Letter 2453a - Revision history

Tony: "President" to "Président" / "of which" to "whose"

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"President" to "Président" / "of which" to "whose"

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2022-07-12T12:43:42Z

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{{letterhead
|Date=11/23 March 1884
|To=[[Alfred Bruneau]]
|Place=[[Saint Petersburg]]
|Language=French
|Autograph={{locunknown}} <ref name="note1"/>
|Publication={{bibx|1997/44|Tschaikowsky-Gesellschaft Mitteilungen}}, Heft 4 (1997), p. 14 (including facsimile of first page, p. 15, and German translation, p. 16)<br/>{{bibx|1998/46|Cajkovskijs Homosexualität und sein Tod. Legenden und Wirklichkeit}} (1998), p. 200 (including facsimile of first page, p. 201, and German translation, p. 202)
}}

==Text and Translation==
{{Lettertext
|Language=French
|Translator=Luis Sundkvist
|Original text={{right|11/23 ''Mars'' 1884<br/>''S[ain]t. Petersbourg''}}
{{centre|Monsieur le Président!}}
Je viens de recevoir Votre lettre qui a fait bien de détours en Europe avant de me {{sic|rattrapper|rattraper}} ici. Celle de M[onsieur] Godard m'est arrivée {{sic|un|une}} dizaine de jours avant la Votre à Berlin et je me suis empressé de me conformer à Votre désir et de recommander pour être exécutées au Festival de l'Union Internationale deux Œuvres de moi en priant M. Godard de choisir laquelle des deux lui convendrait {{sic|davantage|davantage}}. En {{sic|même|même}} temps j'avais lancé une {{sic|dépèche|dépêche}} à mon {{sic|editeur|éditeur}} en le priant d'expédier le plus vite possible les parties et partitions de ces deux œuvres à Paris. J'espère que {{sic|déjà|déjà}} elles sont arrivées à destination et que M. Benjamin Godard en a fait le choix.

Je me vois obligé, malheureusement, de décliner l'insigne honneur de prendre {{sic|personellement|personnellement}} part à l'exécution de mon ouvrage, persuadé d'ailleurs que conduite par M[onsieur] Godard, elle ne peut {{sic|être|être}} qu'excellente.

Sur ce, permettez[-]moi, Monsieur le Président, de V[ou]s exprimer ma très vive reconnaissance pour l'attention flatteuse que Vous m'avez {{sic|temoignée|témoignée}}, et en V[ou]s priant d'agréer l'assurance de ma très haute estime, me dire, Votre dévoué serviteur,
{{right|P. Tschaïkovsky}}

|Translated text={{right|11/23 ''March'' 1884<br/>''[[Saint Petersburg]]''}}
{{centre|Monsieur President!<ref name="note2"/> }}
I have just received your letter, which has made quite a detour through Europe before catching up with me here <ref name="note3"/>. The letter from Monsieur Godard reached me some ten days before yours in [[Berlin]] <ref name="note4"/>, and I hastened to comply with your request and to recommend two works of mine for performance at the festival of the International Union, asking M. Godard to choose which one of the two would be the more suitable for him <ref name="note5"/>. At the same time I sent a telegram to my publisher, asking him to dispatch to [[Paris]] the parts and scores of these two works as soon as possible <ref name="note6"/>. I hope that they have already reached their destination, and that M. Godard has been able to make his choice.

Unfortunately, I find myself compelled to decline the great honour of personally taking part in the performance of my work, but I am convinced that under the baton of Monsieur Godard it cannot but receive an excellent performance <ref name="note7"/>.

Herewith allow me, Monsieur President, to convey to you my very keen gratitude for the flattering attention which you have shown me, and, requesting you to accept the assurance of my very high esteem, I would have you consider me, your devoted servant,
{{right|P. Tchaikovsky}}
}}

==Notes and References==
<references>
<ref name="note1">The autograph was sold in 2018 by R. R. Auctions, Boston [https://www.rrauction.com/PastAuctionItem/3399236]. It had formerly been at {{D-Tu}}, Tübingen, Germany, and was subsequently owned by the {{F-Pmlm}} in [[Paris]], until that institution closed in 2015.</ref>
<ref name="note2">The following is based on the commentary by Thomas Kohlhase in {{bib|1998/46|Bisher unbekannte Briefe, Notenautographe und andere Čajkovskij-Funde}} (1998), p. 194–204. In the autumn of 1883 the ''Union Internationale des Compositeurs'' was set up in [[Paris]] with the aim of presenting contemporary foreign and French works in a series of concerts each year. The first series was to take the form of a festival of ten concerts at the Palais du Trocadéro between April and June 1884 {{NS}}. The newly-formed association sent official invitations to various composers, including one to Tchaikovsky as the leading representative of Russian music. In this letter, dated 20 October 1883 {{NS}}, the founding members of the Union invited Tchaikovsky to send, for the forthcoming festival, a work of his that, if possible, had not been heard in [[Paris]] before, and they also asked him if he was willing to come to [[Paris]] to conduct it himself. He was asked to send his reply either to the Union's president, [[Alfred Bruneau]], or to Benjamin Godard (1849–1895), a noted composer who was also the Union's official conductor. Shortly afterwards Godard himself wrote separately to Tchaikovsky (in a letter that has not survived), asking him to send the scores of the [[Suite No. 1]] and the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]''. Tchaikovsky wrote to [[Jurgenson]] on 19/31 October 1883 ([[Letter 2372]]), informing his publisher of Godard's request and instructing him to send these scores to [[Paris]] immediately. Tchaikovsky's subsequent negotiations with the ''Union Internationale'' are detailed below in the notes for this letter to [[Bruneau]]. The announcement for the (just four) concerts which were held at the Palais du Trocadéro from 3 April to 12 June 1884 {{NS}} mentions a "suite d'orchestre" by Tchaikovsky, but it is not clear whether this refers to the [[Suite No. 1]] or the [[Suite No. 2]] (whose recently published score Tchaikovsky also asked [[Jurgenson]] to send to [[Paris]]). It is known that the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]'' was performed at one of these concerts, but the reviews were quite negative.</ref>
<ref name="note3">The letter from [[Alfred Bruneau]] to which Tchaikovsky is replying here has not come to light.</ref>
<ref name="note4">The letter from Benjamin Godard which Tchaikovsky received in [[Berlin]] (where he stopped briefly on the way back to Russia from [[Paris]]) has survived in the archives at [[Klin]]. In this letter, dated 22 February 1884 {{NS}}, Godard asked Tchaikovsky to send by 19 March {{NS}} all the orchestral parts for the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]'', and added that the ''Union Internationale'' hoped that he himself would come to [[Paris]] to conduct the performance of his work. Godard also explained that because the [[Suite No. 1]] had recently been performed in [[Paris]] at one of the popular concerts conducted by Jules Pasdeloup, the Union had decided to select just the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]'', which would be new to Parisian audiences.</ref>
<ref name="note5">This reply to Godard has not survived, but from [[Letter 2451]] to [[Jurgenson]] (see the note below) it is clear that Tchaikovsky wanted Godard to consider also his [[Suite No. 2]] for performance in [[Paris]], and that in his reply to Godard he asked him to choose between this suite and the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]''.</ref>
<ref name="note6">See [[Letter 2451]] (actually a telegram) to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 29 February/12 March 1884.</ref>
<ref name="note7">It would not be until January 1887, with the premiere of ''[[Cherevichki]]'', that Tchaikovsky felt prepared to mount the conductor's rostrum again to conduct a performance of his own music. A few distressing conducting experiences in the 1860s and 70s had left him convinced that he was too nervous to stand at the helm of an orchestra. In their invitation letter to Tchaikovsky of 20 October 1883 {{NS}} the founders of the ''Union Internationale'' had explained that Godard would take over all those works the composers of which preferred not to conduct themselves.</ref>
</references>

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:00, 8 January 2025
Line 23:		Line 23:
	\|Translated text={{right\|11/23 ''March'' 1884<br/>''[[Saint Petersburg]]''}}		\|Translated text={{right\|11/23 ''March'' 1884<br/>''[[Saint Petersburg]]''}}
	{{centre\|Monsieur President!<ref name="note2"/> }}		{{centre\|Monsieur President!<ref name="note2"/> }}
	I have just received your letter, which has made quite a detour through Europe before catching up with me here <ref name="note3"/>. The letter from Monsieur Godard reached me some ten days before yours in [[Berlin]] <ref name="note4"/>, and I hastened to comply with your request and to recommend two works of mine for performance at the festival of the International Union, asking M. Godard to choose which one of the two would be the more suitable for him <ref name="note5"/>. At the same time I sent a telegram to my publisher, asking him to dispatch to [[Paris]] the parts and scores of these two works as soon as possible <ref name="note6"/>. I hope that they have already reached their destination, and that M. Godard has been able to make his choice.		I have just received your letter, which has made quite a detour through Europe before catching up with me here <ref name="note3"/>. The letter from Monsieur Godard reached me some ten days before yours in [[Berlin]] <ref name="note4"/>, and I hastened to comply with your request and to recommend two works of mine for performance at the festival of the International Union, asking M. Godard to choose which one of the two would be the more suitable for him <ref name="note5"/>. At the same time, I sent a telegram to my publisher, asking him to dispatch to [[Paris]] the parts and scores of these two works as soon as possible <ref name="note6"/>. I hope that they have already reached their destination, and that M. Godard has been able to make his choice.

	Unfortunately, I find myself compelled to decline the great honour of personally taking part in the performance of my work, but I am convinced that under the baton of Monsieur Godard it cannot but receive an excellent performance <ref name="note7"/>.		Unfortunately, I find myself compelled to decline the great honour of personally taking part in the performance of my work, but I am convinced that under the baton of Monsieur Godard it cannot but receive an excellent performance <ref name="note7"/>.

	Herewith allow me, Monsieur ~~President~~, to convey to you my very keen gratitude for the flattering attention which you have shown me, and, requesting you to accept the assurance of my very high esteem, I would have you consider me, your devoted servant,		Herewith allow me, Monsieur Président, to convey to you my very keen gratitude for the flattering attention which you have shown me, and, requesting you to accept the assurance of my very high esteem, I would have you consider me, your devoted servant,
	{{right\|P. Tchaikovsky}}		{{right\|P. Tchaikovsky}}
	}}		}}
Line 34:		Line 34:
	<references>		<references>
	<ref name="note1">The autograph was sold in 2018 by R. R. Auctions, Boston [https://www.rrauction.com/PastAuctionItem/3399236]. It had formerly been at {{D-Tu}}, Tübingen, Germany, and was subsequently owned by the {{F-Pmlm}} in [[Paris]], until that institution closed in 2015.</ref>		<ref name="note1">The autograph was sold in 2018 by R. R. Auctions, Boston [https://www.rrauction.com/PastAuctionItem/3399236]. It had formerly been at {{D-Tu}}, Tübingen, Germany, and was subsequently owned by the {{F-Pmlm}} in [[Paris]], until that institution closed in 2015.</ref>
	<ref name="note2">The following is based on the commentary by Thomas Kohlhase in {{bib\|1998/46\|Bisher unbekannte Briefe, Notenautographe und andere Čajkovskij-Funde}} (1998), p. 194–204. In the autumn of 1883 the ''Union Internationale des Compositeurs'' was set up in [[Paris]] with the aim of presenting contemporary foreign and French works in a series of concerts each year. The first series was to take the form of a festival of ten concerts at the Palais du Trocadéro between April and June 1884 {{NS}}. The newly-formed association sent official invitations to various composers, including one to Tchaikovsky as the leading representative of Russian music. In this letter, dated 20 October 1883 {{NS}}, the founding members of the Union invited Tchaikovsky to send, for the forthcoming festival, a work of his that, if possible, had not been heard in [[Paris]] before, and they also asked him if he was willing to come to [[Paris]] to conduct it himself. He was asked to send his reply either to the Union's president, [[Alfred Bruneau]], or to Benjamin Godard (1849–1895), a noted composer who was also the Union's official conductor. Shortly afterwards Godard himself wrote separately to Tchaikovsky (in a letter that has not survived), asking him to send the scores of the [[Suite No. 1]] and the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]''. Tchaikovsky wrote to [[Jurgenson]] on 19/31 October 1883 ([[Letter 2372]]), informing his publisher of Godard's request and instructing him to send these scores to [[Paris]] immediately. Tchaikovsky's subsequent negotiations with the ''Union Internationale'' are detailed below in the notes for this letter to [[Bruneau]]. The announcement for the (just four) concerts which were held at the Palais du Trocadéro from 3 April to 12 June 1884 {{NS}} mentions a "suite d'orchestre" by Tchaikovsky, but it is not clear whether this refers to the [[Suite No. 1]] or the [[Suite No. 2]] (whose recently published score Tchaikovsky also asked [[Jurgenson]] to send to [[Paris]]). It is known that the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]'' was performed at one of these concerts, but the reviews were quite negative.</ref>		<ref name="note2">The following is based on the commentary by Thomas Kohlhase in {{bib\|1998/46\|Bisher unbekannte Briefe, Notenautographe und andere Čajkovskij-Funde}} (1998), p. 194–204. In the autumn of 1883, the ''Union Internationale des Compositeurs'' was set up in [[Paris]] with the aim of presenting contemporary foreign and French works in a series of concerts each year. The first series was to take the form of a festival of ten concerts at the Palais du Trocadéro between April and June 1884 {{NS}}. The newly formed association sent official invitations to various composers, including one to Tchaikovsky as the leading representative of Russian music. In this letter, dated 20 October 1883 {{NS}}, the founding members of the Union invited Tchaikovsky to send, for the forthcoming festival, a work of his that, if possible, had not been heard in [[Paris]] before, and they also asked him if he was willing to come to [[Paris]] to conduct it himself. He was asked to send his reply either to the Union's president, [[Alfred Bruneau]], or to Benjamin Godard (1849–1895), a noted composer who was also the Union's official conductor. Shortly afterwards, Godard himself wrote separately to Tchaikovsky (in a letter that has not survived), asking him to send the scores of the [[Suite No. 1]] and the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]''. Tchaikovsky wrote to [[Jurgenson]] on 19/31 October 1883 ([[Letter 2372]]), informing his publisher of Godard's request and instructing him to send these scores to [[Paris]] immediately. Tchaikovsky's subsequent negotiations with the ''Union Internationale'' are detailed below in the notes for this letter to [[Bruneau]]. The announcement for the (just four) concerts which were held at the Palais du Trocadéro from 3 April to 12 June 1884 {{NS}} mentions a "suite d'orchestre" by Tchaikovsky, but it is not clear whether this refers to the [[Suite No. 1]] or the [[Suite No. 2]] (whose recently published score Tchaikovsky also asked [[Jurgenson]] to send to [[Paris]]). It is known that the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]'' was performed at one of these concerts, but the reviews were quite negative.</ref>
	<ref name="note3">The letter from [[Alfred Bruneau]] to which Tchaikovsky is replying here has not come to light.</ref>		<ref name="note3">The letter from [[Alfred Bruneau]] to which Tchaikovsky is replying here has not come to light.</ref>
	<ref name="note4">The letter from Benjamin Godard which Tchaikovsky received in [[Berlin]] (where he stopped briefly on the way back to Russia from [[Paris]]) has survived in the archives at [[Klin]]. In this letter, dated 22 February 1884 {{NS}}, Godard asked Tchaikovsky to send by 19 March {{NS}} all the orchestral parts for the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]'', and added that the ''Union Internationale'' hoped that he himself would come to [[Paris]] to conduct the performance of his work. Godard also explained that because the [[Suite No. 1]] had recently been performed in [[Paris]] at one of the popular concerts conducted by Jules Pasdeloup, the Union had decided to select just the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]'', which would be new to Parisian audiences.</ref>		<ref name="note4">The letter from Benjamin Godard which Tchaikovsky received in [[Berlin]] (where he stopped briefly on the way back to Russia from [[Paris]]) has survived in the archives at [[Klin]]. In this letter, dated 22 February 1884 {{NS}}, Godard asked Tchaikovsky to send by 19 March {{NS}} all the orchestral parts for the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]'', and added that the ''Union Internationale'' hoped that he himself would come to [[Paris]] to conduct the performance of his work. Godard also explained that because the [[Suite No. 1]] had recently been performed in [[Paris]] at one of the popular concerts conducted by Jules Pasdeloup, the Union had decided to select just the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]'', which would be new to Parisian audiences.</ref>
	<ref name="note5">This reply to Godard has not survived, but from [[Letter 2451]] to [[Jurgenson]] (see the note below) it is clear that Tchaikovsky wanted Godard to consider also his [[Suite No. 2]] for performance in [[Paris]], and that in his reply to Godard he asked him to choose between this suite and the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]''.</ref>		<ref name="note5">This reply to Godard has not survived, but from [[Letter 2451]] to [[Jurgenson]] (see the note below), it is clear that Tchaikovsky wanted Godard to consider also his [[Suite No. 2]] for performance in [[Paris]], and that in his reply to Godard he asked him to choose between this suite and the ''[[Italian Capriccio]]''.</ref>
	<ref name="note6">See [[Letter 2451]] (actually a telegram) to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 29 February/12 March 1884.</ref>		<ref name="note6">See [[Letter 2451]] (actually a telegram) to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 29 February/12 March 1884.</ref>
	<ref name="note7">It would not be until January 1887, with the premiere of ''[[Cherevichki]]'', that Tchaikovsky felt prepared to mount the conductor's rostrum again to conduct a performance of his own music. A few distressing conducting experiences in the 1860s and 70s had left him convinced that he was too nervous to stand at the helm of an orchestra. In their invitation letter to Tchaikovsky of 20 October 1883 {{NS}} the founders of the ''Union Internationale'' had explained that Godard would take over all those works ~~the~~ composers ~~of which~~ preferred not to conduct themselves.</ref>		<ref name="note7">It would not be until January 1887, with the premiere of ''[[Cherevichki]]'', that Tchaikovsky felt prepared to mount the conductor's rostrum again to conduct a performance of his own music. A few distressing conducting experiences in the 1860s and 70s had left him convinced that he was too nervous to stand at the helm of an orchestra. In their invitation letter to Tchaikovsky of 20 October 1883 {{NS}}, the founders of the ''Union Internationale'' had explained that Godard would take over all those works whose composers preferred not to conduct themselves.</ref>
	</references>		</references>