Letter 3816

Tchaikovsky Research
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Date 5/17 March 1889
Addressed to Daniel Rahter
Where written Hannover
Language German
Autograph Location Cambridge (Massachusetts, USA): Harvard University, Harvard College Library
Publication Notes, Vol. 17, No. 4 (1960), p. 557
П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XV-А (1976), p. 72–73
Tschaikowsky-Gesellschaft Mitteilungen, Heft 8 (2001), p. 85

Text and Translation

German text
(original)
English translation
By Luis Sundkvist
Hannover 17/5 März

Geehrter Herr Rahter

Den Verlagsschein von Herrn Schäffer habe ich in Hamburg nicht erhalten. Bitte, schreiben Sie ihm sogleich, er soll ihn nach Paris (14 Rue Richepanse) schicken. Ich bleibe in Paris 15 Tage. Ich bin mit Hamburg sehr zufrieden; die Aufführung war wirklich prächtig und die Aufnahme seite des Publicums eine sehr lebhafte. Die Ihrigen werden ihnen wahrscheinlich schreiben. Ich bin in Hannover für 12 Stunden gekommen um endlich Briefe zu schreiben, da diese ganze Zeit konnte ich es nicht. Hier kennt mich keiner Mensch und ich bin so froh einbischen allein zu bleiben, da es möglich ist dass ich noch einen ganzen Tag bleiben werde. Ich war sehr, sehr froh Ihre liebe Frau, die Kinder und die alte M[ada]me DeLapre zu sehen. Leider konnte ich nach Mittag nur sehr wenig Zeit bleiben, da musste ich eilen nach Ludwigsgarten wo ein Benefiz-Concert von Laube stadtfand. Alle waren wie im vorigen Jahre sehr liebenswürdig gegen mich, und was mir besonders schmeichelhaft war das ist eben dass Brahms einen Tag mehr in Hamburg blieb um die Simpfonie zu hören.

Ich bin trotzalledem aber fürchterlich müde und leide sehr an Heimweh. Auf Wiedersehen, lieber Herr Rahter.

P. Tschaikowsky

Das ist wahr dass alle Verlegern in Deutschland machen mir jetzt die Kur.

Sittard bittet sehr dass Sie ihm Oneguine u[nd] Jungfr[au] v[on] Orleans schicken. Bitte, machen [Sie] das auf meine Kosten.

Hannover 17/5 March

Respected Herr Rahter,

I did not receive the publisher's receipt from Herr Schäffer [1] in Hamburg. Please write to him immediately asking him to send it to Paris (No. 14, Rue Richepanse). I shall stay in Paris for 15 days. I am very satisfied with Hamburg. The performance was truly splendid, and it was received in a very lively way by the audience [2]. Your family will probably write to you about it. I have come to Hannover for twelve hours so as to finally be able to write some letters, since I have not been able to do so all this time. No one knows me here, and I am so glad to be left on my own for a bit that it is quite possible I may stay here one more day. I was very, very glad to see your dear wife, your children, and old M[ada]me De Lapre [3]. Unfortunately, I could only stay for a very short time after our lunch, since I had to rush to the Ludwigsgarten, where a benefit concert by Laube was to take place [4]. Like last year, everyone was very friendly towards me, and what was particularly flattering to me was the fact that Brahms stayed in Hamburg an extra day in order to hear the symphony

Nevertheless, I am terribly tired and suffer greatly from homesickness. Farewell, dear Herr Rahter.

P. Tchaikovsky

Yes, it is true that all publishers in Germany are now courting me.

Sittard would very much like you to send him Onegin and The Maid of Orleans. Please do so at my expense.

Notes and References

  1. Franz Schäffer was the manager of Daniel Rahter's publishing house, where he had worked ever since it was set up. When the firm relocated to Leipzig after Rahter's death (in 1891) and was taken over by his widow, Selma Rahter, Schäffer remained its manager. He continued to occupy a prominent position in the business even after Rahter's son Johann Christian Daniel Rahter became joint owner and head of the firm in 1901. See Tschaikowsky in Hamburg. Eine Dokumentation (2006), p. 216, note 697.
  2. At a Philharmonic Society concert in Hamburg on 3/15 March 1889 Tchaikovsky had conducted the first performance in Germany of his Fifth Symphony.
  3. During his brief stay in Hamburg Tchaikovsky had been invited to have lunch at Rahter's house on 1/13 March. He was welcomed there by the publisher's wife, Selma Rahter (née Winter), and their children: Daniel (1873-1925), Ludwig (b. 1874), Hermine (b. 1877), and Selma (1879-1957). An elderly lady called Madame Laprée was also living with the Rahters, but it is not clear what her relation to the family was. Rahter himself was away on business in Saint Petersburg at the time. See Tschaikowsky in Hamburg. Eine Dokumentation (2006), p. 80, and the accompanying notes.
  4. Laube's benefit concert at the Ludwigsgarten venue on 1/13 March 1889 had featured, among works by Liszt, Berlioz, and Bizet, two movements from the Serenade for String Orchestra: Larghetto elegiaco and Valse. The latter two pieces were received very warmly, and the composer was given an ovation by the audience. See Letter 3818 to Modest Tchaikovsky, 5/17 March 1889. For more details of this concert, see Tschaikowsky in Hamburg. Eine Dokumentation (2006), p. 80.