Letter 3236
| Date | 23 April/5 May 1887 |
|---|---|
| Addressed to | Emiliya Pavlovskaya |
| Where written | Maydanovo |
| Language | Russian |
| Autograph Location | Moscow (Russia): Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum (Pavlovskaya collection) |
| Publication | Чайковский на Московской сцене (1940), p. 386 П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XIV (1974), p. 96 |
Text and Translation
| Russian text (original) |
English translation By Luis Sundkvist |
23 апр[еля 18]87 Дорогая, милая Эмилия Карловна!
Как я обрадовался Вашим немногим строчкам, и как Вы предупредили меня! Я именно сегодня собирался написать Вам несколько слов, чтобы попросить Вас сообщить мне, здоровы ли Вы, когда и куда уезжаете. Пожалуйста, от времени до времени летом сообщайте мне о себе весточки. Адресуйте: Тифлис, Окружной суд, Анатолию Ильичу Чайковскому, для перед[ачи] и т. д. Вот уже 5 недель, что я без устали работаю, но всё-таки инструментовка «Чародейки» ещё не кончена. Дней через 5 я уезжаю на Кавказ. Юргенсону я сейчас написал, чтобы, если не выслано, он выслал немедленно. Всё давно готово, и я не понимаю, в чём задержка! Целую крепко Ваши ручки. Ваш, П. Чайковский Сергею Евграфовичу кланяюсь. |
23 April 1887 Dear and kind Emiliya Karlovna!
How glad I was over those few lines from you, and how you managed to anticipate me! For precisely today I was planning to write you a few words to ask you to tell me whether you were well, and also when you would be going away and where to [1]. Please let me hear from you every now and then during the summer. Would you address your letters like this: Tiflis, Circuit Court, Anatoly Ilyich Tchaikovsky, for forwarding to, etc. I have now been working untiringly for five weeks, but the orchestration of "The Enchantress" is still not complete. In five days' time or so I shall be leaving for the Caucasus [2]. I have just written to Jurgenson requesting him, in case it hasn't been dispatched to you yet, to send it immediately [3]. It has all been ready for a long time, and I don't understand what's holding things up! I kiss your hands warmly. Yours, P. Tchaikovsky Regards to Sergey Yevgrafovich [4]. |
Notes and References
- ↑ In her letter to Tchaikovsky of 21 April/3 May 1887 Emiliya Pavlovskaya had mentioned that she and her husband would be leaving Saint Petersburg on 8/20 May to go to Ryazan, and afterwards to Kharkov, where she was due to sing in ten performances at the local opera-house. Pavlovskaya's letter has been published in Чайковский на московской сцене (1940), p. 385–386
- ↑ Tchaikovsky did not in fact embark on his journey to the Caucasus until almost a month later. On 9/21 May 1887 he set off from Maydanovo and went to Saint Petersburg. Leaving the imperial capital on 16/28 May, he first headed for Moscow, where he spent three days, before, finally, on 20 May/1 June, boarding a train to Nizhny Novgorod. From there he travelled down the Volga on a steamer, arriving at Astrakhan on 26 May/7 June. After crossing the Caspian Sea on a schooner he disembarked in Baku and there took a train to Tiflis, where he arrived on 30 May/12 June. He stayed there with his brother Anatoly's family until 11/23 June — note by Vasily Kiselev in Чайковский на московской сцене (1940), p. 387
- ↑ In her letter of 21 April/3 May 1887 Pavlovskaya had pointed out that the piano reduction of The Enchantress — made by Tchaikovsky himself and recently published by Jurgenson in Moscow — had not yet arrived in Saint Petersburg. She asked Tchaikovsky to press Jurgenson to dispatch a copy as soon as possible because otherwise she would not have time to study her part. See also Tchaikovsky's Letter 3234 and Letter 3235 to Pyotr Jurgenson, written on the same date.
- ↑ Emiliya Pavlovskaya's husband, Sergey Yevgrafovich Pavlovsky (1846–1915), was also a singer (a baritone) and a member of the Saint Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre's troupe. This note was written on the side of the page.
