Tchaikovsky Research : Six Romances, Op. 16 (TH 95)

Catalogue References	TH 95 ; ČW 218
Date	December 1872–January 1873
Text	Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov (1821–1897), from his poem of the same name in the cycle Modern Greek Songs (Новогречиские песни) (1860)
Language	Russian
Key	A♭ minor
Tempo/Section Listing	Andantino (A♭ minor, 90 bars)
Instrumentation	High voice + Piano
Arrangements	Arranged for solo piano by Tchaikovsky, 1873 (two versions—in A♭ minor (ČW 343a) and A minor (ČW 343b) respectively)
Autograph Location	Moscow (Russia): Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Culture (ф. 88, No. 131) — vocal score only
First Publication	Saint Petersburg: V. Bessel, 1873 (vocal score), 1876 (arrangement for solo piano)
Average Duration	4 minutes
Dedication	Nadezhda Nikolaevna Rimskaia-Korsakova (1848–1919)
External Links	IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library (downloadable score) The Lied and Art Song Texts Page (text and translations)

No. 2. Wait! (Погоди!)

Catalogue References	TH 95 ; ČW 219
Date	December 1872–January 1873
Text	Nikolai Porfir'evich Grekov (1807–1866), from an untitled poem (by 1860)
Language	Russian
Key	A minor–A major
Tempo/Section Listing	Moderato assai (A minor–A major, 55 bars)
Instrumentation	High voice + Piano
Autograph Location	Moscow (Russia): Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Culture (ф. 88, No. 131)
First Publication	Saint Petersburg: V. Bessel, 1873
Average Duration	4 minutes
Dedication	Nikolai Andreevich Rimskii-Korsakov (1844–1908)
External Links	IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library (downloadable score) The Lied and Art Song Texts Page (text and translations)

No. 3. Accept Just Once (Пойми хоть раз)

Catalogue References	TH 95 ; ČW 220
Date	December 1872–January 1873
Text	Afanasii Afanas'evich Fet (1820–1892) [1], from his poem Beethoven's Appeal to his Beloved (Anruf an die Geliebte Бетховена), in the cycle Melodies (Мелодии) (1857)
Language	Russian
Key	C minor
Tempo/Section Listing	Allegro non tanto (C minor, 36 bars)
Instrumentation	Low voice + Piano
Autograph Location	Moscow (Russia): Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Culture (ф. 88, No. 131)
First Publication	Saint Petersburg: V. Bessel, 1873
Average Duration	2 minutes
Dedication	Herman Laroche (1845–1894)
External Links	IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library (downloadable score) The Lied and Art Song Texts Page (text and translations)

No. 4. O, Sing That Song (О, спой же ту песню)

Catalogue References	TH 95 ; ČW 221
Date	December 1872–January 1873
Text	Aleksei Nikolaevich Pleshcheev (1825–1893), from his poem On a Motif of Felicia Hemans (На мотив из Фелиции Гименс) (1871) — a translation from the English of the poem Mother! Oh Sing me to Rest (1830) by Felicia Hemans (1793–1835)
Language	Russian
Key	G major
Tempo/Section Listing	Allegro moderato (G major, 127 bars)
Instrumentation	High voice + Piano
Arrangements	Arranged for solo piano by Tchaikovsky, 1873 (ČW 344a). Possibly also arranged for violin and piano by Tchaikovsky, 1873 (ČW 344b)
Autograph Location	Moscow (Russia): Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Culture (ф. 88, No. 131) — vocal score
First Publication	Saint Petersburg: V. Bessel, 1873 (vocal score), 1876 (arrangement for solo piano)
Average Duration	3 minutes
Dedication	Nikolai Al'bertovich Hubert (1840–1888)
External Links	IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library (downloadable score) The Lied and Art Song Texts Page (text and translations)

No. 5. So What? (Так что же?)

Catalogue References	TH 95 ; ČW 222 (as "So What, Then?")
Date	December 1872–January 1873
Text	"N.N." [Tchaikovsky]
Language	Russian
Key	F♯ minor–A major
Tempo/Section Listing	Allegretto (F♯ minor–A major, 164 bars)
Instrumentation	High voice + Piano
Arrangements	Arranged for solo piano by Tchaikovsky (ČW 345), 1873
Autograph Location	Moscow (Russia): Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Culture (ф. 88, No. 131) — vocal score
First Publication	Saint Petersburg: V. Bessel, 1873 (vocal score), 1876 (arrangement for solo piano)
Average Duration	3 minutes
Dedication	Nikolai Grigor'evich Rubinstein (1835–1881)
External Links	IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library (downloadable score) The Lied and Art Song Texts Page (text and translations)

No. 6. Modern Greek Song: On the Theme "Dies Irae" (Новогреческая песня: на тему «Dies irae») [2]

Catalogue References	TH 95 ; ČW 223
Date	December 1872–January 1873
Text	Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov (1821–1897), from an untitled poem in his cycle Modern Greek Songs (Новогречиские песни) (1858–60)
Language	Russian
Key	E♭ minor
Tempo/Section Listing	Moderato lugubre (E♭ minor, 48 bars)
Instrumentation	High voice + Piano
Autograph Location	Moscow (Russia): Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Culture (ф. 88, No. 131)
First Publication	Saint Petersburg: V. Bessel, 1873
Average Duration	3 minutes
Dedication	Karl Albrecht (1836–1893)
External Links	IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library (downloadable score) The Lied and Art Song Texts Page (text and translations)

History

Composed by Tchaikovsky in Moscow, apparently soon after finishing work on his Second Symphony. On 2/14 November 1872 he wrote that: "... the symphony, which I am finishing, has absorbed me to such an extent that I haven't been able to do anything else" [3]. By 15/27 November the symphony was ready and copied out [4]. In letters to his father of 22 November/4 December and 9/21 December. Tchaikovsky reported that he was going to relax after completing his symphony. and not write anything further [5]. But on 10/22 December he told Modest Tchaikovsky: "Now I am forced to rest by the absence of any inspiration or inclination to compose; I did try to write some romances, nut somehow they all came out badly, and I couldn’t find words that I liked. If you aren’t particularly busy, could you send me a list of suitable verses? I’ve filled a whole ream of paper with verses, but they are all so terrible that not one of them is suitable to set to music" [6]. It seems that in December, not having found an appropriate text, Tchaikovsky wrote the words for the romance So What? (No. 5).

Modest Tchaikovsky understood that the Op. 16 romances were written in December 1872 [7]. This information is contained in a letter from Tchaikovsky to Vasilii Bessel concerning the publication of the pieces: "During his stay in Saint Petersburg [in December 1872] Tchaikovsky often met with... members of the so-called "mighty-handful"... One evening at Rimskii-Korsakov's [8], Petr Il’ich played his new symphony on the piano, precipitating an enthusiastic response from all those present... Tchaikovsky then presented Bessel with his latest Six Romances, Op. 16, for publication. which had only just been composed ..." [9].

The Six Romances were published for the first time by Vasilii Bessel in March [10]. In letters of 4/16 March and 7/19 March 1873. Tchaikovsky wrote to Bessel: "I have only just received my romances and hurried to drop you this note to urge you to sequestrate them, i.e. to withdraw all copies of these romances, since they contain some appalling printing errors. I hurriedly checked through them and saw several musical mistakes, and one literary error, sufficient in itself to spoil the whole work. Indeed in the best romance (in my opinion), No. 5, on page 4 in place of the word ‘korish’ [you find fault] the word ‘kutish’ [you get drunk] has been printed instead, which made me shudder. I implore you at once to gather together all copies and thoroughly examine the proofs, which if you want, I will do myself... The point is that I really expected No. 5 to be a success, but the word kutish has ruined any chance of that" [11]. The author's opinion that the romance So What? (No. 5) was the best of the Op. 16 set is borne out in a letter to Vasilii Bessel of 21 February/5 March 1873: "I recommended ... one of my new romances to Mme. Raab, namely So What?" [12].

On 25 March/6 April. Tchaikovsky again urged Bessel to respond to his request in respect of the proofs of the romances, and of No. 5 in particular [13].

The texts of the poems Wait (No. 2) and O, Sing that Song (No. 4) were abridged by Tchaikovsky; he also made changes to the texts of all the romances.

The romances O, Sing that Song (No. 4) and So What? (No. 5) were performed, seemingly for the first time, in December 1874 – the first by Aleksandra Krutikova, and the second by Mariia Kamenskaia [14].

Nos. 1, 4 and 5 were arranged for piano solo by the author. No information survives regarding the date of these arrangements. This work was probably carried out at Vasilii Bessel's request.

Tchaikovsky made two versions of the arrangement of Cradle Song (No 1)—in A♭ minor (the original key) and A minor.

It has been suggested that Tchaikovsky also made the arrangement of the romance O, Sing me that Song (No. 4) for violin with piano, but there is no evidence to confirm this in other documents. The style of the arrangement published by Vasilii Bessel raises doubts as to whether Tchaikovsky was the author.

The arrangements of Nos. 1, 4 and 5 were first published by Vasilii Bessel in 1873.

Six Romances

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