Letter 1848

Tchaikovsky Research
Revision as of 21:31, 14 July 2022 by Brett (talk | contribs) (1 revision imported)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Date 1/13 September 1881
Addressed to Mily Balakirev
Where written Kamenka
Language Russian
Autograph Location Saint Petersburg (Russia): National Library of Russia (ф. 834, ед. хр. 12, л. 1–3)
Publication Переписка М. А. Балакирева и П. И. Чайковского (1868-1891) [1912], p. 72
Милий Алексеевич Балакирев. Воспоминания и письма (1962), p. 163
П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том X (1966), p. 217–218

Text and Translation

Russian text
(original)
English translation
By Luis Sundkvist
1881 1-го сентября Каменка

Многоуважаемый Милий Алексеевич!

Ещё весной я сделал корректуру моей увертюры «Ромео и Юлия», напечатанной Боком в новом издании и в несколько исправленном виде. Я просил его послать Вам один экземпляр. Получили ли Вы его? Меня всегда немножко терзало то обстоятельство, что в первом издании, вследствие недосмотра, не было на заглавном листе посвящения Вам. Теперь оно есть или, по крайней мере, должно быть. Я совершенно убеждён, что Вы вполне равнодушны к этому посвящению, — но я придаю ему значение. Мне хочется, чтобы Вы знали, что я не забыл, кто виновник появления на свет этой партитуры, что я живо помню Ваше тогдашнее дружеское участие, которое, надеюсь, и теперь ещё не вполне угасло.

Думаю, что Вы одобрите сделанное мной сокращение.

Искренне Вас уважающий и любящий,

П. Чайковский

1881 1st September Kamenka

Most respected Mily Alekseyevich! [1]

This spring I went through the proofs of my overture Romeo and Juliet, which has been printed by Bock in a new edition and in a somewhat altered form [2]. I asked him to send you a copy. Have you received it? I always felt a bit tormented by the fact that in the first edition, as a result of an oversight, the dedication to you was missing from the title-page [3]. Now it is there, or, at any rate, it should be. I am quite convinced that you are completely indifferent towards this dedication, but for me it means a lot. I want you to know that I have not forgotten who was responsible for this score coming into the world, that I keenly remember your friendly sympathy at the time—a sympathy which I hope has even now not quite been extinguished.

I think that you will approve of the abridgement I have made.

With sincere respect and affection for you,

P. Tchaikovsky

Notes and References

  1. This was Tchaikovsky's first letter to Balakirev since the autumn of 1871 (see Letter 242). The ten-year interruption in their correspondence was due to Balakirev's decision to retire from the music world in 1872 for reasons of ill-health. Fortunately, Balakirev gradually returned to musical work and in 1881 took up his directorship of the Free Music School in Saint Petersburg again. With this letter Tchaikovsky hoped to resume their fruitful exchange of ideas, although it did not in fact reach Balakirev until the following year, because Tchaikovsky, not knowing his address, had to send it to the publisher Vasily Bessel to be forwarded, and the latter was also uncertain about Balakirev's address. After Balakirev finally replied to Tchaikovsky's letter on 28 September/10 October 1882 a reasonably regular correspondence was re-established.
  2. The full score and arrangement for piano duet of the third version of Romeo and Juliet were published by the Berlin firm of Bote & Bock in 1881. Tchaikovsky worked on his revisions to the overture (now re-styled an "overture-fantasia") in August 1880.
  3. See Letter 233 to Balakirev, 15/27 May 1871, in which Tchaikovsky explains why the dedication had been left out in the full score of the Romeo and Juliet overture (first version) brought out by Bote & Bock in 1871.