Angel

Po nebu polunochi angel letel,
  I tikhuju pesnju on pel;
I mesjac, i zvezdy, i tuchi tolpoj
  Vnimali toj pesne svjatoj.

On pel o blazhenstve bezgreshnykh dukhov
  Pod kushchami rajskikh sadov;
O boge velikom on pel, i khvala 
  Jego nepritvorna byla.

On dushu mladuju v ob"jatijakh njos
  Dlja mira pechali i sljoz;
I zvuk jego pesni v dushe molodoj
  Ostalsja -- bez slov, no zhivoj.

I dolgo na svete tomilas' ona,
  Zhelanijem chudnym polna,
I [zvukov]1 nebes zamenit' ne mogli
  Jej skuchnyje pesni zemli.

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by Mikhail Yur'yevich Lermontov (1814-1841) , "Angel", published 1831

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Leslie Crabtree (1941-) , "Angel", 2009.
by Aleksandr Tikhonovich Gretchaninov (1864-1956) , "Po nebu polunochi angel letel", op. 114 no. 2.
by Nikolai Mikhailovich Ladukhin (1860-1918) , "Angel", 1894. [mixed chorus a cappella]
by Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (1880-1951) , "Angel"
by Sergei Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov (1873-1943) , "Angel", op. 15 (Shest khorov (Six Choruses)) no. 6 (1895). [women's or children's chorus and piano]
by Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) , "Po nebu polunochi", op. 40 no. 2 (1897).
by Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (1829-1894) , "Angel", op. 48 (Dvenadcat' du`etov = Twelve duets) no. 1 (1852). [duet for alto and soprano with piano]
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948-) , "Angel", op. 153 no. 2 (2007), published 2008 [voice and cello], from Odinokij strannik, no. 2.
by Aleksandr Yegorovich Varlamov (1801-1848) , "Angel", 1843.

ENG English (Dmitri Smirnov)

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The angel

The angel was flying through the sky of midnight
  And he sang a song quietly;
And the moon and the stars, and the crowd of clouds
  Hearkened to that holy song.

He sang on the bliss of the sinless spirits
  In the pastures of the gardens of heaven;
He sang on the great God, and his praise
  Of Him was genuine.

He carried a young soul in his arms
  To the world of grief and tears;
And the sound of his song in the young soul
  Remained - wordless but alive.

And it languished in the world for a long time,
  Filled with a tremendous desire,
And the sounds of heaven could not be replaced
  With the dull songs of the earth.

Translation from Russian to English copyright © 2009 by Dmitri Smirnov (dmitrismirnov (AT) ntlworld (DOT) com), (re)printed on this website with kind permission. Please contact the copyright-holder when requesting permission to reprint.

a text in Russian by Mikhail Yur'yevich Lermontov (1814-1841) , "Angel", published 1831

Date added to the website: 2009-11-02.