Letter 415

Tchaikovsky Research
Date September or October 1875 [1]
Addressed to Sergey Taneyev
Where written Moscow
Language Russian
Autograph Location Moscow: Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (ф. 880)
Publication П. И. Чайковский. С. И. Танеев. Письма (1951), p. 5 ("March–May 1875")
П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том V (1959), p. 416

Text and Translation

Russian text
(original)
English translation
By Luis Sundkvist
Сергей Иванович!

Я тоже болен и сижу дома. Завтра буду в консерватории, спрошу насчёт репетиции и немедленно Вам отвечу. Благодарю за корректуру концерта.

Ваш П. Чайковский

Сколько прибавилось тактов в Вашей Второй симфонии?

I am also ill and am sitting at home. Tomorrow I shall be at the Conservatory: I will ask about the rehearsal and reply to you immediately. Thank you for proof-reading the concerto [2].

Yours P. Tchaikovsky

How many bars has your Second Symphony grown by? [3]

Notes and References

  1. The original letter is undated, but the references to the proofs of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Taneyev's work on his Symphony No. 2 indicate that it was probably written in September or October 1875 (see also Letter 414).
  2. Taneyev proof-read the orchestral parts of the Piano Concerto No. 1, which Pyotr Jurgenson would publish in October that year.
  3. Sergey Taneyev completed the sketches for his Symphony No. 2 in B-flat minor in 1875, but did not start orchestrating it until early 1877. The symphony was never completed or published. The surviving manuscripts contain various comments by Tchaikovsky.