The Genesis of Nikoloz Baratashvili’s Poem „When I Am Happy with Your Presence“

Abstract

In the notes and comments on the poetic works of Nikoloz Bara­tashvili, it is erroneously stated that his poem “When I am happy with your presence” is based on the anonymous Russian song "The Brook" that is suggested by Nikolai in Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” and the text of which is quoted by the writer's wife Sophia Tolstaya in her memoirs “My Life”. But in reality, as we have managed to find out, “When I am happy with your presence” has nothing to do with “The Brook”. Nikoloz Bara­tashvili’s poem is s a translation of the once popular romance by the Russian composer Pyotr Bulakhov to the words of “Kol’ sĉastliv ja s t’aboi bivayu” (“How I am happy with you”) by Vasily Chuyevsky, a Ru­ssian poet of the mid-19^th century. Nikoloz Baratashvili’s trans­lation is as close as possible to the Russian source, to its meter, into­nation and refrain in the stanzas and key images of the original source. At the same time in Georgian translation some lines are modified and the melodic tonality of the original text is intensified.

The date of Nikoloz Baratashvili's translation of the Russian romance is not indicated in the autograph. According to the editors of publications of his works, the translation was made in 1841. Biographical information about Vasily Chuevsky is almost comple­tely absent. It is only reliably known that he was one of the most remarkable poets and songwriters of the mid-19th century. There is information that in the mid-1840s, while being a student at Moscow University, he, together with Alexander Dubuque, a Russian com­poser and music teacher, published musical editions of romances and songs in 1846. Taking into account the year of Nikoloz Baratashvili's death, 1845, and the fact that some time had to pass before Vasily Chuevsky's ro­mance could come to the attention of the Georgian poet, certain conclu-sions can be made about the time of the creation of the Russian romance and its adaptation into Georgian.

The translation of the Russian romance by Nikoloz Barata­shvili ex­pands our understanding of the character of the develop­ment of vocal lyrics in Georgian romantic poetry and, at the same time, deserves attention because there is almost no data on the life, creative activity and lifetime popularity of Vasily Chuyevsky.

We attach to the article Petr Bulakhov’s notes on the words of the romance by Vasily Chuevsky, expanding our understanding of the nature of the music and text that attracted the attention of Nikoloz Baratashvili.