Yuliya Shpazhinskaya

Yuliya Shpazhinskaya (1850?-1919), left
with her children and her mother

Russian pianist (b. ca.1850; d. 1919 in Sevastopol), born Yuliya Petrovna Porokhontseva (Юлия Петровна Порохонцева); known after her marriage as Yuliya Petrovna Shpazhinskaya (Юлия Петровна Шпажинская).

A student of the Polish pianist Teodor Leszetycki (1830–1915), Yuliya married the dramatist Ippolit Shpazhinsky (1848–1917). Tchaikovsky became friendly with her while collaborating with her husband on the libretto for the opera The Enchantress in 1885. Tchaikovsky attempted to encourage Yuliya's own literary ambitions, and their correspondence lasted several years until the composer's death.

Correspondence with Tchaikovsky

82 letters from Tchaikovsky to Yuliya Shpazhinskaya have survived, dating from 1885 to 1891, of which those highlighted in bold have been translated into English on this website:

• Letter 2717 – 3/15 June 1885, from Maydanovo
• Letter 2820 – 22 November/4 December 1885, from Maydanovo
• Letter 2847 – 31 December 1885/12 January1886, from Saint Petersburg
• Letter 2865 – 23 January/4 February 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 2886 – 13/25 February 1886, from Moscow
• Letter 2891 – 17 February/1 March 1886, from Moscow
• Letter 2904 – 28 February/12 March 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 2910 – 8/20 March 1886, from Moscow
• Letter 2911 – 11/23 March 1886, from Moscow
• Letter 2930 – 9/21 April 1886, from Tiflis
• Letter 2944 – 2/14 May–3/15 May 1886, from the Black Sea
• Letter 2960 – 28 May/9 June–1/13 June 1886, from Paris
• Letter 2977 – 18/30 June 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 2990 – 1/13 July 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3002 – 11/23 July 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3019 – 30 July/11 August 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3026 – 13/25 August 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3059 – 23 September/5 October 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3064 – 30 September/12 October 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3068 – 5/17 October 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3088 – 4/16 November 1886, from Saint Petersburg
• Letter 3093 – 10/22 November 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3106 – 14/26 November–24 November/6 December 1886, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3116 – 4/16 December 1886, from Moscow
• Letter 3136 – 26 December 1886/7 January 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3142 – 4/16 January 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3159 – 24 January/5 February 1887, from Moscow
• Letter 3174 – 7/19 February 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3196 – 10/22 March 1887, from Saint Petersburg
• Letter 3202 – 15/27 March 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3210 – 26 March/7 April 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3223 – 10/22 April 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3251 – 7/19 May 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3262 – 20 May/1 June 1887, from Moscow
• Letter 3266 – 4/16 June 1887, from Tiflis
• Letter 3279 – 27 June/9 July 1887, from Borzhom
• Letter 3295 – 22 July/3 August 1887, from Aachen
• Letter 3312 – 6/18 August 1887, from Aachen
• Letter 3348 – 11/23 September 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3392 – 28 October/9 November 1887, from Saint Petersburg
• Letter 3407 – 17/29 November 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3420 – 25 November/7 December 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3421 – 27 November/9 December 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3429 – 4/16 December 1887, from Maydanovo
• Letter 3454 – 31 December 1887/12 January 1888, from Lübeck
• Letter 3479 – 20 January/1 February 1888, from Leipzig
• Letter 3497 – 14/26 February 1888, from Paris
• Letter 3524 – 12/24 March 1888, from London
• Letter 3542 – 29 March/10 April 1888, from Tiflis
• Letter 3551 – 23 April/5 May 1888, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3563 – 9/21 May 1888, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3580 – 30 May/11 June 1888, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3590 – 13/25 June 1888, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3609 – 6/18 July 1888, from Moscow
• Letter 3617 – 12/24 July 1888, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3626 – 25 July/6 August 1888, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3645 – 14/26 August 1888, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3658 – 5/17 September 1888, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3665 – 10/22 September 1888, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3684 – 1/13 October 1888, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3705 – 19/31 October 1888, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3727 – 13/25 November 1888, from Saint Petersburg
• Letter 3734 – 26 November/8 December 1888, from Vienna
• Letter 3750 – 26 December 1888/7 January 1889, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3766 – 9/21 January 1889, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3819 – 5/17 March 1889, from Hannover
• Letter 3848 – 1/13 May 1889, from Tiflis
• Letter 3865 – 22 May/3 June 1889, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3870 – 2/14 June 1889, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3900 – 9/21 July 1889, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3908 – 23 July/4 August 1889, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 3928 – 2/14 September 1889, from Kamenka
• Letter 3973 – 11/23 November 1889, from Moscow
• Letter 4014 – 26 January/7 February 1890, from Florence
• Letter 4075 – 20 March/1 April 1890, from Florence
• Letter 4177 – 17/29 July 1890, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 4204 – 23 August/4 September 1890, from Kamenka
• Letter 4388 – 29 May/10 June 1891, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4396a – 3/15 June 1891, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4404 – 11/23 June 1891, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4468 – 2/14 September 1891, from Maydanovo
• Letter 4493 – 1/13 October 1891, from Maydanovo

82 letters from Yuliya Shpazhinskaya to the composer, dating from 1885 to 1891, are preserved in the Klin House-Museum Archive.

Bibliography

• Неопубликованное письмо о Манфреде (1937)
• Чайковский и Толстой (1938)
• Чайковський и Толстой (1938)
• Чайковский в Тифлисе (1940)
• П. И. Чайковский. С. И. Танеев. Письма (1951)
• П. И. Чайковский — Ю. П. Шпажинская (1885-1891) (1951)
• Один день октября (1993)