12 Romances, Op. 21

Composer: RACHMANINOV, Sergei
  • Rachmaninov wrote his 12 Romances for voice and piano between 1900-1902.
    • *”Romances” is the word that Russian composers used for art songs, similarly to “Lieder” for German composers or “chansons” for French ones.
  • Thematically, these 12 songs are connected through descriptions of nature, Spring, and the experiences of a young woman.1
  • Song titles:
    1. Fate (Aleksey Apukhtin)
    2. By the Fresh Grave (Semyon Nadson)
    3. Twilight (Ivan Tkhorzhevsky, after Jean-Marie Guyau)
    4. They Answered (Lev Mey, after Victor Hugo)
    5. Lilacs (Ekaterina Beketova)
    6. Fragment from Musset (Aleksey Apukhtin, after Alfred de Musset)
    7. How Fair this Spot (Glafira Galina)
    8. On the Death of a Linnet (Vasily Zhukovsky)
    9. Melody (Semyon Nadson)
    10. Before the Icon (Arseny Golenishchev-Kutuzov)
    11. I am No Prophet (Alexander Kruglov)
    12. How Painful for Me (Glafira Galina)2

Sources

  1. Gerard McBurney, Notes in accompanying booklet, Rachmaninov: Songs performed by Julia Stikovetsky and Roger Vignoles, Hyperion 68309, 2020, compact disc.
  2. “12 Romances, Op.21 (Rachmaninoff, Sergei),” IMSLP, accessed March 24, 2026, https://imslp.org/wiki/12_Romances%2C_Op.21_(Rachmaninoff%2C_Sergei).

Cut IDs

26348 44915 17957 24468 25887 28026 26351 28025 26121