Letter 4606

Tchaikovsky Research
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Date 28 January/9 February 1892
Addressed to Pyotr Jurgenson
Where written Maydanovo
Language Russian
Autograph Location Klin (Russia): Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve (a3, No. 2789)
Publication П. И. Чайковский. Переписка с П. И. Юргенсоном, том 2 (1952), p. 231
П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XVI-Б (1979), p. 28–29

Text and Translation

Russian text
(original)
English translation
By Brett Langston
28 янв[аря 18]92 г[ода]

Милый друг!

Только что приехал домой. Ожидал от тебя письма с интересующими меня известиями, — но такового не нашлось. Впрочем, может быть, получу сегодня. Имею сказать тебе кое-что.

1) Едучи в Гамбург, я захватил у Зенневальда экземпляр «Евг[ения] Он[егина]», дабы приготовиться к дирижированию. Просматривая его, я нашел, к своему удивлению, массу всяческих ошибок. Между тем это новое издание, ибо там имеется экосез. Так как в новой партитуре теперь выставлены метрономы, то желательно, чтобы таковые были в клавираусцуге. Нельзя ли вообще приготовить новое издание его с исправлением ошибок и с метрономами?

2) Кончил ли Танеев переложение «Иоланты»? Нельзя ли начать гравировать?

3) 7-го марта я буду дирижировать в Петербурге сюитой из нового балета. В ней очень важную роль будет играть Celesta. Поэтому нельзя ли его препроводить в Петербург и поручить кому-нибудь настроить инструмент согласно с петербургским камертоном? Помнится, ты говорил, что это возможно.

4) Получил ли ты секстет? Прости, тебя что я вытребовал у ты за 400 рублей. Не знаю, получил ли за «Пиковую даму» деньги с театра? Если не ошибаюсь, придётся получить порядочную сумму, в Петербурге тоже. Если не получил, — то тем лучше, зараз после масленицы получим хороший куш.

Дома в Клину не покупаю, а, вероятно, буду строить на хорошем месте и с рассрочкой.

Принимаюсь за инструментовку тех нумеров балета, которые войдут в сюиту, а потом и за остальное. Думаю, что к лету кончу.

До свиданья. В скором времени побываю в Москве, ибо многое нужно переговорить с тобой, Танеевым и т. д.

Твой П. Чайковский

28 January 1892

Dear friend!

I've just arrived home. I had been anticipating a letter from you with interesting news — but found no such thing. However, perhaps it will come today. I have some things to tell you:

1) On my way to Hamburg, I grabbed a copy of Yevgeny Onegin by Sennewald, in order to prepare for my conducting [1]. Looking through it I found, to my surprise, all sorts of numerous errors. This has to be a new edition, mind you, because it had the ecossaise [2]. Since the new full score now has metronome marks included, it is desirable to have the same in the piano reduction. Is it possible at all to prepare a new edition of it with the errors corrected and with the metronome marks?

2) Has Taneyev finished the arrangement of "Iolanta"? Could the engraving be started? [3]

3) On 7 March I will be conducting in Petersburg the suite from the new ballet. It has a very important role played by the Celesta. Therefore, could it be sent to Petersburg and entrusted to someone who can adjust the instrument in accordance with Petersburg tuning? I recall that you said this was possible.

4) Did you receive the sextet? Forgive me for charging you 400 rubles for it. I don't know whether you have received money from the theatre for The Queen of Spades? If I'm not mistaken, you should be due a respectable amount, from Petersburg too. If you haven't received it yet then so much the better, — you should be in for a windfall after Lent.

I'm not buying a house at Klin, and will probably build a good place in instalments.

I'm starting with the orchestration of those numbers from the ballet which will go into the suite, and will then do the rest [4]. I think it will be finished by the summer.

Until we meet. In the near future I'll be visiting Moscow, because there's much to discuss with you, Taneyev, etc.

Yours P. Tchaikovsky

Notes and References

  1. G. Sennewald was Jurgenson's agent for Tchaikovsky's music in Warsaw, where the composer had visited from 28 December 1891/9 January 1892 to 3/15 January 1892. Presumably he obtained the edition there en route to Hamburg, where he had been asked to conduct a performance of the opera, although this was eventually premiered at the city's opera theatre under Gustav Mahler's direction on 7/19 January 1892.
  2. The Ecossaise had been inserted into Act III of Yevgeny Onegin in 1884, and appeared in the vocal-piano reduction published by Jurgenson in 1891.
  3. Sergey Taneyev's arrangement of the vocal-piano reduction of the opera Iolanta was completed at the end of January/beginning of February 1892, and published by Jurgenson in April the same year. Tchaikovsky had asked the same question in Letter 4604 to Jurgenson, 25 January/6 February 1892.
  4. Tchaikovsky was orchestrating eight numbers to create a Suite from the ballet The Nutcracker, which he was to conduct at the ninth symphony concert of the Saint Petersburg branch of the Russian Musical Society on 7/19 March 1892. The completed full score of the ballet is dated 23 March/4 April 1892.