Tchaikovsky
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TH 103

Seven Romances

Семь романсов

With piano accompaniment, Op. 47 (1880).

• Composed July - August 1880.
• Scored for high voice (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7), medium voice (No. 4) or baritone (No. 5) with piano.
• No. 7 was orchestrated by Tchaikovsky in September 1884. This version is scored for soprano solo + 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, 26 December 1887/7 January 1888 by Elizaveta Lavrovskaia, conducted by Leopold Auer
• No. 6 was orchestrated by Tchaikovsky in February 1888, and first performed in Paris, 12/24 February 1888, by Marie Benardaky, conducted by the composer. This version is lost.
• Average duration: 30m (set).

History

These romances were first conceived in June 1880, and written in July - August the same year at Simaki [1].

On 2 June 1880, Tchaikovsky wrote to Aleksandr Zhedrinskii: "I would like to remind you of your promise to send me some of Lel [Apukhtin]’s poems so I might set them to music... At the moment I feel disposed to write romances, would like to have Lel’s verses" [2]. The poems were sent to the composer in the middle of June [3]. On 28 June, Tchaikovsky wrote to Modest Tchaikovsky: "I’ve lost my notebook with Apukhtin's poems and my sketches, and for the last few days we’ve been searching here in vain" [4], but on 10 July the composer informed Nadezhda von Meck: "I’ve begun to write something new" [5].

On 19 July, Tchaikovsky composed the romance Softly the Spirit Flew up to Heaven (No. 2), after becoming acquainted with Jules Massenet’s Marie Magdeleine, "by far the most extraordinary thing is the duet between Christ and Magdalene, which in my opinion is a chef d'oeuvre. I was moved by the sheer intensity of this music, in which Massenet captured Jesus's blessed voice - which produced floods of tears... All day today I had this duet in mind while writing a romance to Tolstoi’s words: Softly the Spirit Flew up to Heaven, in which the melody owes something to Massenet" [6].

Tchaikovsky wrote to Sergei Taneev: "Throughout this summer... I’ve worked very little, that is just some small vocal pieces in the form of romances and duets" [7]. On 26 July the composer wrote to Modest Tchaikovsky: "I have written some romances; one of them [8] gives me immeasurable delight, but to spare my tears I mustn’t play it" [9].

It appears that composition of the romances was completed at the end of July 1880 since in a letter to Nadezhda von Meck of 31 July-2 August he said he had begun the fair copies, together with the Six Duets, Op. 46 [10]. In all probability the fair copies of the romances and duets were ready by 24 August [11]. Tchaikovsky informed Nadezhda von Meck that he had finished the fair copies in a letter of 26-31 August [12]. On 30 August, Anatolii Tchaikovsky took the new compositions to give to Petr Jurgenson: "Anatolii is bringing you two new opuses: 1) 6 duets for singers. 2) 7 romances and songs" [13].

Among the romances, Tchaikovsky considered I Bless You, Forests, Dusk Fell on the Earth and "to words by Surikov (from Shevchenko, I think): Was I Not a Little Blade of Grass in the Field?" [14]. In the latter romance, the second verse of the poem is omitted from the refrain.

The romances were published for the first time by Petr Jurgenson in March 1881 [15].

The romances Softly the Spirit Flew up to Heaven (No. 2) and I Bless You, Forests (No. 5) were performed, apparently for the first time, in Saint Petersburg – No. 2 by Feodosiia Velinskaia on 31 October 1881 in the fifth symphony concert of the Russian Musical Society, and No. 5 by Mikhail Koriakin on 14 November 1881 at the seventh symphony concert of the Musical Society.

All the romances are dedicated to Aleksandra Panaeva-Kartsova.

Elizaveta Lavrovskaia asked Tchaikovsky to orchestrate the romance Was I Not a Little Blade of Grass in the Field? (No. 7) in March 1883, through Sofiia Malozemova. However, Tchaikovsky was occupied at that time with the composition of the cantata Moscow and the Coronation March, and was unable to fulfil her request. In a letter of 21 March 1883 to Sofiia Malozemova, Tchaikovsky wrote: "How could I refuse? I am honoured and proud to oblige her and satisfy you, and as you rightly say that work will not take me very long - but combined with my fatigue through the strain of simultaneously composing the march and the cantata - I swear that have no energy to take up a third task, even though it is straightforward work. I certainly will do it - but I beg you and Lizaveta Andreevna not to be angry with me if I cannot orchestrate the romance just yet" [16].

On 20 February/9 March 1884, Tchaikovsky wrote to Petr Jurgenson from Paris: "Send the romance Was I Not a Little Blade of Grass in the Field? to me at Kamenka right away. Last year I promised Lavrovskaia that I would orchestrate it and I still haven’t done so. I need to do this as soon as I arrive" [17].

This is date on the manuscript of the orchestration is "15 December 1884". However, this was certainly a mistake, since the work was passed by the censor on 15 September that year.

The orchestrated romance was performed by Elizaveta Lavrovskaia on 27 December 1887 in Saint Petersburg. at the fourth symphony concert of the Russian Musical Society, conducted by Leopold Auer.

In February 1891, Petr Jurgenson asked Tchaikovsky whether any of his romances had been arranged with orchestral accompaniment, and whether he wanted any of them to be so arranged [18]. In his letter of reply of 19 February 1891, Tchaikovsky wrote that the full score of Was I Not a Little Blade of Grass in the Field? was "with Lavrovskaia, but at my request she sent it to a singer in Paris, and it seems to have been lost - but it can be reconstructed from the parts". In the same letter, Tchaikovsky expressed his general view that: "The romances are written to be accompanied by the piano, and do not require an orchestra" [19].

In 1888 the romance Does the Day Reign? (No. 6) was orchestrated by Tchaikovsky in Paris for the singer Marie Benardaky. On 12/24 February, Tchaikovsky recorded in his diary: "Visited Benardaky. Busy orchestrating a romance" [20].

The romance was performed by Marie Benardaky with Edouard Colonne's orchestra on 16/28 February 1888 in Paris, at a musical evening in honour of Tchaikovsky, who also conducted.

From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), pp. 446-449
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston

Texts

1. If Only I had Known

2. Softly the Spirit Flew Up to Heaven

3. Dusk Fell On the Earth

4. Sleep, Poor Friend

5. I Bless You, Forests

6. Does the Day Reign?

7. Was I Not a Little Blade of Grass?

Notes:

1. It is possible that the romance Does the Day Reign? was written earlier, in March 1880. According to Fedor Malinin, Tchaikovsky created it for Aleksandra Panaeva-Kartsova. Following the dress rehearsal of a concert of Tchaikovsky's works, which took place in Saint Petersburg on 25 March 1880, and in which Panaeva-Kartsova took a principal role, Tchaikovsky was in conversation with Aleksei Apukhtin. Being a fervent admirer of the performer’s singing ta1ent, the composer asked the poet if he would dedicated one of his poems to her. In reply. "Apukhtin silently gestured that some notepaper was to brought to him, upon which he jotted down some short verses in pencil. Tchaikovsky took these pages, and scanned through them before quickly leaving Apukhtin’s home without a word; a day or two later he called on his friend again, bringing with him the romance, already composed" (F. N. Malinin, ‘Apukhtin and Tchaikovsky’ - manuscript in Klin House-Museum Archive) [back]
2. Letter 1507 to Aleksandr Zhedrinskii, 2/14 June 1880 [back]
3. See letter 1519 to Anatolii Tchaikovsky, 28 June/10 July 1880 [back]
4. Letter 1520 to Modest Tchaikovsky, 28 June/10 July 1880 [back]
5. Letter 1533 to Nadezhda von Meck, 9/21-11/23 July 1880 [back]
6. Letter 1541 to Modest Tchaikovsky, 18/30-19/31 July 1880 [back]
7. Letter 1544 to Sergei Taneev, 21 July/2 August 1880 [back]
8. "To marvellous words by Mickiewicz" - Tchaikovsky’s note, referring to Dusk Fell on the Earth (No. 3) [back]
9. Letter 1551 to Modest Tchaikovsky, 26 July/7 August 1880 [back]
10. Letter 1552 to Nadezhda von Meck, 31 July/12 August-2/14 August 1880 [back]
11. See letter 1565 to Sergei Taneev, 15/27 August-24 August/5 September 1880 [back]
12. Letter 1571 to Nadezhda von Meck, 26-31 August/7-12 September 1880 [back]
13. Letter 1566 to Petr Jurgenson, mid/late August 1880 [back]
14. See letter 1804 to Nadezhda von Meck, 3/15-4/16 July 1881 [back]
15. Passed by the censor on 25 February 1881 [back]
16. Letter 2243 to Sof’ia Malozemova, 21 March/1 April 1883 [back]
17. Letter 2247 to Petr Jurgenson, 26 February/9 March 1884 [back]
18. See letter from Petr Jurgenson to Tchaikovsky, 18 February/2 March 1891 – Klin House Museum-Archive [back]
19. Letter 4334 to Petr Jurgenson, 19 February/3 March 1891 [back]
20. See Дневники П. И. Чайковского (1923), p. 199 [back]