Servais - Souvenir de St. Pétersbourg, Op. 15 (Urtext Edition)

St. Petersburg held special importance for Servais. During his 1839–1840 tour there, he met his future wife, Sophie Feygin, daughter of a steward of Czar Nicolas I. The first known performance of Grande Fantaisie, Souvenirs de St. Pétersbourg took place on 4 July 1840, and one contemporary newspaper noted that the work was composed while Servais was in Russia.

The piece survives in several versions. An early version, Fantaisie et Variations No. 18, likely predates the St. Petersburg tour. A second version, Fantaisie élégante, is included in the appendix of this edition. The final published version, Souvenir de St. Pétersbourg: Fantaisie, was issued by Schott in 1856 for cello with piano, orchestra, or string quintet accompaniment. The work was dedicated to Nikolay Yusupov, whose collection at the National Library of Russia preserves the autograph of the final version.

The theme may be connected to Russian song, though no definite source has been identified. It is reminiscent of Mikhail Glinka’s 1834 song “Не называй ее небесной” (Do Not Call Her Heavenly). Compared with Fantaisie élégante, the published Souvenir is shorter, simpler, and less technically demanding. In fact, it presents the fewest technical challenges of Servais’s published works, making it an excellent entry point for cellists new to his music.

Our edition is based on the first edition of Souvenir, published by Schott in May 1856, and the manuscript copy of Fantaisie élégante housed at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.

ASTA Level: 6