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CD 2 45’20<br />
Pauline Viardot<br />
Poem by Ivan Turgenev<br />
‘Синица’ Sinitsa (The titmouse) [CD 2 Track 2]<br />
(pub. 1864)<br />
VLADIMIR CHERNOV<br />
IT IS tempting to imagine that Turgenev, in this charming poem, is sending a<br />
thinly disguised message to his beloved. The ‘singer’ is surely Pauline herself,<br />
whose voice brings the message of spring. When he was not near her, Turgenev<br />
would write to her; for instance in 1864, the same year that she published this<br />
song, when he was giving a lecture in St Petersburg, he assured her: ‘I cannot<br />
tell you how often I thought of you during the reading and said to myself, Oh,<br />
if only she were here!’<br />
Слыш уя: звенитсиница Amidst the forest’s gold leaves,<br />
Slyshu ia: zvenit sinista<br />
С редь желтею щихветвей; The clear-toned titmouse sings<br />
Sred’ zhelteiushchikh vetvei;<br />
Здрав ствуй, мален ькая птиц а, Greetings to you, singer, you lovely one,<br />
Zdravstvui, malen’kaia ptitsa,<br />
Вестница осен н их дней! Messenger who brings us spring!<br />
Vestnitsa osennikh dnei!<br />
–75–
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