Letter 3999 and The Little Rifleman: Difference between pages

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{{letterhead
'''''The Little Rifleman''''' (Стрелочек) ([[TH]] 197 ; [[ČW]] 436) <ref name="note1"/> is a Russian folksong on which Tchaikovsky devised a humorous canon with friends in December 1882. Its origins were described shortly afterwards in a letter from [[Sergey Taneyev]] to [[Anton Arensky]]:
|Date=8/20 January 1890
|To=[[Pyotr Jurgenson]]
|Place=[[Moscow]]
|Language=Russian
|Autograph=[[Klin]] (Russia): {{RUS-KLč}} (a{{sup|3}}, No. 2663)
|Publication={{bib|1977/40|П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений ; том XV-Б}} (1977), p. 16 (abridged)
}}
==Text and Translation==
{{Lettertext
|Language=Russian
|Translator=Brett Langston
|Original text=Сижу в «''Слав[янском] базаре''», угощаю великолепным завтраком целую компанию, а денег ни хера. Пожалуйста, пришли одну сотню.
{{right|П. Ча[йковский]}}


|Translated text=I'm sitting in the "''Slavyansky Bazaar''", treating the whole company to a magnificent lunch, but with sod all money. Please, send one hundred.
{{quote|"After dinner, we occupied ourselves with writing a canon on a theme, given to us by [[Laroche]]: "''The Little Rifleman''". He was sure that it would be hard to come up with a canon in any interval other than the octave [...] I responded that it was not so difficult, and straight away wrote a canon within a few seconds [...] This prompted Pyotr Ilyich to join the contest, and for his part he offered up a remarkable canon in no time at all [...] The whole canon was immediately performed by [[Laroche]] and Tchaikovsky. [[Laroche]] couldn't think of anything; on his bit of paper he had only written a clef and 2 flats" <ref name="note2"/>.}}
{{right|P. Tchaikovsky}}
 
}}
Tchaikovsky's score has not been preserved <ref name="note3"/>.
 
==Notes and References==
<references>
<ref name="note1">Entitled "Little Archer" in [[ČW]].</ref>
<ref name="note2">Letter from [[Sergey Taneyev]] to [[Anton Arensky]] of 14/26 December 1882, quoted in {{bib|1958/14|Музыкальное наследие Чайковского}} (1958), p. 471.</ref>
<ref name="note3">[[Taneyev]]'s note of the main theme (B-flat major, 4 bars) is preserved in the [[Klin]] House-Museum Archive (в{{sup|1}}, No. 398).</ref>
</references>
[[Category:Musical Jokes]]
[[Category:Lost Works]]

Latest revision as of 09:27, 11 April 2023

The Little Rifleman (Стрелочек) (TH 197 ; ČW 436) [1] is a Russian folksong on which Tchaikovsky devised a humorous canon with friends in December 1882. Its origins were described shortly afterwards in a letter from Sergey Taneyev to Anton Arensky:

"After dinner, we occupied ourselves with writing a canon on a theme, given to us by Laroche: "The Little Rifleman". He was sure that it would be hard to come up with a canon in any interval other than the octave [...] I responded that it was not so difficult, and straight away wrote a canon within a few seconds [...] This prompted Pyotr Ilyich to join the contest, and for his part he offered up a remarkable canon in no time at all [...] The whole canon was immediately performed by Laroche and Tchaikovsky. Laroche couldn't think of anything; on his bit of paper he had only written a clef and 2 flats" [2].

Tchaikovsky's score has not been preserved [3].

Notes and References

  1. Entitled "Little Archer" in ČW.
  2. Letter from Sergey Taneyev to Anton Arensky of 14/26 December 1882, quoted in Музыкальное наследие Чайковского. Из историй его произведений (1958), p. 471.
  3. Taneyev's note of the main theme (B-flat major, 4 bars) is preserved in the Klin House-Museum Archive (в1, No. 398).