Daniil Maksimovich Ratgauz (1869–1936), the renown poet, translator and dramatist, was born on February 6, 1869 in Kharkov. His parents were Germans by birth, however being Russified already to that time. The young man started his career in Kiev, where he became the graduate of the third gymnasium and the law department of the St. Vladimir University. The poetic d?but took place in the magazine “Observer” (1888), where Ratgauz' first verses “Life Inference” appeared. In April–May, 1893, Tchaikovsky created Six Romances to D. Ratgauz with the dedication to N. N. Figner (op. 73). The same year they were published by P. I. Yurgenson with both the Russian and German texts. The romance “We Were Sitting Together” occurred to be numbered as the first one in this opus. Later the exact romance enjoyed real popularity.Apparently, Ratgauz sent his poems to other Russian composers either. The end of 1890ie gave birth to the romances by A. Arensky (4), S. Rachmaninov (2), A. Koreshchenko (4), A. Grechaninov (2), choral miniatures by Ts. Kyui (3) — all to the verses by D. Ratgauz. After his three-volume edition saw the world in 1906, his poems were noticed by the wide circle of composers. Thus there were presented the romances by M. Ippolitov-Ivanov (15), R. Glier (17), V. Zolotaryov (4) etc.Contents:P. Tchaikovsky. WE WERE SITTING TOGETHER. Op. 73, No. 1S. Rachmaninov. EVERYTHING PASSES AWAY... Op. 26, No. 15A. Grechaninov. SOMNOLENCEA. Arensky. DON’T INFLAMEA. Koreshchenko. WE’LL OPEN THE WINDOWSA. Koreshchenko. MOONLIGHT. Op. 26, No. 4A. Koreshchenko. SHADE. Op. 41, No. 4A. Ippolitov-Ivanov. BEFORE ME ON THE TABLE Op. 21, No. 5A. Ippolitov-Ivanov. DON’T LOOK FOR ANYTHING. Op. 33, No. 2A. Ippolitov-Ivanov. GAY COLOURS GOT PALE. Op. 25, No. 2R. Glier. ONLY A DREAM. Op. 52, No. 5V. Solovyov. I’V PARTED WITH THE PAST. Op. 100, No. 1V. Solovyov. SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGH. Op. 100, No. 2V. Solovyov. CLOCK Op. 100, No. 3V. Solovyov. ANGEL OF LUCID DREAMS. Op. 100, No. 4