Tchaikovsky: Six Romances, Op. 28 (1875) III. Why? Moderato assai (D minor)

Tchaikovsky: Six Romances, Op. 28
(1875)
III. Why? (Зачем?)
Moderato assai (D minor)


Tchaikovsky's Six Romances (Шесть романсов), Op. 28 (TH 99 ; ČW 238-243), were completed in April 1875 in Moscow.

Instrumentation:
Scored for high voice (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6) or medium voice (No. 5), with piano accompaniment

Movements:

III. Why? (Зачем?) Moderato assai (D minor)

Why did you dream?
Beauty far away,
And flared up in the fire,
Pillow alone?
Oh, go away, go away, you midnight woman!

Your eyes are lazy
And the ashes of braids are crumbly,
And proud lips,
I dreamed everything,
And everything that is a vernal dream,
Rushed away - and in the heart
Darkness has fallen!

Why did you dream?
Beauty far away,
A pine seed freezes with a dream
Half lonely?
Why, why did you dream?

Lev Mey, after his poem of the same name (1861).

Composition:
The set was probably begun in April 1875 after the Six Romances and Songs, Op. 27. According to the date on the manuscript the romances were completed on 11/23 April 1875.

Publication:
The Six Romances were published for the first time by Pyotr Jurgenson in May 1875, and they were included in volume 44 of Tchaikovsky's Complete Collected Works (1940), edited by Ivan Shishov and Nikolay Shemanin.

Arrangements:
Tchaikovsky later singled out The Terrible Moment (No. 6) as one of his most popular romances, and he approved two arrangements of it by others. It was orchestrated by Sergey Taneyev in 1891, and this arrangement was published by Pyotr Jurgenson in 1892. The same romance was also arranged by Sergey Morozov for voice with cello and piano accompaniment; this arrangement was highly regarded by Tchaikovsky, and it was also published by Jurgenson, in 1882.

Autographs:
Tchaikovsky's manuscript scores of all six romances are now preserved in the Russian National Museum of Music in Moscow (ф. 88, No. 137).

Dedication:
Tchaikovsky dedicated each romance to a different operatic singer:

III. Mariya Ilyina, mezzo-soprano, who premiered the role of Morozova in The Oprichnik in Kiev.