Flute Concerto
After the composer's death on 25 October/6 November 1893, some very short sketches relating to a work for flute and orchestra were found among his manuscripts, which are believed to relate to a projected Flute Concerto (TH 247 ; ČW 472).
On 20 June/2 July 1888, Tchaikovsky wrote to Léonce Détroyat about his future plans: "I have promised to write concertos for piano, violin, cello, flute, etc. for various renowned artists (among these two from Paris: Diémer and Taffanel)" [1]. However, none of these projects was realised within the next five years.
On 7/19 October 1893, Tchaikovsky told the cellist Yulian Poplavsky that "during October he expected to write a concerto for flute which he had already conceived (he intended it for Taffanel, the well-known Parisian virtuoso)" [2].
The sketches consist of two themes in C major (2 and 3 bars), with the heading "Concertstück for fl[ute]" (Concertstück для фд.) [3]. They are preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a1, No. 137).
Notes and References
- ↑ Letter 3598a to Léonce Détroyat, 20 June/2 July 1888.
- ↑ Quoted in Alexander Poznansky, Tchaikovsky's last days. A documentary study (1995), p. 39.
- ↑ The sketches were published in facsimile in Polina Vaidman, Творческий архив П. И. Чайковского (1989), p. 131.
