Vasily Zhukovsky
Tchaikovsky Research
Russian poet, translator and literary critic (b. 29 January/9 February 1783 near Belyov; d. 12/24 April 1852 in Baden-Baden), born Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (Василий Андреевич Жуковский).
Tchaikovsky's Settings of Works by Zhukovsky
Three of Tchaikovsky's operas make use of texts by Zhukovsky:
- The libretto of Undina (1869) is based on Zhukovsky's translation of the German novel Undine (1811) by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué (1777–1843).
- Much of the libretto of The Maid of Orleans (1878-79) is based on Zhukovsky's translation of Friedrich Schiller's tragedy Die Jungfrau von Orleans (1801).
- The words of the Duet (Act I, No. 7) in The Queen of Spades, Op. 68 (1890) are taken from Zhukovsky's elegy Evening (Вечер) (1806).
The words of the lost romance Midnight Review (Ночной парад), written by Tchaikovsky in 1863 or 1864, are taken from Zhukovsky's poem of the same name (1836), which was a translation of the ballad Die nächtliche Heerschau (1827) by Joseph Christian von Zedlitz (1790-1862).
