March on Belorussian and Ukrainian Folk Tunes: Difference between revisions
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The idea for this march ([[TH]] 243 ; [[ČW]] 470) was suggested to the composer by the artist [[Mikhail Mikeshin]] when the two men met in [[Saint Petersburg]] on 3/15 September 1893. [[Mikeshin]] wrote of this meeting a few months later <ref name="note1"/>: "He [Tchaikovsky] was so impressed by my paintings—illustrations to poems by [[Taras Shevchenko|T. G. Shevchenko]]—that I dedicated one of them (on the subject of ''Katherine'') to him, and I gave him another, ''Fantasia'' (a watercolour). He then asked me what would I like him to write for me. 'How about a march?' | The idea for this march ([[TH]] 243 ; [[ČW]] 470) was suggested to the composer by the artist [[Mikhail Mikeshin]] when the two men met in [[Saint Petersburg]] on 3/15 September 1893. [[Mikeshin]] wrote of this meeting a few months later <ref name="note1"/>: "He [Tchaikovsky] was so impressed by my paintings—illustrations to poems by [[Taras Shevchenko|T. G. Shevchenko]]—that I dedicated one of them (on the subject of ''Katherine'') to him, and I gave him another, ''Fantasia'' (a watercolour). He then asked me what would I like him to write for me. 'How about a march?' I was delighted by this suggestion. 'But if it is to be a march, shouldn't it have a subject?', he enquired again, 'What subject do you suggest?' I told him that my family were poor peasant-folk from the famine areas of Belorussia, and so what about one of their melancholy folksongs: 'The Maiden Walked by the River' (Коло реченьки молода хадзила)? I sang the song there and then, and he immediately noted it down, with faultless accuracy". | ||
As a secondary theme, [[Mikeshin]] suggested a Ukrainian tune: 'Hey, Don't be Surprised Good Fellows' (Гей, не двуйте, добрий люды), the melody of which he later sent to Tchaikovsky via his brother [[Modest]] <ref name="note2"/>. | As a secondary theme, [[Mikeshin]] suggested a Ukrainian tune: 'Hey, Don't be Surprised Good Fellows' (Гей, не двуйте, добрий люды), the melody of which he later sent to Tchaikovsky via his brother [[Modest]] <ref name="note2"/>. | ||
Latest revision as of 12:31, 15 April 2023
The idea for this march (TH 243 ; ČW 470) was suggested to the composer by the artist Mikhail Mikeshin when the two men met in Saint Petersburg on 3/15 September 1893. Mikeshin wrote of this meeting a few months later [1]: "He [Tchaikovsky] was so impressed by my paintings—illustrations to poems by T. G. Shevchenko—that I dedicated one of them (on the subject of Katherine) to him, and I gave him another, Fantasia (a watercolour). He then asked me what would I like him to write for me. 'How about a march?' I was delighted by this suggestion. 'But if it is to be a march, shouldn't it have a subject?', he enquired again, 'What subject do you suggest?' I told him that my family were poor peasant-folk from the famine areas of Belorussia, and so what about one of their melancholy folksongs: 'The Maiden Walked by the River' (Коло реченьки молода хадзила)? I sang the song there and then, and he immediately noted it down, with faultless accuracy".
As a secondary theme, Mikeshin suggested a Ukrainian tune: 'Hey, Don't be Surprised Good Fellows' (Гей, не двуйте, добрий люды), the melody of which he later sent to Tchaikovsky via his brother Modest [2].
Mikeshin's article also includes a facsimile of a note from the composer (Letter 5026), in which he promised to write a march based on 'The Maiden Walked by the River'. However, Tchaikovsky did not fulfil his promise before his death on 25 October/6 November 1893.
Notes and References
- ↑ Mikhail Mikeshin, Памяти П. И. Чайковского (1893).
- ↑ See The Tchaikovsky Handbook. A guide to the man and his music, vol. 1 (2002), p. 420.
