Prayer (Glinka)
In December 1877, while in Italy, Tchaikovsky translated the texts of five Italian arias by Mikhail Glinka, and also provided the Russian text for a wordless vocal quartet for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, entitled Prayer (Молитва) (TH 341 ; ČW 621). The arias and the quartet had originally been composed by Glinka in 1828, while he himself had been on a visit to Italy.
Tchaikovsky considered the quartet to be "the only decent thing" among the vocal works by Glinka which Pyotr Jurgenson had commissioned him to edit and translate, while noting that the words he had provided were "of no importance" [1].
Glinka's quartet with Tchaikovsky's Russian text was published by Jurgenson in February or March 1878 [2], although Tchaikovsky's name was not mentioned.
The autograph of Tchaikovsky's text, written on a manuscript copy of Glinka's quartet, is now preserved in the Russian National Museum of Music in Moscow (ф. 88, No. 171) [view].
Notes and References
- ↑ See Letter 690 to Pyotr Jurgenson, 15/27 December 1877.
- ↑ Passed for publication by the censor on 8/20 February 1878.
