At Bedtime

The chorus At Bedtime (На сон грядущий) (TH 70 ; ČW 65-66) was written by Tchaikovsky in 1863 or 1864, while he was a student at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. It exists in two versions — a cappella, and with orchestral accompaniment.

Instrumentation

At Bedtime is scored for mixed chorus (SATB). The orchestra in the accompanied version comprises 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in C), 2 bassoons + 2 horns (in C), 2 trumpets (in G) + 2 timpani + violins I, violins II, violas, cellos, and double basses.

Duration

Both versions have one movement:

• Andante (C minor, 68 bars) — a cappella
• Adagio (C minor, 97 bars) — for voices with orchestra

In performance they last approximately 4 and 7 minutes respectively.

Text

The text comes from a poem of the same name (early 1840s?) by Nikolay Ogaryov (1813-1877).

Composition

Nothing is known about the origins of this composition. Sketches for the orchestral version are found on the last page of the manuscript of the unaccompanied version, indicating that the a cappella version was composed first.

Performances

No performances of the chorus are documented during the composer's lifetime.

Publication

Both versions of At Bedtime were published for the first time in Tchaikovsky's Complete Collected Works: the unaccompanied version in volume 43 (1941), edited by Ivan Shishov & Nikolay Shemanin, and the orchestral version in volume 27 (1960), edited by Irina Iordan.

Autographs

The manuscript scores of both versions are preserved in the Tchaikovsky House-Museum Archive at Klin (a¹, Nos. 122 and 123).

Recordings

See: Discography

Related Works

The same text by Nikolay Ogaryov was set by Tchaikovsky in At Bedtime, No. 1 of the Six Romances and Songs, Op. 27 (1875), although there is no musical connection between the two compositions.

External Links

• Internet Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) — downloadable scores