«Очі чорнії, ви жагучії» - романс на слова Є.Гребінки (XIX ст.)

lyrics: Yevhen Hrebinka (1843) music: Florian Herrmann's ‘Hommage Valse’ (Opus 21) arranged by Sophus Herdel Ukrainian translation: Ivan Levytskyi performance: Bel Canto historical background: The poem ‘Black Eyes’ was published in the Literary Gazette on 17 January 1843. The author of the text, Yevhen Hrebinka (1812-1848), was a Ukrainian writer born in Poltava province, a nobleman, and an educated man, like many of the authors of the texts of the classic ‘gypsy’ romances. Hrebinka wrote the poem ‘Black Eyes’ while staying in the village of Rudka with his landowner neighbour, retired staff captain Rastenberg. The poem is dedicated to his daughter, Maria Vasylivna, with whom Hrebinka married the following summer. Their marriage was strong and happy. The first version of the poem had only 3 stanzas, without any breaks, only spiced up with romanticism. The first known publication of ‘Black Eyes’ as a romance was on 7 March 1884. It is often credited as ‘music by an unknown author’, which is incorrect. The romance is set to the music of Florian Hermann's waltz ‘Hommage Valse’ (Opus 21), arranged by Sophus Herdel in 1884. Florian Hermann was most likely a Russian German. Thus, one of the most famous ‘gypsy’ romances was actually written by an ethnic Ukrainian to a melody by a German native. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)