Dark Eyes

The composition I play is little known. The main melody of it, though, is known all over the world: it is the melody of the Russian song Ochi Chernie (Dark Eyes). Dark eyes, burning eyes Passionate and splendid eyes How I love you, how I fear you Verily, I saw you at a sinister hour. If I hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t be suffering so I would have lived my life smiling You have ruined me, dark eyes You have taken my happiness away forever. This is a Feodor Chaliapin version of the lyrics by the Ukrainian poet Yevhen Hrebinka. The music was arranged in 1884 from the waltz composed by one F. Hermann -- not much is known about him. In some websites he is called a French composer, Florian Hermann; in other sources, a Russified German, Feodor Hermann. I learned his waltz from a Russian sheet music, where it is called Вальс Воспоминание (Recollection Waltz, in my own translation). It may be that the original title is Hommage Valse. Anyway, whatever the titl