Utro Tumannoye
(Misty Morning)
This is one of the best known Russian romances. Sometimes it is referred to as "V Doroge" (On the road), but on other occasions it is better known as "Utro Tummanoye", the first line of the poem, written by the famous Russian writer I. Turgenev (1818-1883) in November 1843, and that served as the base for this song.
Turgenev wrote the poem as a goodbye to his beloved Tatiana Bakunina, the sister of his friend, the Russian anarchist thinker and revolutionary, Mikhail Bakunin. Though Turgenev called her his muse, and promised never to love another woman, Tatiana, used to care and take care, rather treated him like a little brother. For that reason Turgenev left, and only a short time later, he met his future love, Pauline Viardot, a Spanish-French singer and composer. Because of this meeting the poem does not give the feeling of a hopeless desire: Turgenev draws a line to the past, but the last verse brings the sense of enlightenment and reflection. |
Ivan Turgenev |
Many Russian composers wrote their music to the poem, such as A.F. Gedeke, Y.F. Prigogine, G.L. Katuar, but the romance as we do know it nowadays, was composed either by one of the three brothers Abaza, or by Barbara Abaza, the wife of one of them. Barbara was a talented songstress, who wrote a lot of songs which were added to her own repertoire. It is also a fact, that quite some scores for "Utro Tumannoye" do exist, on which the composer is mentioned to be B. Abaza.
Erast, on the other hand, was the most talented of the brothers Abaza. He and his brothers were officers of the Life Guard Hussar Regiment, and stationed at Tsarskoye Selo. They all were masters of guitar and fans of the then fashionable Gypsy singing. The story goes that one night, exhausted from boredom, the hussars invited a Gypsy chorus. The singing and the dancing were heard till early in the morning, and as the dawn broke, all was covered with the fluffy snow. At that moment Erast Abaza remembered the words of the poem that Turgenev, who used to be a frequent guest in their house, had written: Misty Morning. He started to sing the words, the Gypsies supported, and while adding notes and the chords, one of the most famous Russian romances was born, on a cold and misty morning. |
Now the authorship of Erast Abaza is confirmed by the magazine 'Кругозор" ("The Range Of Vision") of 1971. Erast Abasa fell in battle 10 of May 1855 while defending the city of Sevastopol. The score line of the romance is carved on his tombstone.
The romance was performed by popsingers, operasingers, such as Vadim Kozin, Yuriy Gulyaev, Sergey Zaharov, Boris Shtokolov, Eduard Hil , Dmitriy Khvorostovsky , Valentina Ponomarova , Aleksander Malinin , Evgeniya Smolyaninova, Elena Obraztsova, Oleg Pogudin and lots of others. "Utro Tumannoye" sounds in the Soviet film "The first meeting, the last meeting" (1987), in the Russian TV-documentary series "The war is not a woman's face" (1981-1984), in the Russian film "The life of Klim Samgin" (1983) |
Oleg Pogudin performs "Utro Tumannoye"
|
Russian text
Утро туманное, утро седое, Нивы печальные, снегом покрытые, Нехотя вспомнишь и время былое, Вспомнишь и лица, давно позабытые. Вспомнишь обильные страстные речи, Взгляды, так жадно, так робко ловимые, Первые встречи, последние встречи, Тихого голоса звуки любимые. Вспомнишь разлуку с улыбкою странной, Многое вспомнишь родное далекое, Слушая ропот колес непрестанный, Глядя задумчиво в небо широкое. |
Transliteration
Utro tumannoye, utro sedoye, Nivy pechal'nyye, snegom pokrytyye, Nekhotya vspomnish' i vremya byloye, Vspomnish' i litsa, davno pozabytyye. Vspomnish' obil'nyye strastnyye rechi, Vzglyady, tak zhadno, tak robko lovimyye, Pervyye vstrechi, posledniye vstrechi, Tikhogo golosa zvuki lyubimyye. Vspomnish' razluku s ulybkoyu strannoy, Mnogoye vspomnish' rodnoye dalekoye, Slushaya ropot koles neprestannyy, Glyadya zadumchivo v nebo shirokoye. |
English text
Grey is the morning, the morning is misty, Mournful are grasslands all covered with snow. Out of your wish you’ll get thoughts light and wispy, Images, feelings you lost long ago. You will remember the passionate speeches, Glances you longed for and keenly desired, Greetings at meetings and sealing of breaches, Sounds of voices, the voice you admired. You will recall that strange smile at the parting, Much of the things that are sweet yet remote, While you are listening the train wheels debating, Watching the wide sky, while you’re on the road. Translation by Vyacheslav Chistyakov. Source: http://www.stihi.ru/2013/10/23/2709 |
Sources:
http://grafskaya.com/?p=3323; https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/В_дороге_(Утро_туманное);
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Бакунина,_Татьяна_Александровна; https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Тургенев,_Иван_Сергеевич;
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Виардо,_Полина; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqSmr4JbrkI;
https://otvet.mail.ru/question/69503540; http://tvkultura.ru/brand/show/brand_id/32670/; http://kkre-51.narod.ru/utro_t.htm
http://grafskaya.com/?p=3323; https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/В_дороге_(Утро_туманное);
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Бакунина,_Татьяна_Александровна; https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Тургенев,_Иван_Сергеевич;
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Виардо,_Полина; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqSmr4JbrkI;
https://otvet.mail.ru/question/69503540; http://tvkultura.ru/brand/show/brand_id/32670/; http://kkre-51.narod.ru/utro_t.htm