Eugen Albrecht

Tchaikovsky Research
Eugen Albrecht (1842-1894)

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:

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

External Links

Notes and References

  1. 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).