Adam Mickiewicz

Tchaikovsky Research
Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855)

Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator, professor of Slavic literature, and political activist (b. 13/24 December 1798 in Zaosie; d. 14/26 November 1855 in Constantinople).

Tchaikovsky's Settings of Works by Mickiewicz

Two of Mickiewicz's poems were set to music by Tchaikovsky:

  • Do D.D.: Wizyta, from the collection Sonety odeskie (1826), in a Russian translation by Lev Mey (1822–1862), as My Spoiled Darling (Моя баловница), No. 6 of the Six Romances and Songs, Op. 27 (1875) [1].
  • Ranek i wieczór, also from Sonety odeskie (1826), in a Russian translation by Nikolay Berg (1823–1884), as Dusk Fell on the Earth (На землю сумрак пал), No. 3 of the Seven Romances, Op. 47 (1880).

Tchaikovsky's symphonic ballad The Voyevoda, Op. 78 (1890-91) [2] was based on Aleksandr Pushkin's Russian translation of Mickiewicz's poem, Czaty: Ballada ukraińska (The Ambush: A Ukrainian Ballad), from the collection Poezye Adama Mickiewicza (1829).

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Notes and References

  1. The words of the fourth song in the same set — Was it the Mother Who Bore Me? (Али мать меня роэжала) — was erroneously attributed to Mickiewicz in the autograph score and most printed editions, but were actually by Teofil Lenartowicz (1822–1893).
  2. The work is unconnected to Tchaikovsky's first opera, also called The Voyevoda (1867-68), or the melodrama he wrote for the stage play of the same name in 1886.