898 - State Central Archive for Literature and the Arts [back]
16. See R. D. Sylvester, Tchaikovsky's complete songs. A companion with texts and translations (2002), p. 292 [back]