Legend (Tchaikovsky)

[2] The words are based on the poem "Roses and Thorns" by American poet Richard Henry Stoddard, originally published in Graham's Magazine of May 1856.

[2][4] Pleshcheyev described the origin of the poem only as "translated from the English", without crediting Stoddard, the nature of whose contribution was thus lost.

The young child Jesus had a garden Full of roses, rare and red; And thrice a day he watered them, To make a garland for his head!

Byl u Khrista-mladentsa sad I mnogo roz vzrastil on v nem; On trizhdy v den' ikh polival, Chtob splest' venok sebe potom.

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.

Когда же розы расцвели, Детей еврейских созвал он; Они сорвали по цветку, И сад был весь опустошен.

Kogda zhe rozy rastsveli, Detey yevreyskikh sozval on; Oni sorvali po tsvetku, I sad byl ves' opustoshen.

Now once, as summer-time drew nigh, There came a troop of children by, And seeing roses on the tree, With shouts they plucked them merrily.

I iz shipov oni spleli Venok kolyuchiy dlya nego, I kapli krovi vmesto roz Chelo ukrasili yego.

The melody of the original version is shown below: The relative major (G major) is prominent in Tchaikovsky's harmonization, as the following fragment, (from the choral arrangement) illustrates: The original version of the music, for solo voice and piano, was published as part of Tchaikovsky's Songs for Children, Op.

The choral arrangement was subsequently performed under Tchaikovsky's direction at one of the official opening concerts of Carnegie Hall in May 1891.