Davos
Davos is a municipality and health resort in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland.
Tchaikovsky in Davos
Tchaikovsky stayed at the Holsboer Spa Hotel in Davos from 11/23 November to 17/29 November 1884, in order to see his friend Iosif Kotek, who was gravely ill with tuberculosis, and the Cherubim's Song (No. 3 of the Nine Church Pieces) was composed here.
"In general, I find this Davos a very unappealing place", he wrote the day after his arrival, "although I cannot help admiring its splendid curative properties. These are simply astonishing. Wonders are told of the effect on a sick chest of this pure mountain air, which as a result of the high altitude is breathed in easily and comfortably by the patients. Today there is a hard frost, yet this whole multitude of consumptive patients are all out of doors, and, what is more, not at all wrapped up—some of them are even without overcoats. However, for a healthy person it is unpleasant to live here. At any rate, there is no way I can overcome this feeling of terror and secret anguish that I have" [1].
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Notes and References
- ↑ Letter 2590 to Anna Merkling, 12/24 November 1884.
