The French Songs, Op. 65 is a collection of art songs composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, one of the most renowned Russian composers of the Romantic era. Composed in 1888, this collection features a captivating fusion of Tchaikovsky's compositional style with French poetry, creating a unique blend of Russian and French musical influences.

🇷🇺 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
6 French Songs, Op. 65 (1888)

I. Sérénade. Où vas-tu, souffle d'aurore 00:02
II. Déception 02:07
III. Sérénade. J'aime dans le rayon 05:21
IV. Qu'importe que l'hiver 08:43
V. Les larmes 11:41
VI. Rondel 14:41

The idea for the songs arose from Tchaikovsky's meeting with Désirée Artôt in Berlin during his conducting tour of western Europe. Tchaikovsky met with her for the first time in twenty years on 23 January/4 February 1888. On 26 January/7 February, the composer spent an evening with Désirée Artôt [4], during which she asked him to write a romance for her.

The origins of the French songs' composition can be inferred from Tchaikovsky's correspondence with Artôt. The latter wrote on 2/14 April 1888: "I am impatiently awaiting my Lied, which you promised me. I need not tell you that, allowing for my voice, I shall put all my soul into it". Tchaikovsky replied on 16/28 May: "Do not take it as a mere compliment if I tell you that the memory of our wonderful evening at 17 Landgrafstraße will literally be forever imprinted on my mind ... Of course I will write the Lied you honoured me by requesting. But permit me to do it a little later, since at the moment I have a large work on my hands, and I want to write something worthy of you, which I cannot do until this task is completed. The Lied will be ready no later than August". In a letter from Désirée Artôt to Tchaikovsky we read: "I want to reassure you regarding the Lied, which I asked you for... that there is no need to hurry. If one day you write some Lieder and think that I could perform one of them well, then just think of dedicating it to me—that's all I would like".

During the summer, the composer's time was taken up with various works, and the last of these–the overture-fantasia Hamlet—was completed on 7/19 October. The next day Tchaikovsky wrote to his cousin Anna Merkling: "Now... all my main works are already finished and only trifles remain, which should be done by the end of the month". According to a note on the fair copy of the manuscript, the songs were finished on 10/22 October 1888.

Performers:
Ljuba Kzarnovskaya, soprano
Ljuba Orfenova, piano

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