2014 Program Notes, Book 6 43
Thursday, July 17 and Sunday, July 21, 2014
“CHERUBIC HYMN” FROM THE
LITURGY OF
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
, OP. 41 (1878)
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople in the early 5th
century, is traditionally credited with initiating the rite that became
thecoreof the liturgyof theOrthodoxChurch, a servicecomparable
in scale, content and purpose to the Roman Mass. The
Liturgy of
St. John Chrysostom
came to be used generally for the Eucharist
service on Sunday and weekdays, with three alternate liturgies for
a handful of special occasions during the year. During a visit to his sister, Alexandra, in
Ukraine during the summer of 1878, Tchaikovsky composed a complete setting of the
Liturgy
for
a cappella
choir. The ethereal
Cherubic Hymn
is largely in the chordal style of
most of the
Liturgy
, though it becomes joyously contrapuntal for the closing
Alleluia
.
Izhe kheruvimi, tayno obrazuyusche,
Let us who mystically represent the Cherubim
i zhivotvoryaschey Troitse
and who sing the thrice-holy hymn
trisvyatuyu pyesn’ pripyevayusche,
to the life-creating Trinity,
vsyakoye ni nye zhityeyskoye
now lay aside earthly cares. Amen.
otlozhim popyecheniye. Amin.
Yako da Tsarya vsyekh podimyem,
That we may receive the King of All,
Angyelskimi nyevidimo dorinosima chinmi.
Who comes escorted by the angelic hosts.
Alliluiya.
Alleluia.
THE LEGEND
, OP. 54, NO. 5 (1883;
ARRANGED FOR CHORUS IN 1889)
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Among the most charming of Tchaikovsky’s works are the
Sixteen Songs for Children
,
Op. 54 that he composed in 1883.
The Legend
, the fifth song of Op. 54, sets a Russian
translation of the poem
Roses and Thorns
by English poet Richard Henry Stoddard
(1825-1903). Tchaikovsky arranged the number for voice and orchestra in 1889 and for
a
cappella
chorus a year later. In 1894 Anton Arensky borrowed the poignant melody for
his
Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky
for String Orchestra, a memorial to his friend
and colleague, who had died the previous year.
When Jesus Christ was yet a child
He had a garden small and wild,
Wherein he cherished roses fair
And wove them into garlands there.
Now once, as summertime drew nigh,
There came a troop of children by,
And seeing roses on the tree,
With shouts they plucked them merrily.
“Do you bind roses in your hair?”
They cried, in scorn, to Jesus there.
The boy said humbly: “Take, I pray,
All but the naked thorns away.”
Then of the thorns they made a crown,
And with rough fingers pressed it down,
Till on his forehead fair and young
Red drops of blood like roses sprung.
