Songs

Sred shumnovo bala ('Amid the din of the ball')

by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky From 6 Romances (1878) Op. 38

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Text & Translation

Sred shumnovo bala ('Amid the din of the ball')
Russian source: Leo Tolstoy

Sred shumnovo bala, sluchaino,
V trevoge mirskoi suety,
Tebya ya uvidel, no taina
Tvoi pokryvala cherty.

Lish ochi pechalno glyadeli,
A golos tak divno zvuchal,
Kak zvon otdalyonnoi svireli,
Kak morya igrayushchyi val.

Mne stan tvoi ponravilsa tonkyi
I ves tvoi zadumchivyi vid,
A smekh tvoy, i grustnyi, i zvonkyi,
S tekh por v moyom serdtse zvuchit.

V chasy odinokie nochi
Lyublyu ya, ustalyi, prilech;
Ya vizhu pechalnye ochi,
Ya slyshu vesyoluyu rech,

I grustno ya, grustno tak zasypayu,
I v gryozakh nevedomykh splyu …
Lyublyu li tebya, ya ne znayu,
No kazhetsa mne, chto lyublyu!

Amidst the din of the ball
English translation © Philip Ross Bullock

Amidst the din of the ball, by chance,
In the commotion of worldly vanity,
I glimpsed you, but mystery
Covered your features.

Only your eyes looked sad,
But the divine sound of your voice
Was like the of far-off pipes,
Or the dancing waves of the sea.

I fell for your delicate form,
And all of your pensiveness,
And your laughter, both sad and sonorous,
Still rings in my heart.

In the lonely hours of night,
I love to lie down, tired;
I see your sad eyes,
I hear your joyful words.

And wistful, so wistfully falling asleep,
I drift into mysterious dreams…
I don’t know whether I love you,
But I think I probably do!

Sred shumnovo bala ('Amid the din of the ball')
Russian source: Leo Tolstoy

Amidst the din of the ball
English source: Philip Ross Bullock

Sred shumnovo bala, sluchaino,
Amidst the din of the ball, by chance,
V trevoge mirskoi suety,
In the commotion of worldly vanity,
Tebya ya uvidel, no taina
I glimpsed you, but mystery
Tvoi pokryvala cherty.
Covered your features.

Lish ochi pechalno glyadeli,
Only your eyes looked sad,
A golos tak divno zvuchal,
But the divine sound of your voice
Kak zvon otdalyonnoi svireli,
Was like the of far-off pipes,
Kak morya igrayushchyi val.
Or the dancing waves of the sea.

Mne stan tvoi ponravilsa tonkyi
I fell for your delicate form,
I ves tvoi zadumchivyi vid,
And all of your pensiveness,
A smekh tvoy, i grustnyi, i zvonkyi,
And your laughter, both sad and sonorous,
S tekh por v moyom serdtse zvuchit.
Still rings in my heart.

V chasy odinokie nochi
In the lonely hours of night,
Lyublyu ya, ustalyi, prilech;
I love to lie down, tired;
Ya vizhu pechalnye ochi,
I see your sad eyes,
Ya slyshu vesyoluyu rech,
I hear your joyful words.

I grustno ya, grustno tak zasypayu,
And wistful, so wistfully falling asleep,
I v gryozakh nevedomykh splyu …
I drift into mysterious dreams…
Lyublyu li tebya, ya ne znayu,
I don’t know whether I love you,
No kazhetsa mne, chto lyublyu!
But I think I probably do!

Composer

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. His works are still among the most popular music in the classical repetoire, and he is widely acknowledged as the first Russian composer to make a lasting international…

Poet

Leo Tolstoy

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 – 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received multiple nominations for Nobel Prize in…

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