Tchaikovsky: Six Romances and Songs, Op. 27 (1875) III. Do Not Leave Me. Andante amoroso (F major)

Tchaikovsky: Six Romances and Songs, Op. 27
(1875)
III. Do Not Leave Me (Не отходи от меня)
Andante amoroso (F major)

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

Movements:

III. Do Not Leave Me (Не отходи от меня) Andante amoroso (F major)

Don't leave me
My friend, stay with me!
Don't leave me:
I'm so happy with you...
I am so happy to be with you!

Closer to each other than we are
We can't even be closer;
Cleaner, livelier, stronger
We don't know how to love.

If you are in front of me
Bowing his head sadly
I'm so happy with you...
Don't leave me!

I'm so happy with you...
Don't leave me!
I'm so happy with you
I am so happy to be with you!

Afanasy Fet (1812–1892), from an untitled poem in his cycle Melodies (Мелодии) (1842).

Composition:
The history of these romances is undocumented. They were probably composed sometime between mid/late March (after the Six Romances, Op. 25) and 7/19 April 1875 (the date they were received by Pyotr Jurgenson, as noted on the manuscript).

Performances:
The romance Evening (No. 4) was performed, possibly for the first time, by Aleksandra Svyatlovskaya in Moscow on 17/29 December 1876, at the sixth symphony concert of the Russian Musical Society.

Publication:
The romances were published by Pyotr Jurgenson in May 1875. A new edition, containing the second version of My Spoiled Darling (No. 6), was issued by Jurgenson in August 1892.

The set (including both versions of No. 6) was published in volume 44 of Tchaikovsky's Complete Collected Works (1940), edited by Ivan Shishov and Nikolay Shemanin.

Arrangements:
The romance Do Not Leave Me (No. 3) was orchestrated by Sergey Taneyev in 1891, and this arrangement was published by Pyotr Jurgenson in 1892.

Autographs:
Tchaikovsky's manuscript scores of all six romances are now preserved in the Russian National Museum of Music in Moscow (ф. 88, No. 136).

The same archive also holds Sergey Taneyev's autograph arrangement of Do Not Leave Me (No. 3) for voice and orchestra, containing annotations by Tchaikovsky (ф. 85, No. 38).

Dedication:
All the romances are dedicated to Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya.