The Snow Maiden

Tchaikovsky Research

Tchaikovsky's music for The Snow Maiden (Снегурочка), Op. 12 (TH 19 ; ČW 15), was written in March and April 1873 to accompany the first production of Aleksandr Ostrovsky's 'spring legend' in a prologue and four acts.

Instrumentation

The Snow Maiden is scored for solo voices, mixed chorus, and a large theatre orchestra comprising piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn (ad lib.), 2 clarinets (in A, B-flat, C), 2 bassoons + 4 horns (in F), 2 trumpets (in D, F), 3 trombones, tuba + 3 timpani, triangle, tambourine, military drum, cymbals, bass drum + harp, violins I, violins II, violas, cellos, and double basses.

There are three solo singing roles:

  • Lel (Лель) — mezzo-soprano
  • Frost (Мороз) — tenor
  • Brusila (Брусила) — tenor.

Movements and Duration

Tchaikovsky's original score contains 19 individual numbers, of which two (Nos. 14 and 15) exist in two versions. The titles of numbers in Russian (Cyrillic) are taken from the published score, with English translations added in bold type. Vocal incipits are given in the right-hand column, with transliterations below in italics.

No. 1 Introduction (Интродукция)
Moderato assai (107 bars)
Prologue No. 2 Dances and Chorus of Birds (Танцы и хор птиц)
Allegro giusto—Allegro moderato (419 bars)
Собирались птицы
Sobiralis ptitsy
No. 3 Frost's Monologue (Монолог Мороза)
Moderato—Moderato quasi Allegro (61 bars)
Из леску по дорожке за возом воз
Iz lesku po dorozhke za vozom voz
No. 4 Chorus of Farewell to Winter (Хор провожания Масленицы)
Moderato (108 bars)
Раным рано куры запели
Ranym rano kury zapeli
No. 5 (a) Melodrama (Мелодрама)
Allegro vivo (86 bars)
Act I (b) Entr'acte (Антракт)
Moderato assai (24 bars)
No. 6 Lel's First Song (Первая песнь Леля)
Moderato (157 bars)
Земляничка ягодка
Zemlyanichka yagodka
No. 7 Lel's Second Song (Вторая песнь Леля)
Allegro (92 bars)
Как по лесу, лес шумит
Kak po lesu, les shumit
Act II No. 8 Entr'acte (Антракт)
Andantino quasi Allegretto (57 bars)
No. 9 Chorus of Blind Gusli Players (Хор слепых гусляров)
Moderato (42 bars)
Вещие, звонкие струны рокочут
Veshchie, zvonkie struny rokоchut
No. 10 Melodrama (Мелодрама)
Andantino quasi Allegretto (57 bars)
No. 11 Chorus of People and Courtiers (Хор народа и царедворцев)
Allegro moderato—Moderato (32 bars)
Привет тебе, премудрый
Privet tebe, premudry
Act III No. 12 Khorovod (Хоровод)
[Allegro moderato] (56 bars)
Ай, во поле
Ay, vo pole
No. 13 Dance of the Tumblers (Пляска скоморохов)
Allegro vivace (358 bars)
No. 14 Lel's Third Song (Третья песнь Леля): Туча со громом сговаривалась
Tucha so gromom sgovarivalas
(a) [First version (Первая версия)]
Moderato (53 bars)
(b) [Second version (Вторая версия)]
Moderato (54 bars)
No. 15 Brusila's Song (Песенка Брусилы): Купался, купался бобер
Kupalsya, kupalsya bober
(a) [First version (Первая версия)]
Allegro (24 bars)
(b) [Second version (Вторая версия)]
Allegro (12 bars)
No. 16 Appearance of the Wood Goblin and the Snow Maiden's Spirit (Появление Лешего и тени Снегурочки)
Allegro vivace (30 bars)
Act IV No. 17 (a) Entr'acte (Антракт)
Andantino (39 bars)
(b) Spring's Monologue, Chorus and Dances (Монолог Весны, хор и тихие танцы). Andantino (47 bars) Зорь весенних цвет душистий
Zor vesennikh tsvet dushisty
No. 18 Tsar Berendey's March and Chorus (Марш царя Берендея и хор)
Tempo di Marcia. Moderato (176 bars)
А мы просо сеяли, сеяли
A my proso seyali, seyali
No. 19 Finale (Финал)
Allegro giusto (125 bars)
Бог Ярило, свет и сила
Bog Yarilo, svet i sila

A concert performance of the music to The Snow Maiden lasts around 75 to 80 minutes.

Subject

At the beginning of 1873, the Maly Theatre in Moscow was closed for structural repairs, with the result that all three companies—drama, opera and ballet—performed on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre. The management committee of the Moscow Imperial Theatres — Pavel Kavelin, L. N. Auber and Vladimir Begichev (on the initiative of the latter)—decided to make the most of this opportunity to unite for a single fairy-tale production. The committee approached Aleksandr Ostrovsky with a request that he should write a suitable piece, the music for which, at the recommendation of the committee and the personal request of Ostrovsky, was to be written by Tchaikovsky [1]. Both the dramatist and the composer worked with great enthusiasm, and collaborated closely on the work.

Composition

Tchaikovsky received the first portion of the text from Aleksandr Ostrovsky in early/mid-March. On 9/21 March the writer finished the rough draft of the first act. On 15/27 March 1873, Ostrovsky sent the composer the text for the blind gusli players' song in the second act of the piece. "I am sending you", Ostrovsky wrote, "the song of the blind gusli players. It seems to me that the rhythm fits the words; I derived this rhythm from a 12th-century poem, The Tale of Igor's Campaign (Слово о полку Игореве). Although it is generally considered that this text does not have a definite metre, still on reading it closely, it seems to me that one can hear precisely this rhythm. The song is set in couplets. It might be better if this song had a soloist, i.e. if the first three lines of each couplet were sung by a single voice, and the remaining three by a small chorus? But do as you see fit, I won't make any directions on this point" [2].

The writer got his way, and the song of the blind gusli players was written for a soloist and small choir.

On 25 March/6 April, Tchaikovsky gave the full score to the directorate with instructions "to carry out any changes and additions to my score which may be required, if such are deemed essential" [3]. In 1879, recalling his work on The Snow Maiden in a letter to Nadezhda von Meck, Tchaikovsky wrote: "I liked Ostrovsky's piece, and I wrote the music in three weeks, without having to exert myself" [4].

On 6/18 April he told Aleksandr Ostrovsky: "The greater part is ready; only the first and second acts remain [5]. But the main thing is if you would be so kind as to send me all those words which I am still missing: 1) Lel's first song; 2) The remaining couplets in Lel's second song; 3) The whole text of Spring's monologue during the dances in the fourth act; 4) The complete text of the final chorus («Бог Ярило»); 5) In the chorus set to the tune «А мы просо сеяли», are we supposed to retain the original words of the song, or use another text? If the latter, then be so kind as to send it to me. I beg you, Aleksandr Nikolayevich, to send me all the aforementioned as soon as possible". In the same letter, Tchaikovsky wrote that he had badly cut his hand, and because of this he was finding writing difficult. With the remaining numbers held up, he asked Ostrovsky to let him "reduce my workload somewhat [...] by having [the actor Nikolay] Muzil [who was to play Brusila] sing without any accompaniment that melody you spoke of"[6]. The song referred to was Brusila's «Купался бобер».

On 7/19 April, the composer wrote to his father: "For around a month I've not risen from my desk because of work; I'm writing music to Ostrovsky's fairy-tale piece The Snow Maiden" [7]. And on 27 April/9 May he told Aleksandra Davydova and Modest Tchaikovsky: "Currently at the nearby Bolshoi Theatre, frantic rehearsals are taking place for Ostrovsky's piece The Snow Maiden... for which I am required to attend the theatre in the evening" [8].

It was probably during these rehearsals that Tchaikovsky wrote a second version of Lel's Third Song, perhaps because the first version was considered too difficult.

Arrangements

Tchaikovsky also arranged the vocal-piano reduction simultaneously with the orchestration in March and April 1873, except for the second version of Lel's Third Song (Act III, No. 14b) which was arranged in 1895 by Sergey Taneyev.

Performances

The first performance of The Snow Maiden was conducted by Nikolay Rubinstein on 11/23 May 1873 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, in a production by artists of the combined companies. Yevlalya Kadmina performed the part of Lel; Aleksandr Dodonov — Frost; Nikolay Muzil — Brusila; Glikeriya Fedotova — The Snow Maiden; Mariya Yermolova — Spring; Nadezhda Nikulina — Kupava; Ivan Samarin — Tsar Berendey.

Nikolay Rubinstein liked the music to The Snow Maiden, and after it was withdrawn from the repertoire (according to Nikolay Kashkin) he performed it to great acclaim at a Russian Musical Society charity concert on 28 March/9 April 1878. The solo singers were Aleksandra Svyatlovskaya and Aleksandr Dodonov, and the text was recited by Nadezhda Nikulina and Ivan Samarin. By this time, a concert performance had already taken place in Kiev, at the first Russian Musical Society symphony concert on 14/26 April 1875, conducted by Ippolit Altani. In Saint Petersburg, the music to The Snow Maiden was performed for the first time at a Russian symphony concert on 14/26 December 1894, conducted by Yury Bleichman.

Critical Reception

Nikolay Kashkin recalled that the piece was not particularly successful, despite being excellently performed. Yet the music was well received by the public. In letters to Aleksandr Ostrovsky, Prov Sadovsky and V. I. Rodislavsky, reviewing the production, it is reported that it went well, and had every chance of becoming part of the standard repertoire. Prov Sadovsky gave the reason for the withdrawal of The Snow Maiden from the summer season of 1873 as the departure of members of the companies for summer engagements [9]. By the end of the spring season, the piece had been performed four times. In the following season it was revived and given four more performances. In the 1874/75 season, The Snow Maiden was performed one more time and then withdrawn from the repertoire. This was possibly because the performance required both the opera and ballet companies.

Tchaikovsky had a great affection for his music to The Snow Maiden. In a letter to Nadezhda von Meck of 1879, he wrote: "The Snow Maiden is one of my favourite offspring. Spring is a wonderful time; I was in good spirits, as I always am at the approach of summer and three months of freedom. I think this music is imbued with the joys of spring that I was experiencing at the time" [10]. According to Modest Tchaikovsky, he later considered writing an opera on this subject [11]. And when Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov wrote his own opera The Snow Maiden, Tchaikovsky was upset that "our subject has been stolen from us; that Lel sings the same words to different music—it's though they've taken from me by force something that is innately mine and dear to me, and are presenting it to the public in bright new clothes. It makes me want to weep!" [12].

Publication

In May 1873, Pyotr Jurgenson published the piano scores of selected numbers from The Snow Maiden: Lel's three songs, Brusila's Song and Dance of the Tumblers (passed by the censor on 15/27 May 1873). In the same year, all the numbers from The Snow Maiden were published separately (passed by the censor on 22 September/4 October 1873). In December the same year, the author's piano arrangement of the songs was published (approved by the censor on 29 September/11 October 1873). Six years later (approved by the censor on 12/24 April 1879), a piano duet arrangement by Eduard Langer of the music to The Snow Maiden was issued.

All these editions differed from the author's manuscript score with regard to the numbering of each musical number—and in particular the numbering of Lel's songs. In the autograph full score, Lel's first and second songs are combined as one, under the title "Lel's songs" (without an ordinal number). The third song is also not given a number, though on the autograph full score it was described as the second. In each of the published editions, each of the three songs had its own title, but in the separate editions of 1873 the second and third were given ordinal numbers.

After Tchaikovsky's death, the music to The Snow Maiden was published once again by Pyotr Jurgenson. In November 1894 the choral parts were issued. December 1895 saw the first publication of the full score (approved by the censor on 16/28 January 1895). This edition included two new numbers: the chorus of flowers to spring's monologue, No. 17 (this number was in the autograph full score, but had not been published earlier), and a second version of Lel's Third Song. In March 1896 the arrangement for voice with piano appeared in print; this also included the supplementary numbers (Lel's Third Song in an arrangement by Sergey Taneyev), which had been published separately in March 1895. In this new edition, Lel's songs were given consecutive numbers. In December 1897 the numbers were again issued separately, and in an arrangement for piano solo by Vyacheslav Laub.

The full score and vocal-piano reductions were published in volume 14, edited by Irina Iordan (1962) and volume 33, edited by Georgy Kirkor (1965), respectively of Tchaikovsky's Complete Collected Works.

Autographs

Tchaikovsky's full score of The Snow Maiden is preserved in the Central Music Library of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg (VII,1.4.154). This omits the second version of Lel's Third Song (Act III, No. 14b), which is held at the Russian National Museum of Music in Moscow (ф. 88, No. 53) [view], together with an incomplete autograph of Tchaikovsky's arrangement for voices and piano ф. 88, No. 54) [view].

Recordings

See: Discography

Related Works

In the music to The Snow Maiden, Tchaikovsky re-used several numbers from his opera Undina, namely: Undina's arioso («Водопад мой дядя»), for Lel's first song («Земляничка-ягодка»), and the introduction to the opera was transferred in its entirety to The Snow Maiden. It is possible that other numbers from the opera were also re-used, since Tchaikovsky asked Vasily Bessel for the full score of Undina while he was working on The Snow Maiden. He also made extensive use of Russian folksong:

  • Prologue, No. 1 — The Introduction is identical to the Introduction to the opera Undina.
  • Prologue, No. 2 — The Dances of Birds use the folk tune 'The Grey Eagle Flew up to the Mountains' (Вот сизый орел по гораи леталь), which appears as No. 31 in Vasily Prokunin's collection of 65 Russian Folksongs.
  • Prologue, No. 4 — The Chorus uses the folk tune 'Long Time Said, Long Time Spoken' (Давно сказано, давно баено), and the following tenor solo employs the theme 'At Prince Volkhonsky's' (У кназя Волхонского). These tunes appear as Nos. 19 and 6 respectively from Prokunin's 65 Russian Folksongs. The theme of the concluding chorus is derived either from the Russian folk tune 'The Rich Tit-Mouse' (Синица богата) or the Ukrainian song 'Let's Play Music' (Вы музыки, грайте).
  • Prologue, No. 5a — The Melodrama is based on the Russian folk tune 'Long Time Said, Long Time Spoken' (Давно сказано, давно баено), which is No. 19 in Prokunin's 65 Russian Folksongs.
  • Act I, No. 6 — Lel's First Song is based on Undina's Song from Act I of the opera Undina.
  • Act I, No. 7 — Lel's Second Song uses the folk tune 'By the Gates' (У ворот, ворот), which is No. 23 in Prokunin's 65 Russian Folksongs.
  • Act II, No. 9 — The Chorus of Blind Gusli-Players uses the folk tune 'It Isn't Drink That's Muddling My Head' (Не хмель мою головушку клонит), which Tchaikovsky had previously arranged as No. 14 of Fifty Russian Folksongs.
  • Act III, No. 12 — The Khorovod uses the Russian folk tune 'There is a Lime Tree in the Field' (Ай, во поле липинька).
  • Act III, No. 14a — The first version of Lel's Third Song uses the Russian folk tune 'I Was Strolling Along the Riverbank' (Я по бережку прохаживла), which is No. 2 in Vasily Prokunin's collection of 65 Russian Folksongs.
  • Act III, No. 14b — The second version of Lel's Third Song uses the folk tune 'Tis Not the Sound Resounding' (Не шум шумит), which Tchaikovsky also used as No. 21 from Fifty Russian Folksongs, and later in Kuma's Arioso (Act I, No. 4) from the opera The Enchantress (1885-87).
  • Act III, No. 15 — Brusila's Song uses the folk tune 'Where Have You Been?' (Где ж ты была?), which appears as No. 25 in Vasily Prokunin's collection of 65 Russian Folksongs.
  • Act IV, No. 18 — The trio section of the March employs the Russian folk tune 'Oh, My Duckling in the Meadow' (Ой, утушка моя луговая), which Tchaikovsky arranged as No. 36 from Fifty Russian Folksongs. The text and tune of the chorus, 'We sowed the seed' (А мы просу сеяли), are taken from the song 'We Worked the Land' (А мы землю наняли), which Tchaikovsky had previously arranged as No. 26 of Fifty Russian Folksongs [13].
  • Act IV, No. 19 — The Finale includes the Russian folk tune ‘In the hall, in the parlour' (Во горнице, ко светлице).

After The Snow Maiden had been withdrawn from the repertoire and its music forgotten, some numbers were re-used by Tchaikovsky in his music to Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, written in 1891. The Melodrama (Act II, No. 10) from The Snow Maiden (Kupava's lament) served as the entr'acte to Act III of the tragedy.

External Links

Notes and References

  1. See Letter 1352 to Nadezhda von Meck, 24 November/6 December–25 November/7 December 1879 and Tchaikovsky's petition to Pavel Kavelin — Klin House-Museum Archive.
  2. Letter from Aleksandr Ostrovsky to Tchaikovsky, 15/27 March 1873 — Klin House-Museum Archive. This letter was published by Sergey Popov in А. Н. Островский и П. И. Чайковский (1937), p. 161.
  3. See Tchaikovsky's application to Pavel Kavelin for payment for his work on The Snow Maiden, 26 March/7 April 1873 — Klin House-Museum Archive.
  4. Letter 1352 to Nadezhda von Meck, 24 November/6 December–25 November/7 December 1879.
  5. i.e. the final work on Acts I and II.
  6. Letter 297 to Aleksandr Ostrovsky, 6/18 April 1873.
  7. Letter 298 to Ilya Tchaikovsky, 7/19 April 1873.
  8. Letter 301 to Aleksandra Davydova and Modest Tchaikovsky, 27 April/9 May 1873.
  9. See A. N. Ostrovsky. Дневник и письма (1937), pp. 102, 118–120.
  10. Letter 1352 to Nadezhda von Meck, 24 November/6 December–25 November/7 December 1879.
  11. Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского, том 2 (1901), pp. 262–263.
  12. Letter 1926 to Pyotr Jurgenson, 4/16 January 1882.
  13. We are most grateful to Mr Simone Mantelli for bringing this to our attention.