Aleksandr Tarnavich

Aleksandr Tarnavich (b. 1834)

Priest at Kamenka (b. 1834), born Aleksandr Danilovich Tarnavich (Александр Данилович Тарнавич).

Tchaikovsky came to know Tarnavich through his regular visits to see his sister Aleksandra's family at Kamenka in the Ukraine. Tarnavich was a self-taught violinist and enthusiastic amateur musician, and the two men both shared a love of literature. Tchaikovsky helped Tarnavich's two daughters to enter the Moscow Conservatory and arranged inexpensive student accommodation for them. The composer also consulted Tarnavich when writing his sacred choral works, such as the All-Night Vigil, Op. 52 (1881–82).

Correspondence with Tchaikovsky

9 letters from Tchaikovsky to Aleksandr Tarnavich have survived, dating from 1881 to 1884, of which those highlighted in bold have been translated into English on this website:

• Letter 1662 – 2/14 January–3/15 January 1881, from Kamenka
• Letter 1669 – mid/late January 1881, from Moscow
• Letter 1798 – 29 June/11 July 1881, from Kamenka
• Letter 1844 – 31 August/12 September 1881, from Kamenka
• Letter 2106 – 12/24 September–14/26 September 1882, from Kamenka
• Letter 2134 – 13/25 October 1882, from Kamenka
• Letter 2150 – 31 October/12 November 1882, from Kamenka
• Letter 2160 – 15/27 November 1882, from Kamenka
• Letter 2430 – 7/19 February 1884, from Berlin

8 letters from Aleksandr Tarnavich to the composer, dating from 1881 to 1883, are preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a⁴, Nos. 4264-4271).