Tchaikovsky
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TH 71

Chorus of Flowers and Insects

Хор цветов и насекомых

For children's voices & mixed chorus with orchestra, D major (1869-70).

• Text by Sergei Rachinskii.
• Composed December 1869 - January 1870. Originally intended as a scene for a projected opera Mandragora (TH 207)
• Scored for SATB Chorus; Boys' Chorus; 2 Flutes; 2 Oboes; 2 Clarinets (A); 2 Bassoons; 4 Horns (F); Timpani; Harp; Violins I; Violins II; Violas; Violoncellos; Double Basses.
• Also arranged for voices with piano by Tchaikovsky, December 1869.
• First performed in Moscow, 18/30 December 1870, conducted by Nikolai Rubinstein.
• Average duration: 8m.

History

The Chorus of Flowers and Insects was written at the end of 1869 in Moscow, and was conceived as a fragment from Tchaikovsky's projected opera Mandragora [1].

No information survives concerning work on the chorus. The manuscript of the piano score has the autograph note: "27 December 1869. Moscow". It is not possible to establish when the orchestration was made, except that in 1870 the chorus was performed. The first reference to this chorus occurs in a letter to Modest Tchaikovsky of 13 January 1870: "... I have written a chorus of insects for the opera Mandragora, the subject of which I think is familiar to you; it was written by Rachinskii" [2].

The chorus was performed at the sixth symphony concert given by the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society on 18 December 1870, as Chorus of Elves [Хор эльфов], and later at the second concert of the Free Music School in Saint Petersburg, conducted by Milii Balakirev, on 18 December 1871. After the first performance, Tchaikovsky was prevailed upon by Karl Albrecht to revise the middle section, but subsequently it was left unchanged [3].

The chorus was published for the first time by Petr Jurgenson in June 1902 - in the form of a choral score with piano accompaniment, and parts [4]. Since the full score was believed to be lost, the chorus was orchestrated by Aleksandr Glazunov in 1898 (according to the date on the manuscript) [5]. It was published in this version by Petr Jurgenson in April 1904 (full score) and November 1904 (parts) [6]. The original full score was later found, and published for the first time in 1950.

From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), pp. 351-352
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston

Notes:

1. On the manuscript of the piano score, Tchaikovsky wrote "Chorus of Insects", and on the full score: "Chorus of Flowers and Insects from a fantastic opera Mandragora" [back]
2. Letter 178 to Modest Tchaikovsky, 13/25 January 1870 [back]
3. See letters 194 and 242 to Milii Balakirev, 1/13 June and 22 October/3 November 1871, and Balakirev’s reply to Tchaikovsky, October 1871 - Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
4. Passed by the censor on 28 May 1902. See also letters from Petr Jurgenson to Modest Tchaikovsky, 10/23 May 1902 and 11/24 December 1903 - Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
5. Glazunov’s manuscript is preserved in the Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
6. See letter from P. I. Jurgenson to M. I. Tchaikovsky, 27 May/8 June 1898 - Klin House-Museum Archive [back]