"9 Variationen über das Air Russe „Schöne Minka“ & 7 Variationen über ein „Thema russo“ / „Zigeunerlied“" Sheet Music by Carl Maria Von Weber

The theme of the 9 Variations on a Russian Theme, ‘Schöne Minka’, op. 40 (WeV R.10), composed in 1814–1815, is the song known as Air Russe, which begins with the German words ‘Schöne Minka, du mußt scheiden!’ (Beautiful Minka, you must depart!). Weber chose the melody of this tune in reference to the intended dedicatee, Maria Pavlovna, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, who was born in Pavlovsk near St Petersburg in 1786 as Grand Duchess of Russia. The origin of the song remains unclear, as does the question of which model Weber used as a basis for composing the cycle of variations. The song has been described in isolated cases in Russian-language specialist literature as a composition from the early 18th century in the Ukrainian-speaking region,1 but, given the growing interest in Russian folk tunes in Central and Western Europe at the end of the 18th century, it is entirely possible that the melody of ‘Minka’ did not originate in Russia at all and may simply be an imitation of Russian folk music. The earliest reference to his work on the variations can be found in Weber’s diary entry of 14 January 1814. In a letter dated 17 February 1814 from Prague to his Berlin publisher Schlesinger, Weber mentioned the variations, the publication of which was finally agreed upon in a contract dated 5 August 1814. Final work on the composition took place in March/April 1815. On 21 April 1815, Weber sent the corrected and supplemented dedication copy to Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna with the dedication of the composition. Weber’s letter received no response from the Grand Duchess. The first edition appeared in the summer of 1815. A later anonymous review emphasised the work’s poetic style that went beyond its technical dimension: ‘The variations are based on the well-known “Beautiful Minka, I must depart” which varies a hundred times. But don’t think you’re buying something old, and only those who cooked up that watery soup should leave Weber untouched. To put this assurance b