Tchaikovsky
www.tchaikovsky-research.net
Night
(Ночь)
Quartet with piano accompaniment (1893).
| Catalogue References | TH 88 ; ČW 318 |
|---|---|
| Date | March 1893. Based on the Andantino section from Mozart's Fantasie in C minor for piano (KV 475) |
| Text | "N.N." (= Composer) |
| Language | Russian |
| Key | B♭ major |
| Tempo/Section Listing | Moderato assai (B♭ major, 154 bars) |
| Instrumentation | Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass voices + Piano |
| First Performance | Moscow, Conservatory, 9/21 October 1893 |
| Autograph Location | Moscow (Russia): Glinka National Museum Consortium of Musical Culture (ф. 88, No. 128) |
| First Publication | Moscow: P. Jurgenson, 1893 |
| Average Duration | 4 minutes |
| Dedication | Yelizaveta Andreyevna Lavrovskaya (1845–1919) |
| External Links | IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library
 (downloadable score)The Lied and Art Song Texts Page
(text and translations) |
History
The idea for a vocal quartet on Mozart's music seems to have occurred to Tchaikovsky in 1892, while he was living at Maydanovo. Vladimir Nápravník played through many piano works by various authors, including Mozart [1].
On 18/30 May 1892, Vladimir Nápravník wrote to Tchaikovsky: "I remember, dear Pyotr Il’ich, that recently you wanted to arrange some Mozart that you wanted to arrange as a quartet for singers. Did you do this or not?" [2]. Tchaikovsky did not carry out his intention until 1893, at the beginning of March—the manuscript is dated "Klin. 3 March 1893" [O.S.]. The autograph is subtitled: "Music adapted from Mozart’s Fantasia No. 4 and arranged by P. Tchaikovsky".
The first performance took place at the Moscow Conservatory by members of Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya’s student class on 9 October 1893, in the presence of the author [3].
The quartet was published by Pyotr Jurgenson in March 1893 [4]. In the same year, before Tchaikovsky’s death, the quartet was orchestrated by Sergey Taneyev [5]. In a letter from Taneyev to Jurgenson of 19/31 January 1896, we read: "Have you found Night?... I don't want to send to my full score, with the inscription made by Pyotr Il’ich, to Saint Petersburg..." [6]. This orchestration of the quartet was performed for the first time on 6/18 November 1893 in Moscow, at the second symphony concert of the Russian Musical Society, conducted by Vasily Safonov. The full score of the arrangement was published by Pyotr Jurgenson in the same year.
The quartet is dedicated to Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya.
From:
Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), pp. 480–481
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston
Notes:
- Modest Tchaikovsky, Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского, том 3 (1902), p. 655 [back]
- Letter from Vladimir Nápravník to Tchaikovsky, 18/30 May 1892 — Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
- See Nikolay Kashkin, Воспоминания о П. И. Чайковском (1896), p. 179–180 [back]
- Passed by the censor on 17 March 1893 [back]
- The manuscript of Taneyev’s arrangement, preserved in the Klin House-Museum, bears the date "Saint Petersburg. 27 March [18]93" [back]
- Letter from Sergey Taneyev to Pyotr Jurgenson, 6/18 November 1893 — State Central Archive for Literature and the Arts. This manuscript includes a note to Boris Jurgenson: "Boris Petrovich! I am sending you the orchestration of the quartet Night, made by S. I. Taneyev. I think it would be an excellent idea to print it and the parts. P. Tchaikovsky, 28 March [18]93" [back]