Aleksandra Hubert

Aleksandra Hubert (1850–1937)

Russian pianist and teacher (b. 11/23 January 1850; d. 1937), born Aleksandra Ivanovna Batalina (Александра Ивановна Баталина); known after her marriage as Aleksandra Ivanovna Hubert (Александра Ивановна Губерт).

From 1874 until 1883, Aleksandra taught the piano at the Moscow Conservatory (where she had enrolled as a student in 1867), and here she met her future husband, Nikolay Hubert, who was professor of music theory. Both were close friends of Tchaikovsky, who also taught at the Conservatory during the 1870s. Aleksandra helped Tchaikovsky to make piano duet arrangements of his Suite No. 2 (1883) and Manfred symphony (1885), and she also made her own transcriptions of many of his other works.

Following Nikolay's death in 1888, Tchaikovsky helped Aleksandra to take over her husband's position as inspector at the Moscow Conservatory, and she retained this post until 1914.

Correspondence with Tchaikovsky

64 letters from Tchaikovsky to Aleksandra Hubert have survived, dating from 1882 to 1893, of which those highlighted in bold have been translated into English on this website:

• Letter 2100 – 7/19 September 1882, from Kamenka
• Letter 2366 – 13/25 October 1883, from Kamenka
• Letter 2552 – 20 September/2 October 1884, from Pleshcheyevo
• Letter 2664 – 26 February/10 March 1885, from Maydanovo (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 2674 – 16/28 March 1885, from Maydanovo
• Letter 2692 – 23 April/5 May 1885 (?), from Moscow
• Letter 2714a – May 1885 (?), from Moscow
• Letter 2720 – 11/23 June 1885, from Maydanovo
• Letter 2754 – 23 August/4 September 1885, from Maydanovo (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 2773 – 24 September/6 October 1885, from Maydanovo
• Letter 2892 – 19 February/3 March 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 2905 – 6/18 March 1886, from Moscow (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 2908 – 8/20 March 1886, from Moscow (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 2923 – 3/15 April 1886, from Tiflis
• Letter 2983 – 24 June/6 July 1886, from Maydanovo (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 3004 – 13/25 July 1886, from Maydanovo (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 3030 – 18/30 August 1886, from Maydanovo (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 3076 – 17/29 October 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3098 – 14/26 November 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3117 – 5/17 December 1886, from Moscow (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 3129 – 24 December 1886/5 January 1887, from Moscow
• Letter 3148 – 16/28 January 1887, from Moscow
• Letter 3179 – 11/23 February 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3220 – 7/19 April 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3240 – 26 April/8 May 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3252 – 9/21 May 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3263 – 26 May/7 June 1887Caspian Sea
• Letter 3270 – 20 June/2 July 1887, from Borzhom (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 3282 – 4/16 July 1887, from Borzhom (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 3343 – 9/21 September 1887, from Maydanovo (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 3378 – 9/21 October 1887, from Saint Petersburg
• Letter 3423a – 30 November/12 December 1887, from Moscow (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 3449 – 30 December 1887/11 January 1888, from Lübeck (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 3470 – 12/24 January 1888, from Magdeburg (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 3486 – 28 January/9 February 1888, from Berlin (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 3528 – 15/27 March 1888, from Vienna
• Letter 3559 – 28 April/10 May 1888, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3611 – 12/24 July 1888, from Frolovskoye (addressed jointly to Aleksandra and Nikolay Hubert)
• Letter 3681 – 29 September/11 October 1888, from Moscow
• Letter 3706 – 22 October/3 November 1888, from Moscow
• Letter 3836 – 13/25 April 1889, from Tiflis
• Letter 3850 – 9/21 May 1889, from Moscow
• Letter 3866 – 24 May/5 June 1889, from Klin
• Letter 3880 – 18/30 June 1889, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3896 – 6/18 July 1889, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3902 – 10/22 July 1889, from Moscow
• Letter 3905 – 17/29 July 1889, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3940 – 18/30 September or 19 September/1 October 1889, from Moscow
• Letter 3954 – 8/20 October 1889, from Moscow
• Letter 4105 – 5/17 May 1890, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 4274 – 21 December 1890/2 January 1891, from Kiev
• Letter 4284 – 4/16 January 1891, from Moscow
• Letter 4287 – 5/17 January 1891, from Moscow
• Letter 4314 – 23 January/4 February 1891, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 4414 – 18/30 June 1891, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4419 – 25 June/7 July 1891, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4441 – 18/30 July 1891, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4516 – 19/31 October 1891, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4534 – 3/15 November 1891, from Moscow
• Letter 4544 – 11/23 November 1891, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4615 – 4/16 February 1892, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4681 – 5/17 May 1892, from Klin
• Letter 5014 – 20 August/1 September 1893, from Klin
• Letter 5032 – 17/29 September 1893 (?), from Moscow

18 letters from Aleksandra Hubert to the composer, dating from 1886 to 1890, are preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a⁴, Nos. 654–672).

Bibliography

• Письма П. И. Чайковского к А. И. и Н. А. Губерт (1918)
• Bisher unbekannte Briefe und musikalische Arbeiten Čajkovskijs (1994)
• Drei bisher unbekannte Briefe Čajkovskijs von 1887, 1891 und 1893, sowie sechs weitere Briefe vom 20. August 1893 (1995)

External Links

• Internet Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• VIAF