Hapsal
Haapsalu is a seaside resort town on the west coast of Estonia, and the capital of the county of Lääne (Läänemaa).
During Tchaikovsky's lifetime it was known as Hapsal (Гапсаль), and was part of the Hapsal district (Гапсальский уезд) in the Estonian province (Эстляндская губерния) of the Russian Empire.
Tchaikovsky in Hapsal
Tchaikovsky stayed at Hapsal on a family holiday from early/mid-June to 14/26 August 1867, during which he wrote the cycle of piano pieces called Souvenir de Hapsal, and worked on his first opera, The Voyevoda.
In 1940, a memorial stone bench was unveiled on the Chocolate Promenade (Šokolaadi Promenaad) to commemorate Tchaikovsky's visit to the town in his birth centenary year. The location of the bench is said to have been the composer's favourite spot to admire the sunset in 1867 when he spent his summer in Haapsalu.
Bibliography
- Памятник П. И. Чайковскому в Хапсалу (1940)
- Памятник Чайковскому в Хапсалу (1940)
- Памятник-скамья П. И. Чайковскому (1946)
- Чайковский в Эстонии (1958)
- Скамейка на берегу моря (1960)
- П. И. Чайковский в Эстоний (1975)
- Памяти великого композитора (1978)
