Dark Eyes (song)

"Dark Eyes" (Russian: Очи чёрные, romanized: Óči čjórnye; transl. "Black Eyes") is a well-known and popular Russian romance song.

This article is about the Russian song. For other works with similar titles, see Dark Eye.

Dark Eyes, n.d., "as arranged by Nikolai Artemev"

The lyrics were written by the Russian-Ukrainian poet and writer Yevgeny Grebyonka (Ukrainian: Yevhen Hrebinka). The first publication of the poem was in Hrebinka's own Russian translation in Literaturnaya Gazeta on 17 January 1843. A song using these lyrics is attested already in the 1870s,[1] but its melody is not known.

The melody now associated with the lyrics is substantially identical to "Valse homage", Op. 21 for piano, by Florian Hermann and published in 1879.[2] In The Book of World-famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk (2000) James Fuld reports that a Soviet musicologist told him that the song is not "a Russian traditional song but a cabaret song", published in 1884 and reprinted as number 131 in a songbook by A. Gutheil in 1897, where it is described as a "Gypsy romance based on the melody of Florian Hermann's Valse Hommage".[3][4]

In Rebeca Chávez's 2010 documentary, 'Cuando Sindo Garay visitó a Emiliano Blez', Sindo Garay his own account of the origin of the song.[5] The melody of 'Ojos negros que fascinan', a bolero, was composed upon request by Garay to a Russian choir girl with beautiful and expressive eyes when an Opera company from Russia came to visit Cuba in the early to mid-1890’s. Garay stated that the melody of 'Ojos negros' (Dark Eyes) went back to Russia with the musicians and it was not until many years later that he found out through a friend that the song was part of the soundtrack of a Russian film playing at the local theatre. Garay was pleased knowing his music was worthy of such a merit.

The most renowned and played version of this song was written by Adalgiso Ferraris, and published, when still in Russia in 1910, with German editor Otto Kuhl, as "Schwarze Augen" (Black Eyes).[6][7] Ferraris then published it again in 1931 by Paris Editions Salabert, as "Tes yeux noirs (impression russe)"[8] and with Jacques Liber, on 9 October 1931.[6][9]

Ferraris, an Italian-born British composer, had spent many years in Russia before 1915. The song became one of his major successes in the 1920s and 1930s, being also played by Albert Sandler, by Leslie Jeffries in 1939, and sung by Al Bowlly in 1939 with words of Albert Mellor.[10][11] Max Jaffa also recorded it.[12][13][14][15]

Ferraris himself can be seen in a British Pathé film from 1934 of Alfredo and his Gypsy band playing "Dark Eyes", sitting in the orchestra behind the lead Alfredo.[16]

Poem (original version by Hrebinka)
Russian Transliteration Translation

1. Очи чёрные, очи страстные,
Очи жгучие и прекрасные!
Как люблю я вас, как боюсь я вас!
Знать, увидел вас я в недобрый час!

2. Ох, недаром вы глубины темней!
Вижу траур в вас по душе моей,
Вижу пламя в вас я победное:
Сожжено на нём сердце бедное.

3. Но не грустен я, не печален я,
Утешительна мне судьба моя:
Всё, что лучшего в жизни Бог дал нам,
В жертву отдал я огневым глазам!

1. Óči čjórnye, óči strástnye,
Óči žgúčie i prekrásnye!
Kak ljubljú ja vas, kak boyús' ja vas!
Znat' uvídel vas ja v nedóbryj čas!

2. Oh, nedárom vy glubiný temnéj!
Vížu tráur v vas po dušé moéj,
Vížu plámja v vas ja pobédnoe:
Sožženó na njom sérdce bédnoe.

3. No ne grústen ja, ne pečálen ja,
Utešítel'na mne sud'bá mojá:
Vsjo čto lúčševo v žízni Bog dal nam,
V žértvu ótdal ja ognevým glazám!

1. Black eyes, passionate eyes,
Burning and beautiful eyes!
How I love you, how I fear you,
It seems I met you in an unlucky hour!

2. Oh, not for nothing are you darker than the deep!
I see mourning for my soul in you,
I see a triumphant flame in you:
A poor heart immolated in it.

3. But I am not sad, I am not sorrowful,
My fate is soothing to me:
All that is best in life that God gave us,
In sacrifice I returned to the fiery eyes!

Lyrics (Chaliapin version)
Russian (Cyrillic alphabet) Transliteration (Latin alphabet)

Очи чёрные, очи жгучие,
Очи страстные и прекрасные,
Как люблю я вас, как боюсь я вас,
Знать увидел вас я не в добрый час.

Очи чёрные, жгучне пламенны
И мaнят они в страны дальные,
Где царит любовь, где царит покой,
Где страданья нет, где вражды запрет.

Очи чёрные, очи жгучие,
Очи страстные и прекрасные,
Как люблю я вас, как боюсь я вас,
Знать увидел вас я не в добрый час.

Не встречал бы вас, не страдал бы так,
Я бы прожил жизнь улыбаючись,
Вы сгубили меня очи чёрные
Унесли на век моё счастье.

Очи чёрные, очи жгучие,
Очи страстные и прекрасные,
Как люблю я вас, как боюсь я вас,
Знать увидел вас я не в добрый час.

Ochi chyornye, ochi zhguchie
Ochi strastnye i prekrasnye
Kak lyublyu ya vas, kak boyus' ya vas
Znat' uvidel vas ya ne v dobryi chas

Ochi chyornye, zhguchie plamenny
I manyat oni v strany dal'nye
Gde tsarit lyubov', gde tsarit pokoi
Gde stradan'ya nyet, gde vrazhdy zapryet

Ochi chyornye, ochi zhguchie
Ochi strastnye i prekrasnye
Kak lyublyu ya vas, kak boyus' ya vas
Znat' uvidel vas ya ne v dobryi chas

Ne vstrechal by vas, ne stradal by tak
Ya by prozhil zhizn' ulybayuchis'
Vy zgubili menya ochi chyornye
Unesli na vek moyo schast'ye

Ochi chyornye, ochi zhguchie
Ochi strastnye i prekrasnye
Kak lyublyu ya vas, kak boyus' ya vas
Znat' uvidel vas ya ne v dobryi chas

See also

References
  1. https://rusneb.ru/catalog/000199_000009_003573957/viewer/?page=11
  2. "Hommage-Valse", Op. 21 (Hermann): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
  3. James J. Fuld. The book of world-famous music: classical, popular, and folk – Courier Dover Publications, 2000. – P. 417 (the note at p. 684 says Fuld did not locate a copy of Hermann's piece: Fuld, James J. (1 January 2000). The Book of World-famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk. Courier Corporation. p. 684. ISBN 9780486414751. Retrieved 26 April 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. de:Schwarze Augen (Lied) names an S. Gerdel as the first arranger, without giving any reference.
  5. "Sindo Garay". notaclave.com. 25 March 2018.
  6. "Ferraris_Black_Eyes.pdf". Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  7. Schwarze Augen = Occhi neri = Black eyes. 1 January 1910. OCLC 315785698.
  8. "UniCat-Search". Unicat.be.
  9. "Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions". Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 1 January 1933. p. 1110. Retrieved 26 April 2017 – via Google Books.
  10. "Home". Imperial War Museum. Archived from the original on 22 August 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  11. "Dark Eyes – Al Bowlly – Song Info". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  12. "Vinyl Album: Max Jaffa – Gypsy Magic (1967)". 45worlds.com. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  13. Pathé, British. "Albert Sandler – The Celebrated Violinist". britishpathe.com. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  14. Pathé, British. "Leslie Jeffries". britishpathe.com. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  15. "Al Bowlly – Dark Eyes". 5 March 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2017 – via YouTube.
  16. "Alfredo And His Famous Gypsy Band (1934)" – via YouTube.
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