Eugen Albrecht
Russian violinist, teacher and administrator (b. 4/16 July 1842 in Saint Petersburg; d. 28 January/9 February 1894 in Saint Petersburg), born Eugen Maria Albrecht, but known in Russia as Yevgeny Karlovich Albrekht (Евгений Карлович Альбрехт).
Eugen was the son of the German conductor and composer Karl Albrecht (1807–1863), and brother to the cellist Karl Albrecht (1836–1893). In 1838, the Albrecht family moved from Düsseldorf to Saint Petersburg, where they became naturalised Russian citizens.
In 1857, Eugen enrolled at the Leipzig Conservatory, where he studied the violin under Ferdinand David, and following his graduation he became a violinist in the orchestra of the Italian Opera in Saint Petersburg. In 1872, he founded the Chamber Music Society in the Russian capital, and performed actively with both them and with the Russian Musical Society's quartet. He was also chairman of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Society from 1881 until 1886, and composed numerous small chamber pieces and songs. As well as serving as a violin tutor to members of the Russian Imperial Family, he worked extensively in the wider field of music education, and served as inspector of music in the Saint Petersburg theatres from 1877, and as the librarian of the Central Music Library from 1892.
Correspondence with Tchaikovsky
13 letters from Tchaikovsky to Eugen Albrecht have survived, dating from 1880 to 1892, all of which have been translated into English on this website:
- Letter 1457a – 22 March/3 April 1880, from Saint Petersburg
- Letter 1461 – 28 March/9 April 1880, from Saint Petersburg
- Letter 3065 – 5/17 October 1886, from Maydanovo
- Letter 3066 – 5/17 October 1886, from Moscow
- Letter 3083 – 4/16 November 1886, from Saint Petersburg
- Letter 4173 – 14/26 July 1890, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 4187 – 2/14 August 1890, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 4295 – 7/19 January 1891, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 4461 – 2/14 September 1891, from Maydanovo
- Letter 4462 – 2/14 September 1891, from Maydanovo
- Letter 4624 – 20 February/3 March 1892, from Moscow
- Letter 4673 – 25 April/7 May 1892, from Moscow
- Letter 4795 – 4/16 November 1892, from Saint Petersburg
14 letters from Eugen Albrecht to the composer, dating from 1886 to 1892, have been preserved the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a4, Nos. 26–39)[1].
Bibliography
- [Letter to Eugen Albrecht] (1886)
- Хронограф жизни П. И. Чайковского и важнейших актов его творчества (1922)
- Нотные автографы и неизданные письма П. И. Чайковского (1941)
- П. И. Чайковский и Санкт-Петербургское общество камерной музыки (2013)
External Links
Notes and References
- ↑ All the aforementioned letters between the composer and Albrecht have been published in П. И. Чайковский и Санкт-Петербургское общество камерной музыки (2013). The Klin archive also holds another letter from Albrecht to the conductor Eduard Nápravník, dating from 8/20 April 1893, which includes a postscript addressed to Tchaikovsky (a4, No. 3091).
