Romance

Tchaikovsky Research
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Tchaikovsky wrote his Romance in F minor, Op. 5 (TH 127 ; ČW 104), for solo piano in October or November 1868 in Moscow.

Movements and Duration

There is one movement: Andante cantabile (F minor, 106 bars). A complete performance lasts around 6 minutes.

Composition

The Romance appears to date from the period of Tchaikovsky's relationship with the soprano Désirée Artôt, who sang in the 1868–69 season with the Italian Opera Company in Moscow. The opera season began in September 1868, and the Romance was first performed and published in December the same year [1], which suggests a composition date of October or November 1868.

Performances

Nikolay Rubinstein gave the first performance at a charity concert in Moscow University on 8/20 December 1868. The same pianist premiered the Romance in Saint Petersburg, at the fourth Free Music School concert on 30 November/12 December 1869. Other notable performances were:

  • Leipzig, Conservatory, 2/14 October 1873, Sofya Malozyomova (piano) [2]
  • Leipzig, Choral Society concert, 17/29 November 1877, Adele Hippius (piano)
  • Stuttgart, 3rd subscription concert, 2/14 November 1882, Jules de Swert (cello) — arrangement for cello and piano.

Publication

The Romance was published in December 1868 by Pyotr Jurgenson in Moscow. It was included in volume 51Б of Tchaikovsky's Complete Collected Works (1946), edited by Ivan Shishov.

Autographs

Tchaikovsky's autograph score is now preserved in the Russian National Museum of Music in Moscow (ф. 88, No. 106) [view].

Recordings

See: Discography

Dedications

The piece was dedicated "à Mademoiselle Désirée Artôt", later Padilla (1835–1907), a Belgian soprano with the Italian Opera Company in Moscow, to whom Tchaikovsky was briefly engaged in 1868.

External Links

Notes and References

  1. See Letter 124 to Modest Tchaikovsky, mid/late December 1868.
  2. See Signale für die Musikalische Welt, November 1873 (No. 51), p. 804.