Six Romances, Op. 57 and Mily Balakirev: Difference between pages

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Tchaikovsky's '''''Six Romances''''' (Шесть романсов), [[Op.]] 57 ([[TH]] 105 ; [[ČW]] 275-280), were mostly written between September and November 1884, except for No. 1 which is from an earlier date.
{{picture|file=Mily Balakirev.jpg|caption='''Mily Balakirev''' (1836-1910)}}
Russian composer, pianist, conductor and civil servant (b. 21 December 1836/2 January 1837 in [[Nizhny Novgorod]]; d. 16/29 May 1910 in [[Saint Petersburg]]), born '''''Mily Alekseyevich Balakirev''''' (Милий Алексеевич Балакирев).


==Instrumentation==
==Biography==
Scored for high voice (Nos. 1, 5), medium voice (Nos. 3, 4), baritone (No. 2) or low voice (No. 6), with piano accompaniment.
Balakirev briefly received music lessons from [[Aleksandr Dubuque]], before going on to study mathematics at university. After making the acquaintance of the composer [[Mikhail Glinka]] in [[Moscow]], he was inspired to take up music as a career. A staunch believer that Russia should have its own distinct school of music, free of western influences, he helped to found the Free Musical School in [[Petersburg]] in 1862, and gathered around himself a group of like-minded nationalist composers ([[César Cui]], [[Modest Musorgsky]], [[Aleksandr Borodin]], and [[Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov]]; collectively these became known as "The Mighty Handful" (Могучая Кучка) or "The Five".


==Movements and Duration==
==Tchaikovsky and Balakirev==
#'''Tell Me, What in the Shade of the Branches?''' (Скажи, о чем в тени ветвей)<br/>Andante sostenuto (E major, 63 bars).
Balakirev's hopes that Tchaikovsky would become part of this nationalist circle were never realised, but it was at Balakirev's instigation that Tchaikovsky wrote the overture-fantasia ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' (1869), which Balakirev immediately persuaded the composer to revise, as well as arranging the publication of the new version through his contacts at [[Bote & Bock]] in [[Berlin]]. As a result of his increasing workload, Balakirev suffered a mental breakdown, and in 1872 he temporarily retired from the music world, taking up various clerical posts instead. Over the next few years he gradually returned to composition, and in 1881 he accepted an invitation to resume his directorship of the Free Music School. Two years later, he was appointed director of the Imperial Chapel Choir, where he worked alongside [[Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov]] until 1895. During this later period Balakirev sought out Tchaikovsky once more, and persuaded him to write the symphony ''[[Manfred]]'', Op. 58 (1885).
#'''On the Golden Cornfields''' (На нивы желтые)<br/>Andante (F minor, 36 bars).
#'''Do Not Ask''' (Не спрашивай)<br/>Adagio molto sostenuto (D major, 32 bars).
#'''Sleep!''' (Усни!)<br/>Andante sostenuto (F major, 53 bars).
#'''Death''' (Смерть)<br/> Moderato (F major, 75 bars).
#'''Only You Alone''' (Лишь ты один)<br/>Andante non troppo (F major, 36 bars).


==Texts==
==Dedications==
1. [[Vladimir Sollogub]] (1813–1882)<ref name="note1"/>, from Marta Petrovna's romance in his comedy-vaudeville ''Trouble from a Tender Heart'' (Беда от нежного сердца) (1850):
Tchaikovsky dedicated three of his compositions to Mily Balakirev:
{{libtext
* ''[[Fatum]]'', symphonic poem, Op. 77 (1868)
|Original text=
* ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', overture-fantasia after [[Shakespeare]]'s tragedy, TH 42 (1869)
<poem>
* ''[[Manfred]]'', symphony in four scenes after [[Byron]]'s dramatic poem, Op. 58 (1885).
Скажи, о чём в тени ветвей,
Когда природа отдыхает,
Поёт весенний соловей,
И что он песней выражает?
Что тайно всем волнует кровь?
Скажи, скажи, скажи, какое слово
Знакомо всем и вечно ново?
Любовь, любовь, любовь!


Скажи, о чём наедине,
==Correspondence with Tchaikovsky==
В раздумье, девушка гадает,
47 letters from Tchaikovsky to Mily Balakirev have survived, dating from 1868 to 1891, all of which have been translated into English on this website:
Что тайным трепетом во сне
* '''[[Letter 111]]''' – 21 January/2 February 1868, from [[Moscow]]
Ей страх и радость обещает?
* '''[[Letter 114]]''' – 25 February/8 March 1868, from [[Moscow]]
Недуг тот странный назови,
* '''[[Letter 115]]''' – 3/15 March 1868, from [[Moscow]]
В котором светлая отрада,
* '''[[Letter 123a]]''' – November 1868 (?), from [[Moscow]]
Чего ей ждать, чего ей надо:
* '''[[Letter 126]]''' – 30 December 1868/11 January 1869, from [[Moscow]]
Любви! любви!
* '''[[Letter 132]]''' – between 16/28 February and 22 February/6 March 1869, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 133]]''' – 13/25 March 1869, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 134]]''' – 13/25 March 1869, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 138]]''' – 3/15 May 1869, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 151]]''' – 2/14 October 1869, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 152]]''' – early/mid-October 1869, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 156]]''' – 28 October/9 November 1869, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 159]]''' – 17/29 November 1869, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 168]]''' – 18/30 December 1869, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 170]]''' – 20 December 1869/1 January 1870, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 172]]''' – after 24 December 1869/5 January 1870, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 173]]''' – late December 1869/early January 1870, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 180]]''' – 23 February/7 March 1870, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 181]]''' – 25 February/9 March 1870, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 191]]''' – between 10/22 and 14/26 May 1870, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 192]]''' – 15/27 May 1870, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 194]]''' – 1/13 June 1870, from [[Soden]]
* '''[[Letter 205]]''' – 6/18 September 1870, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 207]]''' – 25 September/7 October 1870, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 212]]''' – between 20 October/1 November and 23 October/4 November 1870, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 226]]''' – 10/22 January 1871, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 233]]''' – 15/27 May 1871, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 235]]''' – 29 May/10 June 1871, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 241]]''' – 8/20 October 1871, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 242]]''' – 22 October/3 November 1871, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 1848]]''' – 1/13 September 1881, from [[Kamenka]]
* '''[[Letter 2127]]''' – 8/20 October 1882, from [[Kamenka]]
* '''[[Letter 2158]]''' – 12/24 November 1882, from [[Kamenka]]
* '''[[Letter 2400]]''' – 14/26 December 1883, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 2572]]''' – 21 October/2 November 1884 (?), from [[Saint Petersburg]]
* '''[[Letter 2580]]''' – 31 October/12 November 1884, from [[Saint Petersburg]]
* '''[[Letter 2594]]''' – 17/29 November 1884, from [[Davos]]
* '''[[Letter 2611]]''' – 1/13 December 1884, from [[Paris]]
* '''[[Letter 2765]]''' – 13/25 September 1885, from [[Maydanovo]]
* '''[[Letter 2768]]''' – 20 September/2 October–22 September/4 October 1885 (?), from [[Maydanovo]]
* '''[[Letter 2816]]''' – 21 November/3 December 1885, from [[Maydanovo]]
* '''[[Letter 2824]]''' – 4/16 December 1885, from [[Maydanovo]]
* '''[[Letter 2912]]''' – 13/25 March 1886, from [[Maydanovo]]
* '''[[Letter 3197]]''' – 11/23 March 1887, from [[Saint Petersburg]]
* '''[[Letter 3722]]''' – 8/20 November 1888, from [[Saint Petersburg]]
* '''[[Letter 4491]]''' – 1/13 October 1891, from [[Maydanovo]]
* '''[[Letter 4566]]''' – 29 November/11 December 1891, from [[Saint Petersburg]]


Скажи! когда от жизненной тоски
40 letters from Balakirev to Tchaikovsky have survived, dating from 1868 to 1891, of which 35 are preserved in the {{RUS-KLč}} at [[Klin]] (a{{sup|4}}, Nos. 145–179), 2 are in the Library of the {{RUS-SPk}}, 2 are in {{RUS-Mcl}} in [[Moscow]], and one is in the {{RUS-Mcm}} in [[Moscow]] (ф. 37-III-118).
Ты утомленный изнываешь,
И злой печали вопреки
Хоть призрак счастья призываешь!
Что услаждает грудь твою?
Не те ли звуки неземные,
Когда услышал ты впервые
Слова, слова любви!
Когда услышал ты впервые
Слова, слова любви!
</poem>


|Translated text=
==Bibliography==
}}
* {{bib|1869/9}} (1869)
 
* {{bib|1869/11}} (1869)
2. [[Aleksey Tolstoy]] (1817–1875), from an untitled poem (1862):
* {{bib|1910/12}} (1910)
{{libtext
* {{bib|1911/8}} (1911)
|Original text=
* {{bib|1912/5}} (1912)
<poem>
* {{bib|1912/12}} (1912)
На нивы жёлтые нисходит тишина,
* {{bib|1912/17}} (1912)
В остывшем воздухе от меркнущих селений,
* {{bib|1912/18}} (1912)
Дрожа, несется звон...
* {{bib|1912/19}} (1912)
 
* {{bib|1912/36}} (1912)
Душа моя полна
* {{bib|1913/88}} (1913)
Разлукою с тобой
* {{bib|1940/29}} (1940)
Душа моя полна
* {{bib|1940/112}} (1940)
Разлукою с тобой
* {{bib|1961/6}} (1961)
И горьких сожалений.
* {{bib|1962/71}} (1962)
 
* {{bib|1969/19}} (1969)
И каждый мой упрек я вспоминаю вновь,
* {{bib|1981/25}} (1981)
И каждое твержу приветливое слово,
* {{bib|1981/66}} (1981)
Что мог бы я сказать тебе, моя любовь,
* {{bib|1993/210}} (1993)
Но что внутри себя я схоронил сурово.
* {{bib|1994/5}} (1994)
 
* {{bib|1995/13}} (1995)
Душа моя полна
Разлукою с тобой!
Душа моя полна
Разлукою с тобой
И горьких сожалений.
</poem>
 
|Translated text=
}}
 
3. [[Aleksandr Strugovshchikov]] (1808/9–1878/9), from his translation (1845) of ''Heiß mich nicht reden'', in book 3 of the novel ''Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre'' (1795) by [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]] (1749–1832):
{{libtext
|Original text=
<poem>
Не спрашивай, не вызывай признанья!
Молчания лежит на мне печать;
Всё высказать — одно моё желанье,
Но втайне я обречана страдать!
 
Там вечный лёд вершины покрывает,
Здесь на поля легла ночная тень,
С весною вновь источник заиграет,
С зарёю вновь проглянет Божий день,
С зарёю вновь проглянет Божий день.
 
И всем, и всем дано в час скорби утешенье,
Указан друг, чтоб сердце облегчит:
Мне с клятвой на устах дано одно терпенье,
И только Бог, и только Бог их может разрешить!
</poem>
 
|Translated text=
}}
 
4. [[Dmitry Merezhkovsky]] (1865–1941), from his poem of the same name (1884):
{{libtext
|Original text=
<poem>
Уснуть бы мне навек в траве, как в колыбели,
Как я ребёнком спал в те солнечные дни,
Когда в лучах полуденных звенели
Весёлых жаворонков трели и пели мне они:
«Усни, усни, усни!»
 
И крылья пёстрых мух с причудливой окраской
На венчиках цветов дрожали, как огни,
И шум дерев казался чудной сказкой;
Мой сон лелея, с тихой лаской, баюкали они:
«Усни, усни, усни!»
 
И убегая вдаль, как волны золотые,
Давали мне приют в задумчивой тени,
Под кущей верб, поля мои, поля родные,
Склонив колосья наливные, шептали мне они:
«Усни, усни, усни!»
</poem>
 
|Translated text=
}}
 
5. [[Dmitry Merezhkovsky]], from an untitled poem (by 1883):
{{libtext
|Original text=
<poem>
Если розы тихо осыпаются,
Если звёзды меркнут в небесах,
Об утесы волны разбиваются,
Гаснет луч зари на облаках,
Это смерть, смерть.
 
Это смерть, — но без борьбы мучительной;
Это смерть, пленяя красотой,
Обещает отдых упоительный,
Лучший дар природы всеблагой.
 
У неё, наставницы божественной,
Научитесь, люди, умирать,
Чтоб с улыбкой кроткой и торжественной,
Чтоб с улыбкой кроткой и торжественной,
Свой конец безропотно встречать.
</poem>
 
|Translated text=
}}
 
6. [[Aleksey Pleshcheyev]] (1825–1893), from an untitled poem (1884), after the German poem ''Nur Du allein'' (1872) by [[Ada Christen]] (1844–1901) <ref name="note2"/>:
{{libtext
|Original text=
<poem>
Лишь ты один в мои страданья верил,
Один восстал на лживый суд людской
И поддержал мой дух изнемогавший
В те дни, как свет во мне боролся с тьмой.
 
Лишь ты один простёр мне смело руку,
Когда к тебе, отчаянья полна,
Пришла я с сердцем, кровью истекавшим,
Без жалостной толпой оскорблена.
 
Лишь ты один мне в жизни ни мгновенья
Не отравлял... Один меня щадил,
Один берег от бурь с участьем нежным...
И никогда меня ты не любил!
Нет, никогда, никогда меня ты не любил...
</poem>
 
|Translated text=
}}
 
Tchaikovsky made minor changes to the texts of the poems used in ''On the Golden Cornfields'' (No. 2), ''Do Not Ask!'' (No. 3), ''Sleep!'' (No. 4), and more significant changes in ''Only You Alone'' (No. 6).
 
==Composition==
The earliest of the romances to be written was ''Tell Me, What in the Shade of the Branches?'' (No. 1). In a letter to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]] of 1/13 December 1884 (see below), the composer expressed his surprise at this discovery of this romance, which it seems he had forgotten about <ref name="note3"/>. The exact time and place of its composition are uncertain.
 
''On the Golden Cornfields'' (No. 2) and ''Do Not Ask'' (No. 3) were composed at [[Pleshcheyevo]] in late September 1884. Before the rough draft of No. 2 in the composer's notebook is the date "[[Pleshcheyevo]], 26 Sept 1884" {{OS}}. ''Do Not Ask'' (No. 3) was composed next, and its text was probably chosen by Tchaikovsky after he read [[Goethe]]'s novel ''The Apprenticeship of Wilhelm Meister'' ("God, how marvellous this is..."), which he found in [[Nadezhda von Meck]]'s library at [[Pleshcheyevo]] <ref name="note4"/>.
 
The remaining three romances were written in [[Paris]] between 19 November/1 December (the date of his arrival) and 1/13 December 1884, when Tchaikovsky wrote to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]]: "I was very surprised to learn that [[Komissarzhevsky]] has my romance. Incidentally, I already have another five. Congratulations to you on my new opus" <ref name="note5"/>.
 
Writing to [[Modest Tchaikovsky]] from [[Paris]] on 3/15 December 1884, the composer reported: "I cannot say that I am bored from idleness. I managed here to devise the main revisions to ''[[Vakula]]'', and to write three new romances, and one church number" <ref name="note6"/>.
 
==Publication==
The romances were published by [[Jurgenson]] in April 1885 <ref name="note7"/>, and in 1940 they were included in volume 45 of Tchaikovsky's ''[[Complete Collected Works]]'', edited by Ivan Shishov and Nikolay Shemanin.
 
==Autographs==
Tchaikovsky's manuscript scores of Nos. 2 to 6 are now preserved in the {{RUS-Mcm}} in [[Moscow]] {{TOW2|shest-romansov-2017-08-17-2017-08-17-1|(ф. 88, No. 143)}}. The autograph of No. 1 is lost.
 
==Recordings==
{{reclink}}
 
==Dedication==
Each romance is dedicated to a different person:
# [[Fyodor Komissarzhevsky]] (1838–1905), the tenor who premiered the title role in ''[[Vakula the Smith]]'' in 1876.
# [[Bogomir Korsov]] (1845–1920), the baritone who premiered the title role in ''[[Mazepa]]'' in 1884.
# [[Emiliya Pavlovskaya]] (1856–1935), the soprano who premiered the role of Mariya in ''[[Mazepa]].''
# [[Vera Butakova]] (1843–1920) <ref name="note8"/>, younger sister of [[Lev Davydov]] (the husband of Tchaikovsky's sister [[Aleksandra Davydova|Aleksandra Davydova]]).
# [[Dmitry Usatov]] (1847–1913), tenor who premiered the role of Andrey in ''[[Mazepa]]''.
# [[Aleksandra Krutikova]] (1851–1919), mezzo-soprano who premiered the role of Lyubov in ''[[Mazepa]]''.


==External Links==
==External Links==
* {{imslpscore|6_Romances,_Op.57_(Tchaikovsky,_Pyotr)|6 Romances, Op. 57}}
* [[wikipedia:Mily Balakirev|Wikipedia]]
* {{IMSLP|Balakirev,_Mily}}
* {{viaf|61730949}}


==Notes and References==
[[Category:People|Balakirev, Mily]]
<references>
[[Category:Composers|Balakirev, Mily]]
<ref name="note1">In the original editions the author of the text is not stated. In the score published by [[Félix Mackar]] in [[Paris]] during the composer's lifetime, the authorship is attributed to [[Vladimir Sollogub]].</ref>
[[Category:Conductors|Balakirev, Mily]]
<ref name="note2">See Richard D. Sylvester, {{bib|2002/26|Tchaikovsky's complete songs. A companion with texts and translations}} (2002), p. 203–204.</ref>
[[Category:Correspondents|Balakirev, Mily]]
<ref name="note3">See [[Letter 2615]] to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 1/13 December 1884. It is possible that this romance dated from as early as 1876 — see [[Letter 511]] to [[Vasily Bessel]], November 1876.</ref>
[[Category:Dedicatees|Balakirev, Mily]]
<ref name="note4">See [[Letter 2554]], 7/19-11/23 September 1884, and [[Letter 2554]], 20 September/2 October 1884, both to [[Modest Tchaikovsky]], and [[Letter 2562]] to [[Nadezhda von Meck]], 1/13–3/15 October 1884.</ref>
<ref name="note5">[[Letter 2615]] to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 1/13 December 1884.</ref>
<ref name="note6">[[Letter 2617]] to [[Modest Tchaikovsky]], 3/15 December 1884.</ref>
<ref name="note7">Passed by the censor on 9/21 March 1885.</ref>
<ref name="note8">The manuscript score indicates that No. 4 was originally dedicated to the mezzo-soprano [[Mariya Slavina]] (b. 1858), who performed the role of Olga in the 1884 production of ''[[Yevgeny Onegin]]'' in [[Saint Petersburg]].</ref>
</references>
[[Category:Songs|Romances, Op. 57]]

Latest revision as of 15:21, 16 September 2023

Mily Balakirev (1836-1910)

Russian composer, pianist, conductor and civil servant (b. 21 December 1836/2 January 1837 in Nizhny Novgorod; d. 16/29 May 1910 in Saint Petersburg), born Mily Alekseyevich Balakirev (Милий Алексеевич Балакирев).

Biography

Balakirev briefly received music lessons from Aleksandr Dubuque, before going on to study mathematics at university. After making the acquaintance of the composer Mikhail Glinka in Moscow, he was inspired to take up music as a career. A staunch believer that Russia should have its own distinct school of music, free of western influences, he helped to found the Free Musical School in Petersburg in 1862, and gathered around himself a group of like-minded nationalist composers (César Cui, Modest Musorgsky, Aleksandr Borodin, and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov; collectively these became known as "The Mighty Handful" (Могучая Кучка) or "The Five".

Tchaikovsky and Balakirev

Balakirev's hopes that Tchaikovsky would become part of this nationalist circle were never realised, but it was at Balakirev's instigation that Tchaikovsky wrote the overture-fantasia Romeo and Juliet (1869), which Balakirev immediately persuaded the composer to revise, as well as arranging the publication of the new version through his contacts at Bote & Bock in Berlin. As a result of his increasing workload, Balakirev suffered a mental breakdown, and in 1872 he temporarily retired from the music world, taking up various clerical posts instead. Over the next few years he gradually returned to composition, and in 1881 he accepted an invitation to resume his directorship of the Free Music School. Two years later, he was appointed director of the Imperial Chapel Choir, where he worked alongside Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov until 1895. During this later period Balakirev sought out Tchaikovsky once more, and persuaded him to write the symphony Manfred, Op. 58 (1885).

Dedications

Tchaikovsky dedicated three of his compositions to Mily Balakirev:

Correspondence with Tchaikovsky

47 letters from Tchaikovsky to Mily Balakirev have survived, dating from 1868 to 1891, all of which have been translated into English on this website:

40 letters from Balakirev to Tchaikovsky have survived, dating from 1868 to 1891, of which 35 are preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a4, Nos. 145–179), 2 are in the Library of the Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, 2 are in Russian State Archive of Literature and Art in Moscow, and one is in the Russian National Museum of Music in Moscow (ф. 37-III-118).

Bibliography

External Links

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