Children's Songs
Песни для детей
Five projected songs (1883).
Night (Ночь)
| Catalogue References |
TH 221 ; ČW 487 |
| Date |
July–October 1883 (unrealized) |
| Text |
Aleksei Nikolaevich
Pleshcheev (1825–1893), from his poem No. 6 in the cycle Summer
Songs VI (Летние песни VI) (1862) |
| Language |
Russian |
| Key |
G major |
| Instrumentation |
Medium voice + Piano |
| Autograph Location |
Klin (Russia): Tchaikovsky House-Museum
Archive (sketches only) |
The Vampire (Вурдалак)
| Catalogue References |
TH 221 ; ČW 500 |
| Date |
July–October 1883 (unrealized) |
| Text |
Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin (1799–1837), from his poem of the same
name in the cycle Song of the Western Slavs (Песни западных славян)
(1834) — a translation from the French of La Guzla (1827) by Prosper
Mérimée (1803–1870) |
| Language |
Russian |
| Key |
C major |
| Instrumentation |
High voice + Piano |
| Autograph Location |
Klin (Russia): Tchaikovsky House-Museum
Archive (sketches only) |
The Beggars (Нищие)
| Catalogue References |
TH 221 ; ČW 486 |
| Date |
July–October 1883 (unrealized) |
| Text |
Aleksei Nikolaevich
Pleshcheev (1825–1893), from his poem of the same name (1861) |
| Language |
Russian |
| Autograph Location |
Klin (Russia): Tchaikovsky House-Museum
Archive (textural notes only) |
The Poor Child (Больное дитя)
| Catalogue References |
TH 221 (not in ČW) |
| Date |
July–October 1883 (unrealized) |
| Text |
Vasilii Ivanovich Tumanskii (1802–1860), from his poem of the same
name (1823) |
| Language |
Russian |
The Complaint (Жалоба)
| Catalogue References |
TH 221 (not in ČW) |
| Date |
July–October 1883 (unrealized) |
| Text |
Vasilii Ivanovich Tumanskii (1802–1860), from his poem of the same
name (1823) |
| Language |
Russian |
History
In 1883 Tchaikovsky considered using these five songs in his set of Sixteen Songs for Children, but they
were not subsequently included in that collection.
Musical sketches for Nos. 1 and 2, and textual notes for No. 3 are found
among sketches for the other children’s songs. Nos. 4 and 5 are referred to
in the composer’s Notebook for 1883: " "If going to write children’s songs,
use two texts by Tumanskii from Old Russia), July, p. 124" [1]. Vasilii Tumanskii’s
poems The Poor Child and The Complaint were both published in
the July 1883 edition of the journal Old Russia [Русская
старина]. No musical sketches have survived for these two projected songs.
From:
The Tchaikovsky Handbook, vol. 1 (2002), p. 406
Copyright © 2002 Alexander Poznansky and Brett Langston
Notes:
- Notebook No. 14 — Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
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