Osip Jurgenson
Russian music retailer, and older brother of Pyotr Jurgenson (b. 1829 at Emnaste; d. 17/30 April 1910 in Saint Petersburg, born Osip Ivanovich Yurgenson (Осип Иванович Юргенсон), also known as Iosif Ivanovich Jurgenson (Иосиф Иванович Юргенсон).
The son of Jögen Kirs Jurgenson, the captain of a fishing vessel, and his wife Aeta, Osip Jurgenson was born and educated in Reval (now Tallinn, Estonia). After leaving school at the age of 14 he moved to Saint Petersburg, where he worked for the music publishers F. T. Stellovsky and N. M. Bernard. In 1871, he opened his own music store in the Russian capital, which eventually took over Stellovsky's firm. He also acted as an agent for his brother Pyotr.
Tchaikovsky knew Osip and his family well, and often called on them while he was staying in Saint Petersburg. His piano piece Mazurque pour danser — No. 6 of the Eighteen Pieces, Op. 72 (1893) — is dedicated to Osip's daughter Luiza, and the composer also corresponded with Osip's son Aleksandr.
Correspondence with Tchaikovsky
12 letters from Tchaikovsky to Osip Jurgenson have survived, dating from 1889 to 1893, of which those highlighted in bold have been translated into English on this website:
- Letter 3901 – 9/21 July 1889, from Moscow
- Letter 3995 – 2/14 January 1890, from Saint Petersburg
- Letter 4023 – 2/14 February 1890, from Florence
- Letter 4258 – 19 November/1 December 1890, from Saint Petersburg
- Letter 4263a – November or December 1890 (?), from Saint Petersburg
- Letter 4264a – 3/15 December 1890, from Saint Petersburg
- Letter 4576 – 14/26 December 1891, from Maydanovo
- Letter 4597a – 10/22 January 1892, from Paris
- Letter 4612a – 2/14 February 1892, from Maydanovo
- Letter 4689 – 13/25 May 1892, from Klin (to Osip Jurgenson or Pyotr Jurgenson)
- Letter 4819b – early/mid-December 1892, from Saint Petersburg
- Letter 4930a – 12/24 May 1893, from Saint Petersburg
14 letters from Osip Jurgenson to the composer, dating from 1882 to 1892, are preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a4, Nos. 6047–6060).
