The Palm

Tchaikovsky Research
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The projected opera The Palm (Пальма) (TH 201 ; ČW 448) [1] is only known from notes among Tchaikovsky's sketches for the opera The Voyevoda, which therefore presumably date from 1867 or 1868. In a letter to his brother Anatoly written in February 1868, the composer wrote of his desire to finish The Voyevoda during the summer, because he already had another libretto in mind [2]. His next opera, Undina, was begun the following year, so it is likely that he was referring to a completely different subject.

The sketches consist of an outline scenario for the first act of an untitled opera, and a brief three-bar musical sketch, headed "The Palm" (Пальма). It is not certain that the scenario and the musical sketch relate to the same project, and no literary source for the text has so far been established [3].

Notes and References

  1. Entitled "An Opera" in ČW.
  2. Letter 113 to Anatoly Tchaikovsky, written between 12/24 and 17/29 February 1868.
  3. See The Tchaikovsky Handbook. A guide to the man and his music, vol. 1 (2002), p. 396-397.