Tchaikovsky: Seven Romances, Op. 47
(1880)
VI. Does the Day Reign? (День ли царит)
Andantino—Allegro agitato (E major)


Tchaikovsky's Seven Romances (Семь романсов), Op. 47 (TH 103 ; ČW 252-258), were completed in August 1880 at Simaki.

Instrumentation:
High voice (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7), medium voice (No. 4) or baritone (No. 5), with piano accompaniment.

Movements:

A complete performance of all seven romances lasts around 30 minutes.

VI. Does the Day Reign? (День ли царит) Andantino—Allegro agitato (E major)

Does the day reign, is the silence of the night,
Whether in incoherent dreams, in worldly struggle,
Everywhere with me, filling my life,
The thought is still the same, one fatal, -
Everything about you! everything about you!
Everything, everything, everything, everything about you!

With her, I am not afraid of the ghost of the past,
The heart rose again loving...
Faith, dreams, inspired word,
Everything that is dear, holy in the soul -
Everything from you! everything, everything from you!
Everything from you!

Will my days be clear, dull,
Will I soon perish, ruining my life! —
I know one thing, that to the very grave
Thoughts, feelings, and songs, and forces,
Everything for you! everything for you
Thoughts, feelings, and songs, and forces,
Everything, everything, everything, everything for you!

Aleksey Apukhtin (1840–1893), from an untitled poem (1880).

Composition:
It is possible that the romance Does the Day Reign? was the first of the Seven Romances to have been composed, in March 1880. According to Fyodor Malinin, Tchaikovsky created it for Aleksandra Panayeva-Kartsova. Following the dress rehearsal of a concert of Tchaikovsky's works, which took place in Saint Petersburg on 25 March/6 April 1880, and in which Panayeva-Kartsova took a principal role, Tchaikovsky was in conversation with Aleksey Apukhtin. Being a fervent admirer of the performer's singing talent, the composer asked the poet if he would dedicate one of his poems to her. In reply. “Apukhtin silently gestured that some notepaper was to be brought to him, upon which he jotted down some short verses in pencil. Tchaikovsky took these pages, and scanned through them before quickly leaving Apukhtin's home without a word; a day or two later he called on his friend again, bringing with him the romance, already composed".

Arrangements:
Two of the romances were later arranged for voice and orchestra by the composer.

In March 1883 Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya asked Tchaikovsky to orchestrate the romance Was I Not a Little Blade of Grass in the Meadow? (No. 7), through Sofya Malozemova. However, Tchaikovsky was occupied at that time with the composition of the cantata Moscow and the Coronation March, and was unable to fulfil her request. In a letter of 21 March/2 April 1883 to Sofya Malozemova, Tchaikovsky wrote: "How could I refuse? I am honoured and proud to oblige her and satisfy you, and as you rightly say that work will not take me very long—but combined with my fatigue through the strain of simultaneously composing the march and the cantata—I swear that I have no energy to take up a third task, even though it is straightforward work. I certainly will do it—but I beg you and Lizaveta Andreyevna not to be angry with me if I cannot orchestrate the romance just yet".

Publication:
The romances were published for the first time by Pyotr Jurgenson in March 1881, and were included in volume 44 of Tchaikovsky's Complete Collected Works (1940), edited by Ivan Shishov and Nikolay Shemanin.

The orchestral version of Was I Not a Little Blade of Grass in the Meadow? (No. 7) was published for the first time in 1960 in volume 27 of the Complete Collected Works, edited by Irina Iordan.

Autographs:
Tchaikovsky's autograph scores of all seven romances are now preserved in the Russian National Museum of Music in Moscow (ф. 88, No. 139).

The whereabouts of the manuscripts of his later orchestral arrangements of Nos. 6 and 7 are unknown.

Dedication:
All the romances are dedicated to Aleksandra Panayeva-Kartsova.

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