Letter 2360
| Date | 6/18 October 1883 |
|---|---|
| Addressed to | Anna Merkling |
| Where written | Kamenka |
| Language | Russian |
| Autograph Location | unknown |
| Publication | П. И. Чайковский. С. И. Танеев. Письма (1951), p. 218–219 П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XII (1970), p. 251 |
| Notes | Manuscript copy in Klin (Russia): Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve (signature omitted) |
Text and Translation
Based on a handwritten copy in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin, which may contain differences in formatting and content from Tchaikovsky's original letter.
| Russian text (original) |
English translation By Luis Sundkvist |
6-го октября 1883 г[ода] Уж не знаю, как и оправдываться перед тобой, дорогая Аня, в том, что так долго не писал. Врать не хочется, и потому прямо скажу, — прости, ленился. Впрочем, ленился только на письма, ибо до поту лица всё время работал над своим новым симфоническим произведением, [Suite] [1], которую тороплюсь окончить, дабы можно было исполнять в этом сезоне. Приехал я сюда в начале прошлого месяца, быв не совсем здоровым, ибо последний месяц в Подушкине я почти постоянно страдал лихорадкой. Должно быть, в тамошнем воздухе было что-то неподходящее к моему организму, ибо я почти всё лето недомогал. Здесь тотчас же поправился и с рвением принялся за работу. Я ещё застал Таню, которая хоть и бросила морфин, но была очень плоха здоровьем, и родители решились ещё на время отправить её полечиться и укрепиться за границу. Вера со своим прелестным ребёнком живёт с нами в ожидании конца навигации, после чего она поедет в Севастополь к мужу. Тебе уж вероятно известно, что Анна невеста и что она выходит за известного тебе Николая Мекка. Недавно он приезжал сюда, и мы торжествовали их обручение. Засим из Сашиных детей имеется налицо ещё Юрий. Никогда ещё не случалось жить в Каменке в таком маленьком обществе и в такой тишине. Саша здорова и начинает понемногу отучаться от морфина. В общем течение жизни очень тихое и приятное. Я останусь ещё, вероятно, недель пять. Затем придётся присутствовать на постановке оперы в Москве и в Петербурге, следовательно, зимой буду иметь удовольствие тебя видеть. Мне не нравится, что ты переехала на другую квартиру: где же теперь прикажете мне исполнять моё прощальное па после посещения Вас? На углу Конюшенной и Невского так было удобно! Я постараюсь привезти тебе карточки здешних племянниц и племянников по возможности в полной коллекции. Хорош я! Три года водил тебя за нос статуэтками, и наконец до тебя дошли какие-то щепки. Аня, не заплатила ли ты что-нибудь? Мысль, что я ввёл тебя в расход, мне невыносима Целую ручки. Твой, Петру Ивановичу мой поклон. |
6th October 1883 I really don't know what justification I could give you, dear Anya, for not having written in such a long time. I don't want to lie, so I shall tell you frankly: I was too lazy. Sorry. However, I was too lazy only as far as the writing of letters was concerned, because all this time I have been working by the sweat of my brow on my new symphonic work, [a suite] [1], which I am in a hurry to finish so that it can be performed this season [2]. I arrived here at the start of last month, when I was not quite well, because I had been suffering almost constantly from fever throughout my last month at Podushkino. There must have been something incompatible with my organism in the air at Podushkino, as I was sick almost all summer long. Here, though, I recovered at once and sat down to work furiously. Tanya was still here when I arrived. Although she has given up the morphine, she was still in very poor health and her parents decided to send her abroad again for a while so that she can get some more treatment and regain her strength [3]. Vera is staying with us together with her delightful child. She is waiting until the navigation is closed, and then she will go to Sevastopol to join her husband. You are probably already aware that Anna is engaged to be married to Nikolay Meck (whom you know). He came here recently, and we celebrated their betrothal. The only other of Sasha's children who is here is Yury.
I kiss your hands. Yours, Give my regards to Pyotr Ivanovich [7]. |
Notes and References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 In the copy of this letter made by Modest Tchaikovsky there is an omission here, evidently of the foreign word Suite — note by Vladimir Zhdanov in П. И. Чайковский. С. И. Танеев. Письма (1951), p. 219.
- ↑ Tchaikovsky had begun writing the Suite No. 2 at the end of June 1883, while staying at Podushkino. He completed it on 13/25 October 1883 (as indicated by the date on the manuscript score). The suite was first performed in Moscow on 4/16 February 1884, under the baton of Max Erdmannsdörfer.
- ↑ See letter 2207 to Anna Merkling (24 January/5 February 1883), in which Tchaikovsky explained that his niece Tatyana Davydova ("Tanya") had come to Paris to receive treatment for her morphine addiction. Unbeknown to any of her family, except for her uncle Modest and the composer, she had also given birth in Paris to her illegitimate child — a boy christened Georges-Léon, for whom Tchaikovsky had helped to find a wet-nurse and a French family willing to look after him for the time being.
- ↑ The composer's sister, Aleksandra Davydova, who suffered from severe internal pains, had started injecting morphine a few years earlier to alleviate these, but she had unfortunately developed something of an addiction. Tatyana had picked up this habit from her mother, but she became even more addicted to the drug.
- ↑ Anna Merkling had until then lived in an apartment on Bolshaia Konyushennaia Street, near Nevsky Prospekt, in Saint Petersburg. Quite frequently after visits to his cousin Tchaikovsky would start performing ballet steps at the corner where that street joined Nevsky Prospekt. Anna, who always saw him off from her balcony, would then invariably start gesticulating and crying out in protest — note by Vladimir Zhdanov in П. И. Чайковский. С. И. Танеев. Письма (1951), p. 219. See also Tchaikovsky. The quest for the inner man (1993), p. 57, for other descriptions of how Tchaikovsky liked to impersonate ballerinas, something that he seems to have done all his life.
- ↑ See Letter 1935 to Anna Merkling, 15/27 January 1882, in which Tchaikovsky had promised his cousin that he would bring or send her a replica of a classical statue from Rome. He had subsequently failed to keep this promise, giving rise to a running joke in several of his letters to her. Only now, it seems, had he arranged for a statuette to be delivered to her, but it had evidently been damaged in the post.
- ↑ Pyotr Ivanovich Merkling, Anna's second husband.
