Searching for origin of Pleshcheyev's Legenda

[Richard Sylvester]

Dear Mr. Antolini,

I have researched this extensively but have not found the
English original. I am editing the texts of all Tchaikovsky's
songs. I doubt there is an English original. Pleshcheev
probably wrote his own poem based on pre-existing carols
like "The Garden of Jesus" and "Legend of the Holy Well".
Pleshcheev's "translations" are often new poems. Such at
least is my guess at this point. It is only a guess.

If you look in the Oxford Book of Carols, you'll see the song
there. Since that collection was edited by three eminent experts
on English carols, I believe that if the text were taken from
an older English original, Vaughan Williams, Martin Shaw, and
Canon Dearmer would have spotted it. But they did not. They
simply included Tchaikovsky's song as a carol composed in
modern times.

I have all this written up for my edition, and could send it
to you if you wish.

On the off chance that somebody DOES know of an "original"
please let me know!

Richard Sylvester
rsylvester at center.colgate.edu

>Dear Colleagues,
>
>I am editing a new edition of Tchaikovsky's partsong "Legenda" to the
>poetry of A. Pleshcheyev. The song appears as No. 5 in Tchaikovsky's Op.
>54 "Sixteen Songs for Children" published in 1883 first as a solo song
>and then as a choral song.
>
>The poem by Pleshcheyev is entitled "Legenda" and begins "Byl u Khrista
>mladentsa sad...:  The poem has a subtitled "S angliiskogo" but no poet
>or title from the English is given in any edition of Tchaikovsky's works.
>
>Does anyone know the English origin of Pleshcheyev's poem?
>
>Thank you!
>
>Anthony Antolini, Ph.D.
>Department of Music
>Bowdoin College
>Brunswick Maine 04011
>
><aantolin at bowdoin.edu>