Tchaikovsky: Six Romances, Op. 28 (1875) VI. The Terrible Moment. Andante non troppo (F-sharp minor)

Tchaikovsky: Six Romances, Op. 28
(1875)
VI. The Terrible Moment (Страшная минута)
Andante non troppo (F-sharp 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:

VI. The Terrible Moment (Страшная минута) Andante non troppo (F-sharp minor)

You listen, bowing your head down,
Lowering your eyes and sighing softly!
You don't know how these moments
Terrible for me and full of meaning,
How this silence confuses me.
I'm waiting for your sentence, I'm waiting for a decision -
Or you plunge a knife into my heart,
Or you will open paradise for me.
Oh, don't torment me, just say the word!

Why the timid confession
Has it sunk deep into your heart?
You sigh, you tremble and cry -
Or the words of love in your mouth grow numb,
Or do you feel sorry for me, do not love?
I'm waiting for your sentence, I'm waiting for a decision -
Or you plunge a knife into my heart,
Or you will open paradise for me!
Ah, heed my plea,
Answer, answer quickly!
I'm waiting for your sentence, I'm waiting for a decision.

"N.N." (= Tchaikovsky).

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:

VI. Yevlaliya Kadmina (1853–1881), who premiered the role of Morozova in The Oprichnik in Moscow.