Letter 4719

Date	1/13 July 1892
Addressed to	Emilio Colombo
Where written	Vichy
Language	French and Italian
Autograph Location	Rome (Italy): Private collection
Publication	Новый журнал, Vol. 85 (1966), p. 272–273 П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XVI-Б (1979), p. 124–125 (incomplete)

Text and Translation

The following transcript is based on a photocopy in the Klin House-Museum Archive, in which "[...]" represent Italian words that could not be deciphered by the editors of П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XVI-Б (1979).

French and Italian text (original)

English translation By Brett Langston

13 Juillet [18]92 Caro mio amico Emilio! Ho ricevuto stamattina la Vostra lettera che mi ha [...] molto piacere. Vorrei [...] in italiano per me é troppo difficile per [...] lasciate mi proseguire in francese. Je suis tres touché, mon cher ami, de Votre bon souvenir et de Votre simpathie. Soyez certain, mon cher Emilio, que cela est tout à fait réciproque et que de mon côté j'ai conservé de Votre personne un bien doux et aimable souvenir. Ce qui me fait de la paine c'est que Vous n'ayez pas la possibilité de travailler pour développer Votre grand talent musical, — aussi désirerais-je, comme Vous même, que Vous trouvez le moyen de rester longtemps dans un grand centre musical quelconque pour consacrer tout Votre temps à l'Étude. Je suis depuis trois semaines à Vichy avec mon neveux Bob, que Vous connaissez. Dans trois jours nous partons pour la Russie et nous passerons par Vienne. Quel malheur que nous y serons juste quand Vous aurez quitte cette ville. Mais je me console à l'idée que je Vous reverrai cet hiver à Moscou. Votre ami Sania Litke vient de m'envoyer une lettre; il s'ennuie à Pétersbourg et sera, je l'espere, très content de nous y voire bientôt. Sur ce, je Vous salue, mon bien cher ami, et Vous réitère l'expression de ma gratitude pour Votre bonne et charmante lettre. A rivederci a Mosca! P. Tschaïkovsky E come va la [...] sempre così magro come Pietroburgo? [...].

13 July 1892 My dear friend Emilio! This morning I received your letter which came as [a] most pleasant [surprise?]. I would [reply] in Italian, but it is too difficult for [me], so permit me to continue in French. I am very touched, my dear friend, by your good memories and by your sympathies . Be assured, my dear Emilio, that this is entirely mutual, and for my part I have very sweet and fond memories of you personally. What pains me is that you may not have the opportunity to further develop your great musical talent; I should also like you to find the means to spend a long time in any large centre of music in order to devote all your time to study. I have been three weeks in Vichy with my nephew Bob, whom you know. In three days we leave for Russia and we shall be passing through Vienna. What a pity that we will be there just as you are leaving the city. But I am consoled by the thought that I shall see you this winter in Moscow. Your friend Sanya Litke has just sent me a letter : he misses Petersburg and will, I hope, be happy if we see each other soon. With that, I salute you, my dear friend, and express my gratitude once again for your kind and charming letter. Until we meet in Moscow! P. Tchaikovsky Why is it that the [...] always so scarce compared to Petersburg? [...]