Rachmaninoff's Complete Songs: A Companion with Texts and Translations

Song 77, Without Opus (1914)

232 Song 77, Without Opus (1914) Сроки฀страшные฀близятся.฀Скоро Станет฀тесно฀от฀свежих฀могил. Ждите฀глада,฀и฀труса,฀и฀мора, И฀затменья฀небесных฀светил. Fearful฀times฀draw฀near.฀Soon Earth฀ will฀ be฀ crowded฀ with฀ fresh฀ graves. Expect฀famine,฀earthquakes,฀pestilence, And฀eclipse฀of฀the฀heavenly฀bodies. 77 Из฀Евангелия฀от฀Иоанна (Г л.฀XV ,฀стих฀13) From฀the฀Gospel฀of฀John (Ch.฀XV ,฀verse฀13) This song, more like one of Brahms’s “serious songs” on Biblical texts than a Russian romance, was written to honor the fallen soldiers of the Russian army after the outbreak of World War I. That event, which took place on 19 July 1914 (Old Style) at 4 p.m. Moscow time, turned out to mark the beginning of the end for the Russian empire. Some in Russia met the news with patriotic élan, but they were few. On 20 July Maxim Gorky wrote to a friend: “For a long time—three years now—I’ve been convinced a European war was inevitable, I’ve felt prepared for catastrophe, I’ve thought about it a great deal, but now that it’s begun I feel overwhelmed, as if what’s happened is quite unexpected. It’s frightening for Rus [Russia], for our people, for our future” (Bialik, 591). A month later, Anna Akhmatova published her poem “July 1914.” In the poem, a lone, one-legged figure in the courtyard speaks, Cassandra-like, in a language that reaches back to archaic, Slavonic words to name the disasters ahead: For Akhmatova that date marked the beginning of the real twentieth century; it held a fateful place in her calendar throughout her life. For Rachmaninoff, the date was fateful, too, at first in more mundane ways. His children’s governess had a German passport: could he take her to a dacha in Finland for summer vacation? (LN 2, 79). He was called at least twice for military service, and joked that if he were sworn into the ranks he would probably end up leading a military band. He soon understood, however, that war with Germany threatened the two wellsprings of his life: his family life in Moscow and Ivanovka, and his professional life as a European artist who performed every season in England, Germany, and the rest of Europe. By August 1915 it was becoming clear that the Tsarist Government might be defeated. Among patriotic activities undertaken soon after the war began, Ivan Bunin and other public figures in Moscow and St. Petersburg—now renamed Petrograd—collaborated in a project to raise money for war victims. It was an album, lavishly produced by A. A. Levenson at his famous Art Nouveau 233 Song 77 (1914) Text. Holy Bible, Russian Church Slavonic Version. Gospel of John, Chapter XV, Verse 13. Music. 1914. Although the manuscript Rachmaninoff gave the publisher is dated 16 February 1915, the composer gave Boris Asafiev the date “autumn of 1914” (LN 2, 100); in the same list published earlier in VOR 1957, vol. 2, p. 260, the date given is “December 1914.” A Major (C-sharp minor). 4/4. Довольно฀медленно฀(Rather slowly). For Bass Voice: C sharp–e1 . Without opus. Published in April 1915 by A. A. Levenson in “День฀печати.฀Кличъ.฀ Сборникъ฀на฀помощь฀жертвамъ฀войны.”฀Подъ฀редакціей฀И.฀А.฀Бунина,฀В.฀В.฀ Вересаева,฀Н.฀Д.฀Мелешова฀(“Press฀Day.฀Appeal.฀Album฀for฀the฀Aid฀of฀Victims฀of฀ the฀War.”฀Edited฀by฀I.฀A.฀Bunin,฀V.฀V.฀Veresaev,฀N.฀D.฀Meleshov.)฀No dedication. Recordings. Leiferkus, Nesterenko, Söderström, Suchkova. Bo±lshy seja± ljubvi± nikto± zhe ima±t’, Da kto± du±shu svoju± polo±zhyd za dru±gi svoja±. Greater love hath no man than this, That he lay down his soul [life] for his friends. Больши฀сея฀любве฀никто฀же฀имать, Да฀кто฀душу฀свою฀положит฀за฀други฀своя. printing house in downtown Moscow. Among the contributions were poems by Balmont and Briusov, who was already off as a war correspondent; artwork by Ilya Repin and Leonid Pasternak; music by Glazunov, Scriabin, and others ; and a choice Bunin story “The Grammar of Love.” Rachmaninoff led the musical contributions with this setting of a verse from the New Testament. The expensive album, published in April 1915, apparently sold out in a single day (Bialik, 612). The piano triplets that begin and end the song command attention to the two compact lines of text, igniting the air as it were, framing the last three words. These three words, “for his friends,” are lengthened and greatly slowed down, to tender effect; rhapsodic piano phrases surround them with luminous color. The whole piece takes little more than a minute. Among Rachmaninoff’s songs, “From the Gospel of John” is virtually unknown : apart from four recordings, each in a set of “complete recorded songs,” the song has no known performance history. Overlooked (and forgotten) as an album piece...