Pavel Peterssen

Russian pianist (b. 1831; d. April 1895 in Saint Petersburg), born Pavel Leontyevich Peterssen (Павел Леонтьевич Петерссен); also known outside Russia as Paul Petersen.

A pupil of Adolf Henselt (1814–1889), Peterssen taught piano classes at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory from 1862 to 1868. During the early 1890s he was also programming director of the Saint Petersburg branch of the Russian Musical Society, in which capacity he corresponded with Tchaikovsky regarding concert arrangements.

Correspondence with Tchaikovsky

17 letters from Tchaikovsky to Pavel Peterssen have survived, dating from 1886 to 1893, of which those highlighted in bold have been translated into English on this website:

• Letter 3086a – 4/16 November 1886 (?), from Saint Petersburg
• Letter 4458 – 22 August/3 September 1891, from Kamenka
• Letter 4464 – 2/14 September 1891, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4479 – 22 September/4 October 1891, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4483a – 25 September/7 October 1891, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4523 – 24 October/5 November 1891, from Moscow
• Letter 4552 – 14/26 November 1891, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4723a – 13/25 July 1892, from Klin
• Letter 4749 – 9/21 August 1892, from Klin
• Letter 4769 – 10/22 September 1892, from Itter
• Letter 4959a – 23 June/5 July 1893, from Grankino
• Letter 4976 – 19/31 July 1893, from Klin
• Letter 4999 – 2/14 August 1893, from Klin
• Letter 5003 – 7/19 August 1893, from Klin
• Letter 5005 – 11/23 August 1893, from Klin
• Letter 5037 – 21 September/3 October 1893, from Moscow
• Letter 5042a – 25 September/6 October 1893, from Klin

14 letters from Peterssen to Tchaikovsky, dating from 1891 to 1893, are preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin.

Bibliography

• Автограф П. И. Чайковского (1903)
• Неизвестные письма П. И. Чайковского (1939)
• Неизвестныте письма Чайковского и Римского-Корсакова (1953)
• Письмо Чайковского к П. Л. Петерссену (2003)