Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok

1967 vocal-chamber song cycle by Dmitri Shostakovich

Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok (Op. 127) is a vocal-instrumental song cycle by Dmitri Shostakovich, based on verses by Alexander Blok.

It was written in 1967 for Galina Vishnevskaya. The composition is written for soprano, violoncello, violin, and piano. The first performance took place on October 25, 1967 at the Moscow Conservatoire Hall with Mstislav Rostropovich on cello, Mieczysław Weinberg on piano, David Oistrakh on violin and with Vishnevskaya.

Structure

The cycle consists of seven parts:

1) Song of Ophelia
2) Gamayun, the Bird of Prophecy
3) We Were Together
4) Gloom Enwraps the Sleeping City
5) The Storm
6) Secret Signs
7) Music

Recordings

ArteMiss Trio. (Alžběta Poláčková-soprano) ArcoDiva CD. UP 0069-2131

Galina Vishnevskaya (soprano), Mstislav Rostropovich (cello), Ulf Hoelscher (violin) and Vasso Devetzi (piano) for EMI^[1]

References

^ "Mstislav Rostropovich, Galina Vishnevskaya, The London Philharmonic Orchestra – The Rostropovich Edition: Songs And Opera Arias (1995, CD) - Discogs". Discogs.

External links

Info on Boosey and Hawkes page

Dmitri Shostakovich

List of compositions

Operas and operettas

The Nose
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District/Katerina Izmailova
The Big Lightning (unfinished)
Orango (unfinished)
The Twelve Chairs (unfinished)
Katyusha Maslova (unfinished)
The Gamblers (unfinished)
Moscow, Cheryomushki

Ballets

The Golden Age
The Bolt
The Limpid Stream

Symphonies

No. 1 in F minor
No. 2 in B major (To October)
No. 3 in E♭ major (The First of May)
No. 4 in C minor
No. 5 in D minor
No. 6 in B minor
No. 7 in C major (Leningrad)
- Leningrad première
- American premieres
No. 8 in C minor
No. 9 in E♭ major
No. 10 in E minor
No. 11 in G minor (The Year 1905)
No. 12 in D minor (The Year 1917)
No. 13 in B♭ minor (Babi Yar)
No. 14 in G minor
No. 15 in A major

Concertos

Piano	No. 1 in C minor No. 2 in F major
Violin	No. 1 in A minor No. 2 in C♯ minor
Cello	No. 1 in E♭ major No. 2 in G major

Orchestral works

Tahiti Trot
Suite from The Golden Age
Suite from The Bolt
Suite from The Limpid Stream
Five Fragments
Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1
Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2 (orch. McBurney)
Suite for Variety Orchestra No. 1 (arr. Atovmyan)
Festive Overture
Suite from Encounter at the Elbe
Suite from The Gadfly (arr. Atovmyan)
Novorossiisk Chimes, the Flame of Eternal Glory
October
"Intervision"

Concert/brass band

"March of the Soviet Militia"

Film music

The New Babylon
Alone
Golden Mountains
Counterplan
The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda
The Youth of Maxim
Girl Friends
The Return of Maxim
The Vyborg Side
Friends
The Great Citizen
Zoya
Simple People
The Young Guard
Pirogov
Michurin
Meeting on the Elbe
The Fall of Berlin
Belinsky
The Unforgettable Year 1919
The Gadfly
Five Days, Five Nights
Sofiya Perovskaya
Hamlet
King Lear
Gogoliad (unfinished)

Vocal music

Suite on Finnish Themes
Song of the Forests
The Sun Shines Over Our Motherland
Antiformalist Rayok
From Jewish Folk Poetry
The Execution of Stepan Razin
Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok
Loyalty
Six Poems by Marina Tsvetayeva
Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti
Four Verses of Captain Lebyadkin

Chamber music

String quartets	No. 1 in C major No. 2 in A major No. 3 in F major No. 4 in D major No. 5 in B♭ major No. 6 in G major No. 7 in F♯ minor No. 8 in C minor No. 9 in E♭ major No. 10 in A♭ major No. 11 in F minor No. 12 in D♭ major No. 13 in B♭ minor No. 14 in F♯ major No. 15 in E♭ minor
Other	Cello Sonata in D minor Piano Quintet in G minor Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor Quartet Movement in E♭ major (c. 1960s) Violin Sonata Viola Sonata