1868-1869
1. Op. 77. Symphonic Poem, Fatum. Begun about the middle of September, 1868. Sketch completed on October 21st. (November 2nd). Orchestrated in November and December. Produced for the first time by the Musical Society in Moscow, February 25th (March 9th), 1869, conducted by N. Rubinstein. This work is dedicated to M. A. Balakirev. During the seventies Tchaikovsky destroyed the score, but the orchestral parts remained intact, and the work was reconstructed from these, and published in 1896, by Belaiev, in Leipzig.
2. Op. 4. Valse Caprice for pianoforte. Composed in October, 1868. Dedicated to Anton Door. Jurgenson.
3. Op. 5. Romance for pianoforte. November, 1868. Dedicated to Désirée Artôt. Jurgenson.
4. Twenty-five Russian folksongs, arranged for pianoforte, four hands. These were probably finished during the autumn months, and printed in November, 1868.
5. Recitatives and choruses for Le Domino Noir, by Auber. This work has entirely disappeared; it cannot be found in the library of the Petersburg or Moscow Opera.
6. Undine, an opera in three acts, begun in January and completed in July, 1869. The text by Count Sollogoub.
The libretto of Undine contained scenes more interesting and grateful for musical treatment than The Voyevode, but was so unskilfully put together and so lacking in logical sequence that it is even inferior to the dry, uninteresting, but literary verse of the latter. The music—judging from the fragments that have been preserved—seems to have possessed a certain vitality.
The composer destroyed the score of Undine in 1873. All that remains of the music is Undine’s aria, “The spring is my brother,” which was afterwards utilised in Sniegourochka, and the Wedding March in the last act, which Tchaikovsky employed in the Andantino Marziale of his Second Symphony. Besides these two fragments, Kashkin says an Adagio in the ballet, “The Swan Lake,” was originally the love-duet between Gulbrand and Undine.
Part of this opera was produced at a concert given by the Capellmeister Merten, March 16th (28th), 1870. Laroche wrote:—