Letter 4163: Difference between revisions
m (1 revision imported) |
|||
Line 47: | Line 47: | ||
The arrangement of "''[[Vakula]]''" for 2 hands, alas, must be foresaken. | The arrangement of "''[[Vakula]]''" for 2 hands, alas, must be foresaken. | ||
It's a great shame, but one thing I can say in consolation is that I am convinced that "''[[Cherevichki]]''" has a future as a | It's a great shame, but one thing I can say in consolation is that I am convinced that "''[[Cherevichki]]''" has a future as a repertoire opera, and musically I consider it to be one of my best operas. | ||
Saint Peter's day wasn't actually a carousal. To tell the truth, it was tedious. On Thursday I'll come to you one way or another from [[Moscow]], where I have business. I'll aim for the ''Straw Lodge'' and look for No. 16 <ref name="note2"/>. | Saint Peter's day wasn't actually a carousal. To tell the truth, it was tedious. On Thursday I'll come to you one way or another from [[Moscow]], where I have business. I'll aim for the ''Straw Lodge'' and look for No. 16 <ref name="note2"/>. | ||
Line 57: | Line 57: | ||
Are you be inviting Arensky on the ''5th''. | Are you be inviting Arensky on the ''5th''. | ||
}} | }} | ||
==Notes and References== | ==Notes and References== | ||
<references> | <references> |
Latest revision as of 10:40, 14 April 2023
Date | 2/14 July 1890 |
---|---|
Addressed to | Pyotr Jurgenson |
Where written | Frolovskoye |
Language | Russian |
Autograph Location | Klin (Russia): Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve (a3, No. 2706) |
Publication | Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского, том 3 (1902), p. 378 (abridged) П. И. Чайковский. Переписка с П. И. Юргенсоном, том 2 (1952), p. 171 П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XV-Б (1977), p. 197 |
Text and Translation
Russian text (original) |
English translation By Brett Langston |
2-го июля Милый друг!
Рукопись кантаты в консерватории в Петербурге. Печатать её я не желаю, ибо это юношеское произведение без будущности; к тому же ведь она на текст «К радости» Шиллера. Соперничать с Бетховеном неловко. «Кузнеца Вакулу» давно бы следовало уничтожить. Отдельные же нумера продавать, конечно, можно, но таковых, совсем не изменённых, очень немного.
Вот и все. Все остальные, в том числе и увертюра, изменены. Переложение «Вакулы» в 2 руки — увы — надо бросить. Очень жаль, но одно могу сказать в твоё утешение, это что в судьбу «Черевичек» как репертуарной оперы я безусловно верю и считаю её по музыке едва ли не самой лучшей моей оперой... В Петров день кутежа настоящего не было. По правде сказать, было скучновато. В четверг я приеду или приду к тебе из Москвы, где у меня дело есть. Буду стремиться к Соломенной сторожке и искать № 16. Твой П. Чайковский Энгельмейера я не забыл. Отчего не получаю корректуры «Гамлета»?? * Был у меня вчера Аренский; показывал задачник. Составлен превосходно и к учебнику моему вполне подходит. Советую приобрести. Не пригласишь ли Аренского 5-го. |
2nd July Dear friend!
The manuscript of the cantata is in the Petersburg conservatory [1]. I don't want to print it, because it's an immature work with no future; what's more, it's on the text of Schiller's "Ode to Joy". Comparisons with Beethoven would be embarrassing. "Vakula the Smith" ought to have been destroyed long ago. Of course individual numbers could be sold, but very few of these have remained unchanged.
That is all. Everything else was altered, including the overture. The arrangement of "Vakula" for 2 hands, alas, must be foresaken. It's a great shame, but one thing I can say in consolation is that I am convinced that "Cherevichki" has a future as a repertoire opera, and musically I consider it to be one of my best operas. Saint Peter's day wasn't actually a carousal. To tell the truth, it was tedious. On Thursday I'll come to you one way or another from Moscow, where I have business. I'll aim for the Straw Lodge and look for No. 16 [2]. Yours P. Tchaikovsky I haven't forgotten Engelmeyer [3]. Why haven't I received the proofs of "Hamlet"?? I was with Arensky yesterday. He showed me the exercise book [4]. It is impeccably compiled and entirely suited to my guide. I advise you to purchase it. Are you be inviting Arensky on the 5th. |
Notes and References
- ↑ In a letter to Tchaikovsky dated 30 June/12 July 1890, Pyotr Jurgenson had asked about the whereabouts of the composer's student cantata Ode to Joy, and also whether any fragments survived from the opera Vakula the Smith which hadn't been revised in Cherevichki.
- ↑ Jurgenson had invited the composer to his birthday celebrations on 5/17 July at a dacha near the historical Moscow landmark of the "Straw Lodge".
- ↑ Pyotr Klimetyevich Engelmeyer (1855-ca.1942), is predominantly remembered as a Russian engineer and author, but he was also an amateur composer whose romances Tchaikovsky had recently reviewed on Jurgenson's behalf.
- ↑ Anton Arensky's 1000 Collected Exercises for the Study of Harmony was eventually published by Jurgenson in 1897.