Lilacs

Сирень, 'Lilacs', Sergei Rachmaninov

Listen to this beautiful song 'Lilacs' by Sergei Rachmaninov, performed by Nicolai Gedda:

YouTube

Lilac painting by Elena Barkhatova

'Lilacs' was composed by Rachmaninoff in April 1902 along with ten other songs. The poem is by Ekaterina Beketova (18th C Russian poet) and it describes the persona in search of happiness, saying that happiness is where the lilacs are:

По утру, на заре,

По росистой траве,

Я пойду свежим утром дышать;

И в душистую тень,

Где теснится сирень,

Я пойду своё счастье искать...

В жизни счастье одно

Мне найти суждено, 

И то счастье в сирени живёт;

На зелёных ветвях,

На душистых кистях

Моё бедное счастье цветёт...

In the morning, at daybreak,

over the dewy grass,

I will go to breathe the crisp dawn;

and in the fragrant shade,

where the lilac crowds,

I will go to seek my happiness...

In life, only one happiness

it was fated for me to discover,

and that happiness lives in the lilacs;

on the green boughs,

on the fragrant bunches,

my poor happiness blossoms...

Around 1908, Rachmaninoff began to receive bouquets of lilacs at his performances from an anonymous admirer. The lilacs arrived, like clockwork, to every concert or recital Rachmaninoff gave, no matter where he was appearing in the world, through 1918. That year, Madame Felka Rousseau of Russia identified herself to Rachmaninoff as the mysterious donor of the lilacs. 

Nicolai Gedda, Swedish tenor (1925-2017)

Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian composer (1873-1943)

Sources: All Music, The LiederNet Archive