Anatoly Brandukov
Russian cellist and composer (b, 25 December 1858/6 January 1859 in Moscow; d. 16 February 1930 in Moscow), born Anatoly Andreyevich Brandukov (Анатолий Андреевич Брандуков).
Brandukov studied at the Moscow Conservatory in the cello class of Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, and in Tchaikovsky's harmony and instrumentation classes. After graduating in 1877 he lived largely in Switzerland and France, while continuing to give concerts in Russia.
A close friend of Tchaikovsky, the composer greatly admired Brandukov's abilities as a performer, and wanted him to succeed Fitzenhagen as professor of cello studies at the Moscow Conservatory when the latter died in 1890. Brandukov was a great exponent of Tchaikovsky's cello works, and was the first to play his Pezzo capriccioso, Op. 62 (1887), which was dedicated to him. In the late 1880s the composer also made special arrangements of the Andante cantabile from his String Quartet No. 1, and the Nocturne — No. 4 of the Six Pieces, Op. 19 — for Brandukov to performed as soloist in their joint concerts.
In 1906, Brandukov was appointed professor and director of the Moscow Philharmonic School of Music and Drama, and he became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory in 1921. Brandukov also composed a number of his own cello pieces, the manuscripts of which are preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin.
Dedications
- In 1887, Tchaikovsky dedicated his Pezzo capriccioso for cello and orchestra, Op. 62 (1887), "à mon cher ami Anatole Brandoukoff".
Correspondence with Tchaikovsky
17 letters from Tchaikovsky to Anatoly Brandukov have survived, dating from 1886 to 1893, all of which have been translated into English on this website:
- Letter 2967 – 6/18 June 1886, from Paris
- Letter 2972 – 12/24 June 1886, from Paris
- Letter 2997 – 8/20 July 1886, from Maydanovo
- Letter 3009 – 20 July/1 August 1886, from Maydanovo
- Letter 3029 – 16/28 August 1886, from Maydanovo
- Letter 3032 – 20 August/1 September 1886, from Maydanovo
- Letter 3186 – 18 February/2 March 1887, from Maydanovo
- Letter 3310 – 4/16 August 1887, from Paris
- Letter 3317 – 13/25 August 1887, from Aachen
- Letter 3329 – 26 August/7 September 1887, from Berlin
- Letter 3546 – 13/25 April 1888, from Tiflis
- Letter 3851 – 10/22 May 1889, from Moscow
- Letter 3933 – 12/24 September 1889, from Moscow
- Letter 3960 – 16/28 October 1889, from Moscow
- Letter 4892 – 18/30 March 1893, from Moscow
- Letter 5050 – 27 September/9 October 1893, from Klin
- Letter 5056 – 5/17 October 1893, from Klin
6 letters from Brandukov to the composer, dating from 1885 to 1893, are preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a4, Nos. 308–313).
