Six Poems after Pushkin, Op. 36 (Medtner)
| Six Poems after Pushkin | |
|---|---|
| Song cycle by Nikolai Medtner | |
| Native name | Шесть стихотворений A. Пушкина |
| Opus | 36 |
| Text | Poems by Alexander Pushkin and Anton Delvig |
| Published | 1919 - Moscow (or Petrograd) |
| Publisher | Gosizdat |
| Duration | 22 minutes approximately |
| Movements | 6 |
| Scoring | High voice and piano |
Six Poems after Pushkin, Op. 36 (Russian: Шесть стихотворений A. Пушкина, translit. Shest’ stikhotvoreniy A. Pushkina), 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.[1] An additional edition for markets outside Russia was published by Musikverlag Zimmermann in 1923.[1] 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 Friedrich Fiedler (No. V).[2]
When Roses Fade (No. III) was also arranged for solo piano by Boris Shatskes and posthumously published by Kompozitor in 1988.[1]
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:
| No. | Title | English title[3] | Tempo marking | Text sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Ангел
(Angel) |
The Angel | Con moto disinvolto ed espressivo | "Ангел", first published in 1827[4] |
| II | Цветок
(Tsvetok) |
The Flower | Andante espressivo | First published in 1832[5] |
| III | „Лишь розы увядают...“
("Lish' rozy uvyadayut...") |
When Roses Fade | Largo | "Лишь розы увядают", first published in 1825[6] |
| IV | Испанский романс
(Ispanskiy romans) |
Spanish Romance | Allegro vivace e leggieramente | "Испанский романс", written in 1824, first published in 1827[7] |
| V | Ночь
(Noch’) |
Night | Con moto | "Ночь", first published in 1823[8] |
| VI | Арион
(Arion) |
Arion | Andante largamente | "Арион", written in 1827, first published in 1830[9] |
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:
| Soprano | Piano | Date of recording | Place of recording | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sofia Fomina | Alexander Karpeyev | March 2018 | Wyastone Hall, Wyastone Leys, Monmouth, Gwent, UK | Chandos[10] |
| Ekaterina Levental | Frank Peters | 2020 | Westvest90, Schiedam, The Netherlands | Brilliant Classics[11] |
References
- ^ a b c "Six Poems by Pushkin, Op 36". medtner.org.uk. Retrieved 2026-02-27.
- ^ Medtner, Nikolai (1961). Собрание сочинений, Том VI: Сочинения для голоса и фортепиано [Sobranie Sochinenii, Tom VI: Sochineniia dlia golosa i fortepiano] (in Russian). Moscow: Muzgiz.
- ^ "Nicolas Medtner: catalogue of works with discography". medtner.org.uk. Retrieved 2026-02-27.
- ^ "Ангел | В дверях Эдема ангел нежный | LiederNet". www.lieder.net. Retrieved 2026-02-27.
- ^ "Цветок | Цветок засохший, безуханный | LiederNet". www.lieder.net. Retrieved 2026-02-27.
- ^ "Лишь розы увядают | Лишь розы увядают | LiederNet". www.lieder.net. Retrieved 2026-02-27.
- ^ "Испанский романс | Ночной зефир | LiederNet". www.lieder.net. Retrieved 2026-02-27.
- ^ "Ночь | Мой голос для тебя и ласковый и томный | LiederNet". www.lieder.net. Retrieved 2026-02-27.
- ^ "Арион | Нас было много на челне | LiederNet". www.lieder.net. Retrieved 2026-02-27.
- ^ "Chandos Records Classical Music CDs". Chandos Records. Retrieved 2026-02-27.
- ^ "Medtner: Incantation, Complete Songs, Vol. 1 - Brilliant Classics". www.brilliantclassics.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 2026-02-19.