Letter 235 and Bernhard Cossmann: Difference between pages

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{{letterhead
{{picture|file=Bernhard Cossmann.jpg|caption='''Bernhard Cossmann''' (1822-1910)}}
|Date=29 May/10 June 1871
German cellist and composer (b. 17 May 1822 {{NS}} in Dessau; d. 7 May 1910 {{NS}} in [[Frankfurt am Main]]).
|To=[[Mily Balakirev]]
|Place=[[Moscow]]
|Language=Russian
|Autograph=[[Saint Petersburg]] (Russia): {{RUS-SPsc}} (ф. 834, ед. хр. 11, л. 53–55)
|Publication={{bib|1912/19|Переписка М. А. Балакирева и П. И. Чайковского}} [1912], p. 67 <br/>{{bib|1959/50|П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений ; том V}} (1959), p. 235<br/>{{bibx|1962/71|Милий Алексеевич Балакирев. Воспоминания и письма}} (1962), p. 159–160
}}
==Text and Translation==
{{Lettertext
|Language=Russian
|Translator=Luis Sundkvist
|Original text={{right|''29 мая 1871 г[ода]''. Москва}}
{{centre|Добрейший Милий Алексеевич!}}
Сегодня уезжаю на всё лето в Киевскую губернию к сестре; в Петербурге вряд ли скоро буду, и очень грущу, что так долго Вас не видал и не увижу.  


Рубинштейн прошлым летом проездом через Берлин отдал ''Боте и Боку'' мою Увертюру в её первоначальном виде, т. е. с интродукцией в ''E-dur''. В начале осени я уже получил корректуру, но так как в это время у меня уже были сделаны известные Вам поправки, то я написал издателю, что не согласен на выход в свет Увертюры, если он не перепечатает её вновь; он согласился на моё требование без всяких затруднений; я переслал ему исправленные места, и теперь партитура вышла в том самом виде, в каком она имеется у Вас.  
Cossmann taught at the Moscow Conservatory from 1866 to 1870 (where Tchaikovsky was his colleague) before he decided to return to Germany with his family. They had settled first in Baden-Baden, but in 1878 they moved to [[Frankfurt am Main]], where Cossmann became one of the co-founders of the Hoch Conservatory.


Очень рад, что Вы берёте на себя труд пересмотреть аранжировку; потрудитесь переслать её к  Юргенсону, к[ото]рый отправит и переложение г-жи Пургольд, и превосходную аранжировку на 2 фортепьяно в четыре руки, к[ото]рую недавно сделал ''Клиндворт''. Я бы с удовольствием переделал бы ещё что-нибудь, но, во 1-х, после всех аранжировок и напечатания Увертюры оно было бы излишне, а во 2-х, право, не хватает на это сил. Я теперь всей душой предался сочинению оперы «''Опричники''», и не в состоянии был бы отвлечь себя от этой работы для произведения, которое я уже привык считать конченным. Прощайте, милый друг; что-то Вы поделываете, какие у Вас планы, что Вы пишете и располагаете ли давать концерты в будущем сезоне? Вот Вам на всякий случай мой адрес: ''Киевской губернии, Черкасского уезда, в местечко Смелу, а оттуда в Каменку''.
In 1889, while in Frankfurt, the second stop on his itinerary through Germany, Tchaikovsky met the elder Cossmann at rehearsals for his concert, and the composer was invited to dine with his former colleague later that evening. The two men had evidently not met since Cossmann's departure from Russia in 1870. An entry in Tchaikovsky's diary for 2/14 February 1889 reads: "Dinner at Cossmann's. He has aged awfully. Pleasing wife and daughters. [...] Home. Unpleasant realization of failure. At Cossmann's. Supper. Their warmth and kindness" <ref name="note1"/>. The cellist and his wife had also seen Tchaikovsky off on the day of his departure from [[Frankfurt]] on 4/16 February, as he duly recorded in his diary: "With Madame Cossmann to the railroad station. Lunch. Knorr, he and his wife, and old Cossmann" <ref name="note2"/>.
{{right|П. Чайковский}}


|Translated text={{right|''29 May 1871''. [[Moscow]]}}
Shortly after this re-acquaintance, Tchaikovsky corresponded briefly with Cossmann's wife [[Mathilde Cossmann|Mathilde]] (née Hilb), and his two children [[Paul Cossmann|Paul]] (1869-1942) and [[Lulu Cossmann|Lulu]], but no more letters to the cellist himself have so far come to light.
{{centre|Most kind [[Mily Alekseyevich]]!}}
Today I am leaving for [[Kiev]] province to stay with my [[Aleksandra Davydova|sister]] over the whole summer. It's unlikely that I will come to [[Petersburg]] soon, and I am very sad that I haven't and won't be seeing you for a long time.


Last summer, during a stopover in [[Berlin]], [[Nikolay Rubinstein|Rubinstein]] gave my overture to ''[[Bote & Bock]]'' in its original form, that is, with the introduction in ''E major''. By the start of the autumn I had already received the proofs, but since by then I had already made those corrections which you know about, I wrote to the publisher telling him that I did not consent to the overture being issued unless he reprinted it afresh. He agreed to my request without raising any objections. I sent him the corrected passages, and now the score has been published in the same version which you have <ref name="note1"/>.  
==Correspondence with Tchaikovsky==
One letter from Tchaikovsky to Bernhard Cossmann has survived, dating from 1870:
* [[Letter 192a]] – May 1870 (?), from [[Moscow]] (signed with 10 other persons).


I am very glad that you are taking upon yourself the task of going over the arrangement <ref name="note2"/>. Would you be so kind as to send it to [[Jurgenson]], who will forward both Miss [[Purgold]]'s transcription and the magnificent arrangement for two pianos and four hands which was recently made by ''[[Klindworth]]''. I would be glad to revise some more things, but, firstly, it wouldn't make any sense now that these arrangements have been made and the overture has been printed; and, secondly, I really do not have the energy to undertake such revisions <ref name="note3"/>. I have now committed myself with all my soul to the composition of my opera "''[[The Oprichnik|The Oprichniks]]''" <ref name="note4"/> and I would not be able to divert my attention from this project for the sake of a work which I have already grown used to regarding as finished. Goodbye, dear friend. How are you getting on? What plans do you have? What are you writing? Do you intend to give any concerts during the next season? Just in case, here is my address: ''[[Kiev]] province, Cherkasy district, to the town of Smela, and thence to [[Kamenka]]''.
One letter from Cossmann to the composer, dating from 1869, is preserved in the {{RUS-Mcm}} in [[Moscow]] .37-III-121).
{{right|P. Tchaikovsky}}
 
}}
==External Links==
* [[wikipedia:Bernhard_Cossmann|Wikipedia]]
* {{viaf|47519845}}


==Notes and References==
==Notes and References==
<references>
<references>
<ref name="note1">The full score of the overture (later styled 'overture-fantasia') ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' published by the [[Berlin]] firm of [[Bote & Bock]] in 1871 was the second version.</ref>
<ref name="note1">Diary entry for 2/14 February 1889. Here quoted from {{bib|1973/106|The Diaries of Tchaikovsky}} (1973), p. 258.</ref>
<ref name="note2">In his letter to Tchaikovsky of 19/31 May 1871, [[Balakirev]] had written that he would himself go over the piano duet transcription of the ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' overture made by [[Nadezhda Purgold]] before it was sent to Tchaikovsky, who wanted to have her arrangement published by [[Bote & Bock]]. See [[Balakirev]]'s letter in {{bibx|1962/71|Милий Алексеевич Балакирев. Воспоминания и письма}} (1962), p. 159.</ref>  
<ref name="note2">Diary entry for 4/16 February 1889. Here quoted from {{bib|1973/106|The Diaries of Tchaikovsky}} (1973), p. 259.</ref>
<ref name="note3">In his letter of 19/31 May 1871, [[Balakirev]] had expressed his regret that Tchaikovsky (or [[Nikolay Rubinstein]]) had been in such a rush to have the ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' overture published, adding that even the new version did not satisfy him completely: "Although the new introduction is much better, I feel strongly that you need to make further revisions, and not just give it up as a bad job and place your hopes on future compositions". See [[Balakirev]]'s letter in {{bibx|1962/71|Милий Алексеевич Балакирев. Воспоминания и письма}} (1962), p. 159.</ref>
<ref name="note4">''The Oprichniks'' (plural) was the title of [[Ivan Lazhechnikov]]'s story on which Tchaikovsky's opera, ''[[The Oprichnik]]'' (singular), was based.</ref>
</references>
</references>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letter 0235}}
[[Category:People|Cossmann, Bernard]]
[[Category:Correspondents|Cossmann, Bernard]]
[[Category:Cellists|Cossmann, Bernard]]
[[Category:Composers|Cossmann, Bernard]]

Latest revision as of 19:06, 13 August 2023

Bernhard Cossmann (1822-1910)

German cellist and composer (b. 17 May 1822 [N.S.] in Dessau; d. 7 May 1910 [N.S.] in Frankfurt am Main).

Cossmann taught at the Moscow Conservatory from 1866 to 1870 (where Tchaikovsky was his colleague) before he decided to return to Germany with his family. They had settled first in Baden-Baden, but in 1878 they moved to Frankfurt am Main, where Cossmann became one of the co-founders of the Hoch Conservatory.

In 1889, while in Frankfurt, the second stop on his itinerary through Germany, Tchaikovsky met the elder Cossmann at rehearsals for his concert, and the composer was invited to dine with his former colleague later that evening. The two men had evidently not met since Cossmann's departure from Russia in 1870. An entry in Tchaikovsky's diary for 2/14 February 1889 reads: "Dinner at Cossmann's. He has aged awfully. Pleasing wife and daughters. [...] Home. Unpleasant realization of failure. At Cossmann's. Supper. Their warmth and kindness" [1]. The cellist and his wife had also seen Tchaikovsky off on the day of his departure from Frankfurt on 4/16 February, as he duly recorded in his diary: "With Madame Cossmann to the railroad station. Lunch. Knorr, he and his wife, and old Cossmann" [2].

Shortly after this re-acquaintance, Tchaikovsky corresponded briefly with Cossmann's wife Mathilde (née Hilb), and his two children Paul (1869-1942) and Lulu, but no more letters to the cellist himself have so far come to light.

Correspondence with Tchaikovsky

One letter from Tchaikovsky to Bernhard Cossmann has survived, dating from 1870:

One letter from Cossmann to the composer, dating from 1869, is preserved in the Russian National Museum of Music in Moscow (ф.37-III-121).

External Links

Notes and References

  1. Diary entry for 2/14 February 1889. Here quoted from The Diaries of Tchaikovsky (1973), p. 258.
  2. Diary entry for 4/16 February 1889. Here quoted from The Diaries of Tchaikovsky (1973), p. 259.