Six Poems after Pushkin, Op. 36 (Russian: , translit. ), is a 1919 song collection based on poems by Alexander Pushkin written by Russian composer Nikolai Medtner.
Background Medtner's Six Poems were composed around 1918 and 1919 and were published by Gosizdat, the Soviet government publishing body established after the 1917 revolution, in Moscow or Petrograd. An additional edition for markets outside Russia was published by Musikverlag Zimmermann in 1923. A collected works edition published by Muzgiz in Moscow in 1961 also included the set. The edition presented the texts in Russian with German translations. The translations were prepared by Friedrich Bodenstedt (Nos. I, II, and VI), W. Wischniak (No. III), Johannes von Guenther (No. IV), and (No. V).
When Roses Fade (No. III) was also arranged for solo piano by Boris Shatskes and posthumously published by Kompozitor in 1988.
Structure The set consists of six songs for high voice and piano. It has an approximate duration of 22 minutes. The list of pieces is as follows: + Structure of Six Poems after Pushkin, Op. 36No.TitleEnglish titleTempo markingText sourcesIАнгел
(Angel)The AngelCon moto disinvolto ed espressivo"Ангел", first published in 1827IIЦветок
(Tsvetok)The FlowerAndante espressivoFirst published in 1832III„Лишь розы увядают...“
("Lish' rozy uvyadayut...")When Roses FadeLargo"Лишь розы увядают", first published in 1825IVИспанский романс
(Ispanskiy romans)Spanish RomanceAllegro vivace e leggieramente"Испанский романс", written in 1824, first published in 1827VНочь
(Noch’)NightCon moto"Ночь", first published in 1823VIАрион
(Arion)ArionAndante largamente"Арион", written in 1827, first published in 1830
Recordings Nikolai Medtner never recorded the complete set, and performers rarely record it in full, preferring instead to select individual pieces. In 1947, Medtner made an unreleased recording of The Flower (No. II) with soprano Oda Slobodskaya for HMV. He returned to the cycle on November 16, 1950, recording When Roses Fade (No. III) with soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. This recording was originally released on 78 rpm by Columbia Records and has since been reissued on CD by EMI, Archiv, Historic Recordings, and St-Laurent Studio. The following is a list of complete recordings of the cycle: +Recordings of Six Poems after Pushkin, Op. 36SopranoPianoDate of recordingPlace of recordingLabelSofia FominaAlexander KarpeyevMarch 2018Wyastone Hall, Wyastone Leys, Monmouth, UKChandosEkaterina LeventalFrank Peters2020Westvest90, Schiedam, The NetherlandsBrilliant Classics
References
External links