Letter 665a
| Date | 30 November/12 December 1877 |
|---|---|
| Addressed to | [unidentified male] [1] |
| Where written | Vienna |
| Language | German (opening salutation in Russian; postscript partly in French) [2] |
| Autograph Location | unknown [3] |
| Publication | Tschaikowsky-Gesellschaft Mitteilungen, Heft 8 (2001), p. 7 (extracts only) [4] |
Text and Translation
| German text (original) |
English translation By Luis Sundkvist and Brett Langston |
Вена 12 декабря 1877 Добрейший Юрий Яковлевич!
Es ist sehr traurig, dass ich Sie nicht in Wien gesehen habe und danke Ihnen herzlich für die freundliche Zeilen die Sie mir geschrieben haben. Ich war die ganze Zeit krank und habe niemand gesehen. Morgen fahre ich nach Venedig, wo ich einige Wochen [zu] bleiben beabsichtige. Lassen Sie mich Ihr Hand, freundlich drücken und vergeben Sie micht ihren, P. Tchaïkovsky Grâce und pardon für meine abscheuliche deutsche Sprache. |
Vienna 12 December 1877 Most kind Yury Yakovlevich!
It is very sad that I did not see you in Vienna, and I thank you cordially for the friendly lines that you wrote to me. I have been ill the whole time and have seen no-one. Tomorrow I am travelling to Venice where I intend to stay for a few weeks. Permit me to shake your hand warmly, and forgive me, your P. Tchaikovsky Apologies and forgiveness for my atrocious German. |
Notes and References
- ↑ Only the name and patronymic of the addressee are given in the Stargardt auction catalogue: Yury Yakovlevich ("Jury Jakowlewitsch").
- ↑ Judging from the name and patronymic as well as from the opening salutation, the addressee seems to have been a Russian. The fact that Tchaikovsky wrote to him in German is very likely, as Valery Sokolov has suggested, due to the fact that the composer did not wish his curious servant, Aleksey Sofronov, to be able to read the letter before delivering it to its recipient.
- ↑ The autograph was advertised for auction on 28 March 2023 in Berlin by Stargardt Autographenhandlung [1]. It had previously been auctioned on 21-22 June 1972 in Marburg by J. A. Stargardt (see J. A. Stargardt, Autographen aus allen Gebieten. Katalog Nr. 599 (Marburg, 1972), item no. 803).
- ↑ Based on the extracts and partial facsimile published in: J. A. Stargardt, Autographen aus allen Gebieten. Katalog Nr. 599 (Marburg, 1972), item no. 803.
