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	<ref name="note3">At this time Tchaikovsky was correcting the proofs of [[Aleksandr Ziloti]]'s arrangement of the ballet ''[[The Sleeping Beauty]]'' for piano duet, and preparing new editions of the full scores of ''[[The Tempest]]'' and ''[[Yevgeny Onegin]]''.</ref>		<ref name="note3">At this time Tchaikovsky was correcting the proofs of [[Aleksandr Ziloti]]'s arrangement of the ballet ''[[The Sleeping Beauty]]'' for piano duet, and preparing new editions of the full scores of ''[[The Tempest]]'' and ''[[Yevgeny Onegin]]''.</ref>
	<ref name="note4">[[Emma Genton]], the governess to the children of [[Nikolay Kondratyev]] and his wife [[Mariya Kondratyeva\|Mariya]].</ref>		<ref name="note4">[[Emma Genton]], the governess to the children of [[Nikolay Kondratyev]] and his wife [[Mariya Kondratyeva\|Mariya]].</ref>
	<ref name="note5">[[Emma Genton]]'s letter to Tchaikovsky ~~has not survived~~.</ref>		<ref name="note5">Presumably from [[Emma Genton]]'s letter to Tchaikovsky of 14/26 June 1891 — {{RUS-KLč}} at [[Klin]] (a{{sup\|4}}, No. 1189).</ref>
	<ref name="note6">The ''Fliegende Blätter'' (Flying Pages) was a popular German weekly satirical magazine published in [[Munich]] between 1845 and 1944. During the early 1890s its circulation peaked at around 95,000 copies. When abroad Tchaikovsky regularly kept and sent back copies for his nephew.</ref>		<ref name="note6">The ''Fliegende Blätter'' (Flying Pages) was a popular German weekly satirical magazine published in [[Munich]] between 1845 and 1944. During the early 1890s its circulation peaked at around 95,000 copies. When abroad Tchaikovsky regularly kept and sent back copies for his nephew.</ref>
	<ref name="note7">[[Lev Davydov]], widower of the composer's sister [[Aleksandra Davydova\|Aleksandra]].</ref>		<ref name="note7">[[Lev Davydov]], widower of the composer's sister [[Aleksandra Davydova\|Aleksandra]].</ref>
	<ref name="note8">[[Natalya Tchaikovskaya]], daughter of the composer's brother [[Ippolit]], and first cousin to [[Vladimir Davydov]].</ref>		<ref name="note8">[[Natalya Tchaikovskaya]], daughter of the composer's brother [[Ippolit]], and first cousin to [[Vladimir Davydov]].</ref>
	</references>		</references>

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{{letterhead
|Date=25 June/7 July 1891
|To=[[Vladimir Davydov]]
|Place=[[Maydanovo]]
|Language=Russian
|Autograph=[[Klin]] (Russia): {{RUS-KLč}} (a{{sup|3}}, No. 127)
|Publication={{bib|1902/25|Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского ; том 3}} (1902), p. 489–490 (abridged) {{bib|1955/37|П. И. Чайковский. Письма к близким}} (1955), p. 494–495 (abridged) {{bib|1978/54|П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений ; том XVI–А}} (1976), p. 155–156 {{bib|1981/81|Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Letters to his family. An autobiography}} (1981), p. 495 (English translation; abridged)
}}
==Text and Translation==
{{Lettertext
|Language=Russian
|Translator=Brett Langston
|Original text={{right|''25-го июня 1891'' ''г[ород] Клин, Моск[овской] губ[ернии]''}}
Боб! Согласно обещанию, извещаю тебя, что вчера вечером я закончил черновые эскизы ''балета''. Помнишь, когда ты был здесь, я хвастался, что мне осталось каких-нибудь 5 дней работы, чтобы кончить балет. Оказалась, что в 2 недели едва справился. Нет! Старик, очевидно, приходит к упадку. Не только его волосы редеют и седы как снег, не только зубы валятся и отказываются прожёвывать пищу, не только. глаза слабеют и легко утомляются, не только ноги начинают скорее волочиться, чем ходить, — но и самая его единственная способность к какому-нибудь делу слабеет и улетучивается. ''Балет'' бесконечно хуже «''Спящей крас[авицы]''»— это для меня несомненно. Посмотрим, что выйдет из оперы. Если приду к убеждению, что могу за своим музыкальным пиршеством подавать только ''du réchauffe'', то, конечно, брошу писать.

Итак, балет я окончил. Теперь дня три посвящу корректурам разных аранжировок и старых вновь издаваемых партитур, а 28 накануне именин удираю в Петербург, где намерен провести дня три. Вернувшись, засяду за «''Дочь короля Рене''». Увидим, как пойдёт дело.

Веду жизнь по обычному, давно, заведённому порядку. По вечером иногда играю в винт у ''Новиковой'' или у ''M[ada]m Гурко'', очень милой, живущей здесь дамы. Я делаю это потому, что стал очень утомляться по вечером от чтения, в результате коего нередко бывала сильная головная боль, — а без чтения не знаю, как убить время до отхода ко сну. Эта обстоятельства (т. е. головная боль как результат одиночества по вечером) становится серьёзным препятствием для жизни в деревне, вследствие чего я решил уже искать место жительства не в окрестностях Петербурга, а в самом Петербурге. Да и вообще мне кажется всего подходящее основаться в Петербурге навсегда. Уж одно то, что я могу тебя часто видеть, для меня страшно важно.

Очень хочется знать, что ты делаешь. Напиши хоть кратко. Посылаю тебе для забавы две вещи:
:1) вложенную сюда часть письма Эммы, где она сообщает про измену ''Дины''. Я хохотал эта как сумасшедший читая это письма.
:2) Три нумера ''Fliegende Blaetter, которые прошу сохранить и переслать или привезти с собой''. Их посылаю отдельно.
Отца крепко обними за меня. Юрку и Нату тоже. Твой
{{right|П. Чайковский}}
Приехала ли Тася?

|Translated text={{right|''25th June 1891 Town of [[Klin]], [[Moscow]] province''}}
[[Bob]]! As promised, I can report to you that last evening I finished the rough sketches of the ''ballet'' <ref name="note1"/>. Remember when you were here I boasted that I had something like five days left to finish the ballet? It turned out that I only just managed it in 2 weeks. No! The old man is evidently on the wane. Not only is his hair thinning and turning silver as snow, not only are his teeth falling out and refusing to chew food, not only are his eyes weakening and becoming easily tired, not only are his feet starting to drag rather than walk—but his only remaining faculty is starting to fade and disappear. The ''ballet'' is infinitely worse that "''[[The Sleeping Beauty]]''"—of this I'm sure. Let's see how the opera will turn out <ref name="note2"/>. If I come to the conclusion that I can only serve '''du réchauffe'' at my musical banquets, then I shall definitely give up writing.

And so the ballet is finished. I shall now devote three days to correcting various arrangements and old scores that are being republished <ref name="note3"/>, and on the 28th, the eve of my saint's day, I shall get away to [[Petersburg]], where I intend to spend three days. On my return I will set about "''King Rene's Daughter''". We shall see how it goes.

My life is following its well-established routine. In the evenings I sometimes play whist with ''Novikova'' or with ''Madame Gurko'', a very sweet lady who lives here. I do it because reading in the evenings makes me very tired, and I often end up with a bad headache—but without reading I don't know how else to kill the time before retiring to bed. This situation (i.e. bad headaches resulting from solitude in the evening) became a serious obstacle to life in the country, so that I decided to look for a place to live that wasn't in the suburbs of [[Petersburg]], but in the city itself. And on the whole I think it would suit me to be based in [[Petersburg]] permanently. Merely the fact that I could see you more often is terribly important to me.

I would like very much to know what you are doing. Write to me at least briefly. I'm sending you two amusing items:
: 1) the enclosed part of a letter from [[Emma Genton|Emma]] <ref name="note4"/>, where she reports on the betrayal of ''Dinah''. I laughed like a madman reading this letter <ref name="note5"/>.
: 2) three issues of the ''Fliegende Blätter which I ask you to keep safe or bring with you'' <ref name="note6"/>. I'll send them separately.
Hug your father <ref name="note7"/> tightly for me. [[Yurka]] and [[Nata]] too. Yours
{{right|P. Tchaikovsky}}
Did [[Tasya]] <ref name="note8"/> come?
}}

==Notes and References==
<references>
<ref name="note1">The ballet ''[[The Nutcracker]]''.</ref>
<ref name="note2">The opera ''[[Iolanta]]'', based on the story ''King René's Daughter'' by the Danish writer [[Henrik Hertz]] (1798–1870).</ref>
<ref name="note3">At this time Tchaikovsky was correcting the proofs of [[Aleksandr Ziloti]]'s arrangement of the ballet ''[[The Sleeping Beauty]]'' for piano duet, and preparing new editions of the full scores of ''[[The Tempest]]'' and ''[[Yevgeny Onegin]]''.</ref>
<ref name="note4">[[Emma Genton]], the governess to the children of [[Nikolay Kondratyev]] and his wife [[Mariya Kondratyeva|Mariya]].</ref>
<ref name="note5">[[Emma Genton]]'s letter to Tchaikovsky has not survived.</ref>
<ref name="note6">The ''Fliegende Blätter'' (Flying Pages) was a popular German weekly satirical magazine published in [[Munich]] between 1845 and 1944. During the early 1890s its circulation peaked at around 95,000 copies. When abroad Tchaikovsky regularly kept and sent back copies for his nephew.</ref>
<ref name="note7">[[Lev Davydov]], widower of the composer's sister [[Aleksandra Davydova|Aleksandra]].</ref>
<ref name="note8">[[Natalya Tchaikovskaya]], daughter of the composer's brother [[Ippolit]], and first cousin to [[Vladimir Davydov]].</ref>
</references>

Letter 4420 - Revision history

Brett at 07:55, 13 August 2023

Brett: 1 revision imported

Brett: Text replacement - ",—" to ", — "