Scottish Ballad, Op. 46 - Soprano and Baritone Vocal Duet

TchaikovskyÃ's Scottish Ballad for Soprano, Baritone and Piani, Opus 46, was composed in 1880, shortly after the premieres of his Symphony No. 4 in F minor, and the opera Eugeny Onegin. It is a striking example of his heterogeneous compositional style, with passionate declamatory melodies, coloristic harmonies, and a flexible piano accompaniment. It is a setting of a medieval Scottish ballad in a free translation by the Russian Aleksey Tolstoy.

This duet was first published along with five duets for soprano, mezzo-soprano and piano (IMC 3478), by Paul Jurgenson, the composerÃ's exclusive publisher. This edition is based on the original publications and on various collections of TchaikovskyÃ's songs published by the Russian State Music Publishing Company. We have replaced Russian expressive marks with their corresponding Italian terms.

In order to make this duet available to the widest possible audience we have added a transliteration to the original Cyrillic text. In lieu of a literal English translation we are providing the original text of the Scottish Ballad. Please note that Tchaikovsky chose not to set the fifth verse of the ballad.

Includes vocal score.