Letter 1837 and Berlin: Difference between pages

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{{letterhead
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|Date=1931 August 1881
|To=[[Pyotr Jurgenson]]
|Place=[[Kamenka]]
|Language=Russian
|Autograph=[[Klin]] (Russia): {{RUS-KLč}} (a{{sup|3}}, No. 2346)
|Publication={{bib|1938/40|П. И. Чайковский. Переписка с П. И. Юргенсоном ; том 1}} (1938), p. 205–206<br/>{{bib|1966/44|П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений ; том X}} (1966), p. 200–201
}}
==Text and Translation==
{{Lettertext
|Language=Russian
|Translator=Brett Langston
|Original text={{right|''Каменка''<br/>19 авг[уста]}}
Душа моя! Я никогда не говорил, подобно Бахметьеву, что Бортнянск[ий] ''полнейшая бездарность'', или, если сказал, то сдуру, под впечатлением скуки, производимой ''большой массой'' его сочинений. Бортнянский был ''талант'', но очень второстепенный, неспособный пролагать новые хотя бы тропинки. Он был музыкант отличный и превосходно владевший техникой, и потому, если ты и не оказываешь искусству большой услуги, издавая его полн[ое] собр[ание], то и постыдного ничего не делаешь. Для меня же он стал ненавистен не потому, чтобы то, что он писал, было ''скверно'', а потому, что он был плодовитая посредственность, в океане творений которой нет ни единого действительно живого местечка; все это гладко, чисто, мило, но однообразно и бедно, как степь Херсонской губернии. Итак, перестанем говорить о Бортнянском, а лучше поскорее примёмся за него, чтобы поскорее и отделаться.


Ты весьма ошибаешься, думая, что следует бросить ''ветхозаветные ключи'' писать все в chiave di sol. Долго и скучно давать тебе технические изъяснения, но скажу тебе, что нет ничего разумнее и логичнее, как эти ветхозаветные ключи, и если б их не было, то следовало бы их выдумать, особенно для вокальной музыки. Начать перелагать на chiave di sol то, что прежде было писано ветхозаветными ключами, было бы так же глупо, как, напр[имер], для ''альта'' в струнном квартете изменить давно установившийся способ писать в альтовом ключе. Другое дело светское вокальное сочинение, как ''опера''; она будет издана для массы публики, не знающей ключей, и можно эту публику, окупающую стоимость издания, побаловать. Но те, которые имеют дела с ''Бортнянским'', знают ключи; а те, кто не имеет настоящего ''дела'', а лишь забавляется, должны довольствоваться тут же находящимся переложением.
'''''Berlin''''' is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany.  


Ещё, в последний раз возвращаясь к ''Бортн[янскому]'', замечу, как велика разница между крупным талантам и посредственностью. ''Глинка'', подобно Бортн[янскому], учился у басурманов и тоже почти рабски подражал их ''формам'', но только формам. Внутренний же дух его творений, содержание его музыки совершенно самобытное. Бортнянский писал бесхарактерные ''мотетики'' под русский текст; Глинка же написал действительно ''русские'' оперы и создал совершенно новую, если не школу то хоть ''школочку'' музыки, к сфере которой и аз принадлежу и есмь порождение Глинки.  
In Tchaikovsky's lifetime it was the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia and (from 1871), of the newly founded German Empire, where it formed part of the province of Brandenburg, until it was constituted a separate city district in 1881.


Спасибо за балет, но я не могу очень скоро возвратить его. Дай срок.
<br clear="all"/>
{{right|Твой П. Чайковский}}
__TOC__
Надеюсь в начале сент[ября] побывать в Москве.
==Tchaikovsky in Berlin==
Tchaikovsky visited Berlin on many occasions:


|Translated text={{right|''[[Kamenka]]''<br/>19 August}}
{| class="wikitable"
My dear chap! I have never said, as Bakhmetyev did, that [[Bortnyansky]] is an ''absolute mediocrity'', or if I did then it was said stupidly, under the influence of the tedium that the ''great majority'' of his works produce. [[Bortnyansky]] did have ''talent'', but it was very second rate, incapable even of taking new paths. He was a splendid musician and possessed an excellent technique, and therefore, even if you're not rendering a great artistic service by publishing his complete collection, then you aren't doing anything disreputable either. Yet I came to loathe him not because what he wrote was ''bad'', but because he was a prolific mediocrity, and amongst the ocean of his creations there is not a single thing is truly alive; it's all polished, clean and nice, but monotonous and bare, like the steppes in Kherson province. So, let us speak no more about [[Bortnyansky]], or rather, better to deal with him as soon as possible, in order to be rid of him as soon as possible.
|-
! width=20%|From
! width=20%|Until
! width=60%|Notes
|-
| 6/18 July 1861
| 9/21 July 1861
| As part of his first journey outside Russia.
|-
| June 1868
| June 1868
| During a summer holiday Tchaikovsky visited the Tiergarten zoo, and reportedly burst into tears when he saw a boa constrictor devouring a live rabbit that had been placed in its cage <ref name="note1"/>.
|-
| mid/late December 1871
| early/mid January 1872
| During his Christmas break.
|-
| late December 1875
| early January 1876
| When he attended a performance of Jules Verne's ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' at the Berlin Theatre, with [[Modest Tchaikovsky]] and [[Nikolay Konradi]].
|-
| 11/23 January 1876
| 15/27 January 1876
| On his return home from [[Paris]].
|-
| 4/16 October 1877
| 7/19 October 1877
| Staying at the ''Hôtel Saint Petersburg'', with his brother [[Anatoly Tchaikovsky|Anatoly]].
|-
| 2/14 March 1879
| 7/19 March 1879
| Where he heard a string orchestra play the Andante cantabile from his [[String Quartet No. 1]] at the Bilse concert Hall
|-
| 11/23 November 1879
| 13/25 November 1879
| For a performance of [[Ambroise Thomas]]'s opera ''Hamlet''.
|-
| 3/15 March 1880
| 7/19 March 1880
| Stopping on his return to [[Saint Petersburg]].
|-
| 29 December 1882/10 January 1883
| 2/14 January 1883
| Where he attended a performance of his own [[Suite No. 1]], and [[Richard Wagner]]'s opera ''Tristran und Isolde''.
|-
| 11/23 May 1883
| 13/25 May 1883
| Attending a performance of Lohengrin, which he considered to be "one of Wagner's best compositions" <ref name="note2"/>.
|-
| 7/19 February 1884
| 8/20 February 1884
| ''En route'' to [[Paris]], avoiding the premiere of ''[[Mazepa]]'' in [[Saint Petersburg]].
|-
| 26 February/9 March 1884
| 28 February/11 March 1884
| Returning from [[Paris]] to [[Kamenka]].
|-
| 3/15 November 1884
| 7/19 November 1884
| During which time he wrote the [[Elegy]] for string orchestra, and the first two of the [[Nine Church Pieces]].
|-
| 17/29 December 1887
| 19/31 December 1887
| Where he met [[Désirée Artôt-Padilla]] at a concert on 18/30 December, and called on [[Karl Davydov]] the next day.
|-
| 26 December 1887/7 January 1888
| 28 December 1887/9 January 1888
| Between concert engagements in [[Leipzig]] and [[Hamburg]].
|-
| 11/23 January 1888
| 11/23 January 1888
| Attending a rehearsal for his concert on 27 January/8 February; here he met the composer Richard Strauss.
|-
| 22 January/3 February 1888
| 29 January/10 February 1888
| To conduct the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert of his own works (see below). During his visit he stayed once again at the ''Hôtel Saint Petersburg'', and met again with [[Désirée Artôt-Padilla]], and dined with fellow composers Hugo Wolf, Emile Sauret and [[Edvard Grieg]].
|-
| 26 January/7 February 1889
| 29 January/10 February 1889
| Stopping ''en route'' from [[Saint Petersburg]] to a conducting engagement in [[Cologne]]. On the second day of this stay he attended a [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]] concert at the Sing-Academie.
|-
| 9/21 February 1889
| 16/28 February 1889
| To conduct another concert of his own works (see below). He had daily meetings with [[Désirée Artôt-Padilla]], and attended a musical evening in his honour (15/27 February) arranged by [[Karl Klindworth]].
|-
| 16/28 January 1890
| 17/29 January 1890
| Stopping overnight at a guest-house ''en route'' from [[Saint Petersburg]] to [[Florence]].
|-
| 8/20 March 1891
| 9/21 March 1891
| Attending (incognito) a concert of his own works, including ''[[The Year 1812]]'' and the ''Andante cantabile'' from [[String Quartet No. 1]].
|-
| 4/16 January 1892
| 5/17 January 1892
| Stopping overnight between conducting engagements in [[Warsaw]] and [[Hamburg]].
|-
| 14/26 December 1892
| 17/29 December 1892
| ''En route'' from [[Saint Petersburg]] to visit [[Fanny Dürbach]] in [[Montbéliard]].
|-
| 15/27 May 1893
| 16/28 May 1893
| Stopping overnight ''en route'' from [[Saint Petersburg]] to [[London]].
|}


You are extremely mistaken to think that you should throw away the ''ancient clefs'' in order to write everything in chiave di sol. To give you a technical explanation would be long and tedious, but I'll say that there is nothing more logical and reasonable than these ancient clefs, and if they didn't exist then they should have been invented, especially for vocal music. To begin to transpose what had heretofore been written in the ancient clefs into chiave di sol would be as stupid as, for example, to change the long-established practice of writing the ''viola'' in a string quartet in the alto clef. A secular vocal work, such as an ''opera'' is another matter; it will be published for the majority of the public, who don't know the clefs, and you could indulge this audience, who are paying for the cost of the publication. But those who deal with ''[[Bortnyansky]]'' already know the clefs; and those who don't have any real ''dealings'', but are merely amusing themselves, must be content with whatever arrangements they find.
===Concerts===
Tchaikovsky&#39;s conducting engagements in Berlin were as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
| width="20%"|27 January/8 February 1888
| width="80%"|A Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra concert which included the overture-fantasia ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', the [[Piano Concerto No. 1]] (soloist [[Aleksandr Ziloti]]), the ''Introduzione e fuga'' from his [[Suite No. 1]], the ''Andante cantabile'' from his [[String Quartet No. 1]], four songs (soloist [[Aline Friede]]), and the overture ''[[The Year 1812]]''.
|-
| 14/26 February 1889
| Another Philharmonic Orchestra concert, featuring the [[Serenade for String Orchestra]] and ''[[Francesca da Rimini]]''.
|}


Still, returning to ''[[Bortnyansky]]'' one last time, I will comment on the great difference between great talent and mediocrity. ''[[Glinka]]'', like [[Bortnyansky]], studied with the Basurmans and also slavishly imitated their ''form'', but only the form. The essence of his creations, the content of his music, is thoroughly his own. [[Bortnyansky]] wrote characterless ''little motets'' to Russian texts. While [[Glinka]] wrote truly ''Russian'' operas and created an utterly new, if not a school, then at least a ''nursery'' of music, to whose sphere I belong, as a child of [[Glinka]].
==Bibliography==
* {{bib|1888/41}} (1888)
* {{bib|1888/42}} (1888)
* {{bib|1888/43}} (1888)
* {{bib|1888/63}} (1888)
* {{bib|1889/10}} (1889)
* {{bib|1889/22}} (1889)
* {{bib|1889/23}} (1889)
* {{bib|1889/24}} (1889)
* {{bib|1889/25}} (1889)
* {{bib|1898/20}} (1898)
* {{bib|1963/13}} (1963)
* {{bib|1977/10}} (1977)
* {{bib|2014/4}} (2014)


Thank you for the ballet, but I can't return it quickly. Give me time.
==External Links==
{{right|Yours P. Tchaikovsky}}
* [[wikipedia:Berlin|Wikipedia]]
I hope to visit [[Moscow]] in early September.
 
}}
==Notes and References==
<references>
<ref name="note1">[[Letter 2292]] to [[Nadezhda von Meck]], 12/24 May 1883.</ref>
<ref name="note2">{{bib|1900/24}} (1900).</ref>
</references>
[[Category:Places]]  [[Category:Germany]]

Revision as of 22:20, 31 December 2022


Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany.

In Tchaikovsky's lifetime it was the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia and (from 1871), of the newly founded German Empire, where it formed part of the province of Brandenburg, until it was constituted a separate city district in 1881.


Tchaikovsky in Berlin

Tchaikovsky visited Berlin on many occasions:

From Until Notes
6/18 July 1861 9/21 July 1861 As part of his first journey outside Russia.
June 1868 June 1868 During a summer holiday Tchaikovsky visited the Tiergarten zoo, and reportedly burst into tears when he saw a boa constrictor devouring a live rabbit that had been placed in its cage [1].
mid/late December 1871 early/mid January 1872 During his Christmas break.
late December 1875 early January 1876 When he attended a performance of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days at the Berlin Theatre, with Modest Tchaikovsky and Nikolay Konradi.
11/23 January 1876 15/27 January 1876 On his return home from Paris.
4/16 October 1877 7/19 October 1877 Staying at the Hôtel Saint Petersburg, with his brother Anatoly.
2/14 March 1879 7/19 March 1879 Where he heard a string orchestra play the Andante cantabile from his String Quartet No. 1 at the Bilse concert Hall
11/23 November 1879 13/25 November 1879 For a performance of Ambroise Thomas's opera Hamlet.
3/15 March 1880 7/19 March 1880 Stopping on his return to Saint Petersburg.
29 December 1882/10 January 1883 2/14 January 1883 Where he attended a performance of his own Suite No. 1, and Richard Wagner's opera Tristran und Isolde.
11/23 May 1883 13/25 May 1883 Attending a performance of Lohengrin, which he considered to be "one of Wagner's best compositions" [2].
7/19 February 1884 8/20 February 1884 En route to Paris, avoiding the premiere of Mazepa in Saint Petersburg.
26 February/9 March 1884 28 February/11 March 1884 Returning from Paris to Kamenka.
3/15 November 1884 7/19 November 1884 During which time he wrote the Elegy for string orchestra, and the first two of the Nine Church Pieces.
17/29 December 1887 19/31 December 1887 Where he met Désirée Artôt-Padilla at a concert on 18/30 December, and called on Karl Davydov the next day.
26 December 1887/7 January 1888 28 December 1887/9 January 1888 Between concert engagements in Leipzig and Hamburg.
11/23 January 1888 11/23 January 1888 Attending a rehearsal for his concert on 27 January/8 February; here he met the composer Richard Strauss.
22 January/3 February 1888 29 January/10 February 1888 To conduct the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert of his own works (see below). During his visit he stayed once again at the Hôtel Saint Petersburg, and met again with Désirée Artôt-Padilla, and dined with fellow composers Hugo Wolf, Emile Sauret and Edvard Grieg.
26 January/7 February 1889 29 January/10 February 1889 Stopping en route from Saint Petersburg to a conducting engagement in Cologne. On the second day of this stay he attended a Bach concert at the Sing-Academie.
9/21 February 1889 16/28 February 1889 To conduct another concert of his own works (see below). He had daily meetings with Désirée Artôt-Padilla, and attended a musical evening in his honour (15/27 February) arranged by Karl Klindworth.
16/28 January 1890 17/29 January 1890 Stopping overnight at a guest-house en route from Saint Petersburg to Florence.
8/20 March 1891 9/21 March 1891 Attending (incognito) a concert of his own works, including The Year 1812 and the Andante cantabile from String Quartet No. 1.
4/16 January 1892 5/17 January 1892 Stopping overnight between conducting engagements in Warsaw and Hamburg.
14/26 December 1892 17/29 December 1892 En route from Saint Petersburg to visit Fanny Dürbach in Montbéliard.
15/27 May 1893 16/28 May 1893 Stopping overnight en route from Saint Petersburg to London.

Concerts

Tchaikovsky's conducting engagements in Berlin were as follows:

27 January/8 February 1888 A Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra concert which included the overture-fantasia Romeo and Juliet, the Piano Concerto No. 1 (soloist Aleksandr Ziloti), the Introduzione e fuga from his Suite No. 1, the Andante cantabile from his String Quartet No. 1, four songs (soloist Aline Friede), and the overture The Year 1812.
14/26 February 1889 Another Philharmonic Orchestra concert, featuring the Serenade for String Orchestra and Francesca da Rimini.

Bibliography

External Links

Notes and References

  1. ↑ Letter 2292 to Nadezhda von Meck, 12/24 May 1883.
  2. ↑ Воспоминания о П. И. Чайковском (1900).
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