The Nightingale
Alyabyev’s most famous work is The Nightingale (Solovey), a song based on a poem by Anton Delvig. It was composed while Alyabyev was in prison, in 1825. It has entered Russian consciousness as akin to a folk song.
The song became more widely known after having been introduced into Rosina’s singing lesson scene in Gioachino Rossini‘s The Barber of Seville by Pauline Viardot, followed by Adelina Patti and Marcella Sembrich.
Mikhail Glinka wrote piano variations based on the song, as did Mily Balakirev.[1] Franz Liszt also wrote a transcription of it (S. 250/1).
It was one of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky‘s favourite songs from his earliest childhood, as his mother often sang it to him.[2]