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| Between November 1886 and October 1887 Tchaikovsky considered '''''Undina''''' (Ундина) as a possible subject for a ballet ([[TH]] 226 ; [[ČW]] 455). In 1869 he had already written [[Undina|an opera]] based on [[Vasily Zhukovsky]]'s story <ref name="note1"/>, which had been rejected by the Imperial Theatres, and in 1878 he had also briefly considered writing a [[Undina (projected opera)|new opera]] with a fresh libretto by his brother [[Modest]], although this idea came to nothing.
| | Yelena Glazunova (1846-1925) |
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| On 8/20 November 1886, Tchaikovsky was about to return home from a visit to [[Saint Petersburg]]. "Everything was already packed to leave," he noted in his diary, "when I found a letter from [[Vsevolozhsky]] with an invitation for Sunday to discuss a ballet. This sent me into despair, but I decided to stay and made arrangements accordingly. I dashed off to see [[Vsevolozhsky]]. [[Petipa]] and Frolov were also there, and we immediately began discussions. Turned down ''Salammbô'' and ''Undina"'' <ref name="note2"/>. However, two days later the composer told his publisher that "The Director of the Imperial Theatres in [[Saint Petersburg]] has commissioned me to write the music to a ballet ''Undina'' for the next season" <ref name="note3"/>.
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| The composer also approached his brother [[Modest]] to provide the libretto for the ballet: "With you writing the scenario, in consultation with [[Petipa]] and [[Vsevolozhsky]], and ''Undina'' being so sympathetic to me, I think that I should without any difficulty be able to write the music by December. After all, this isn't an opera", he wrote on 14/26 November <ref name="note4"/>.
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| By 25 December 1886/6 January 1887 the scenario for the ballet was still not finalised, and Tchaikovsky wrote to [[Ivan Vsevolozhsky]] to ask for a postponement: "Do not think that I lack the desire to write the music for ''Undina''. But I need sufficient leisure and strength to do it well, for it is not merely a question of concocting some sort of commonplace ballet music; it is my ambition for it to be a masterpiece of the genre, but for this all I need is time" <ref name="note5"/>. [[Vsevolozhsky]] agreed to the delay: "Do not hurry, and bless us with a masterpiece", he wrote, "''Undina'' should not be a fleeting apparition. Like ''Giselle'' and ''Coppelia'', it should endure in the repertoire, and enchant our grandchildren as it enchants us" <ref name="note6"/>.
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| During 1886 or 1887, Tchaikovsky noted down some themes, headed "for the ballet", which most probably relate to ''Undina''.
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| [[Modest Tchaikovsky]]'s diary indicates that he worked on the libretto for the ballet throughout most of 1887, and that he met with [[Ivan Vsevolozhsky]] to review it on 15 October 1887. However, the libretto "was not approved by the ballet master M. [[Petipa]], nor by the composer himself" <ref name="note7"/>, and the project was abandoned <ref name="note8"/>.
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| ==Notes and References==
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| <references>
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| <ref name="note1">[[Zhukovsky]]'s story was itself a translation of the novel ''Undine'' (1811) by [[Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué]] (1777–1843).</ref>
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| <ref name="note2">{{bib|1923/23|Дневники П. И. Чайковского}} (1923), p. 110.</ref>
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| <ref name="note3">[[Letter 3094]] to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 10/22 November 1886.</ref>
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| <ref name="note4">[[Letter 3103]] to [[Modest Tchaikovsky]], 14/26 November 1886.</ref>
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| <ref name="note5">[[Letter 3130]] to [[Ivan Vsevolozhsky]], 25 December 1886/6 January 1887.</ref>
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| <ref name="note6">Quoted in {{bib|1940/236|Чайковский на московской сцене}} (1940), p. 165.</ref>
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| <ref name="note7">{{bib|1902/25|Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского ; том 3}} (1902), p. 288.</ref>
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| <ref name="note8">See {{bib|2002/22|The Tchaikovsky Handbook ; vol. 1}} (2002), p. 408–409.</ref>
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| </references>
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| [[Category:Projected Works]]
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| [[Category:Ballets]]
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