Othello and Handbook for Instrumentation (Gevaert): Difference between pages

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Tchaikovsky considered [[William Shakespeare]]'s drama '''''Othello''''' (Отелло) as a possible subject for an opera ([[TH]] 213 ; [[ČW]] 454) during the winter of 1876/77.
The '''''Handbook for Instrumentation''''' (Руководство к инструментовке) ([[TH]] 329 ; [[ČW]] 628) <ref name="note1"/> is Tchaikovsky's translation of the ''Traité général d'instrumentation. Exposé méthodique des principes de cet art dans leur application à l'orchestre, à la musique d'harmonie et de fanfares, etc.'' by the Belgian composer and music historian [[François Auguste Gevaert]] (1828-1908).


The suggestion came in November or December 1876 from [[Vladimir Stasov]], who offered to prepare a detailed libretto. On 11/23 December 1876, Tchaikovsky replied with enthusiasm: "I not only ask, but ''demand'' that you fulfil your promise. Now the seed of [[Shakespeare]]'s tragedy has taken root in ground of my musical imagination, how could I not write ''Othello''?" <ref name="note1"/>.  
==History==
[[Gevaert]]'s ''Traité'' was first published in Belgium in 1863, and only two years later Tchaikovsky's tutor [[Anton Rubinstein]] set him the task of translating the French text into Russian. This was accomplished during the summer of 1865, while Tchaikovsky was staying with his sister at [[Kamenka]] in the Ukraine, and he introduced his own comments and musical examples (mainly from works by [[Glinka]]) into [[Gevaert]]'s original text. The completed manuscript was submitted to [[Anton Rubinstein|Rubinstein]] in January 1866 on Tchaikovsky's graduation from the [[Saint Petersburg]] Conservatory.  


[[Stasov]] immediately drafted a scenario for the opera, to which Tchaikovsky suggested a number of changes <ref name="note2"/>. Due to other commitments, [[Stasov]] was unable to start work on the libretto right away. On 9/21 February 1877, Tchaikovsky wrote to him: "It is ''essential'' for me to receive the scenario you have compiled for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th acts. Only in the first act can I manage without your gracious assistance. The sooner I receive these three acts, the better. But this does not mean that I would wish you to abandon all your work and turn your attention to ''Othello''. Do it ''whenever you please and how you please'', but without receiving your scenario for the last three acts I cannot manage, and so I await them patiently, but eagerly" <ref name="note3"/>.
==Publication==
At the end of 1866 [[Pyotr Jurgenson]] published Tchaikovsky's translation <ref name="note2"/>, with the subtitle "Translated from the French with the addition of score examples from Russian works by Professor P. I. Tchaikovsky". This work has been accepted as a handbook in the conservatories of [[Moscow]] and [[Saint Petersburg]] <ref name="note3"/>, for which Tchaikovsky was paid 25 rubles <ref name="note4"/>. It was reprinted by [[Jurgenson]] in 1902, and included in volume III-Б of Tchaikovsky's ''[[Complete Collected Works]]'' (1961), edited by Vladimir Protopopov.


Within two months, [[Stasov]] had suggested a completely different opera subject—''The Cardinal'' (after a story by Alfred de Vigny), which the composer rejected outright <ref name="note4"/>, and nothing more was heard of ''Othello'' <ref name="note5"/>.
==Autographs==
Tchaikovsky's autograph manuscript is now preserved in the {{RUS-Mcm}} in [[Moscow]] {{TOW2|f-o-gevart-rukovodstvo-k-instrumentovke-perevod-s-francuzskogo|(ф. 88, No. 170)}}.


==Notes and References==
==Notes and References==
<references>
<references>
<ref name="note1">[[Letter 520]] to [[Vladimir Stasov]], 11/23 December 1876.</ref>  
<ref name="note1">Entitled "Guide to Orchestration" in [[ČW]].</ref>
<ref name="note2">See letter from [[Vladimir Stasov]] to Tchaikovsky, 13/25 December 1876, and the composer's reply in [[Letter 525]], 19/31 December 1876. A complete English translation of Stasov's scenario is included in [[ČW]], p. 814.</ref>  
<ref name="note2">Passed by the censor on 24 October/5 November 1866.</ref>
<ref name="note3">[[Letter 541]] to [[Vladimir Stasov]], 9/21 February 1877.</ref>  
<ref name="note3">F. A. Gevaert, {{bib|1866/1|Руководство к инструментовке}} (1866).</ref>
<ref name="note4">[[Letter 548]] to [[Vladimir Stasov]], 8/20 April 1877.</ref>
<ref name="note4">See [[Letter 95a]] to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 11/23 August 1866.</ref>
<ref name="note5">See {{bib|2002/22|The Tchaikovsky Handbook, vol. 1}} (2002), p. 400.</ref>
</references>
</references>
[[Category:Projected Works]]
[[Category:Translations]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:Books]]

Latest revision as of 20:27, 11 March 2023

The Handbook for Instrumentation (Руководство к инструментовке) (TH 329 ; ČW 628) [1] is Tchaikovsky's translation of the Traité général d'instrumentation. Exposé méthodique des principes de cet art dans leur application à l'orchestre, à la musique d'harmonie et de fanfares, etc. by the Belgian composer and music historian François Auguste Gevaert (1828-1908).

History

Gevaert's Traité was first published in Belgium in 1863, and only two years later Tchaikovsky's tutor Anton Rubinstein set him the task of translating the French text into Russian. This was accomplished during the summer of 1865, while Tchaikovsky was staying with his sister at Kamenka in the Ukraine, and he introduced his own comments and musical examples (mainly from works by Glinka) into Gevaert's original text. The completed manuscript was submitted to Rubinstein in January 1866 on Tchaikovsky's graduation from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.

Publication

At the end of 1866 Pyotr Jurgenson published Tchaikovsky's translation [2], with the subtitle "Translated from the French with the addition of score examples from Russian works by Professor P. I. Tchaikovsky". This work has been accepted as a handbook in the conservatories of Moscow and Saint Petersburg [3], for which Tchaikovsky was paid 25 rubles [4]. It was reprinted by Jurgenson in 1902, and included in volume III-Б of Tchaikovsky's Complete Collected Works (1961), edited by Vladimir Protopopov.

Autographs

Tchaikovsky's autograph manuscript is now preserved in the Russian National Museum of Music in Moscow (ф. 88, No. 170) [view].

Notes and References

  1. Entitled "Guide to Orchestration" in ČW.
  2. Passed by the censor on 24 October/5 November 1866.
  3. F. A. Gevaert, Музыкальные заметки. Консерваторские солисты и композитор (1866).
  4. See Letter 95a to Pyotr Jurgenson, 11/23 August 1866.