Letter 4303
| Date | 15/27 January 1891 |
|---|---|
| Addressed to | Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov |
| Where written | Frolovskoye |
| Language | Russian |
| Autograph Location | Saint Petersburg (Russia): National Library of Russia (ф. 640, ед. хр. 1, No. 1015, л. 32–32a) |
| Publication | Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского, том 3 (1902), p. 424 (abridged) Советская музыка. 3-и сборник статей (1945), p. 143 Н. А. Римский-Корсаков. Полное собрание сочинений, том VII (1970), p. 62 П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XVI-А (1976), p. 30 |
Text and Translation
| Russian text (original) |
English translation By Anna-Maria Leonard |
15 янв[аря 18]91 г[ород] Клин, Моск[овской] губ[ернии] Милый, дорогой Николай Андреевич!
Простите, ради Бога! Я не могу исполнить своего обещания насчёт концерта 27 января. Ни одной ноты партитуры «Воеводы» я не написал! Обстоятельства сложились так, что невозможно было! Оставим это до будущего года. К тому же больная рука мешает мне дирижировать. Вскоре увидимся и побеседуем. Простите и скажите М. П. Беляеву, чтобы не сердился!! Весь Ваш, П. Чайковский |
Dear, kind Nikolay Andreyevich!
Forgive me, for God's sake! I cannot keep my promise regarding the concert on 27 January [1]. I've not written a single note of the full score of "The Voyevoda"! Circumstances were such that it was impossible! Let us leave it until next year. In addition, my sore arm makes it difficult for me to conduct. We will see each other soon and will talk. Forgive me and tell M. P. Belyayev not to be angry!! Yours ever, P. Tchaikovsky |
Notes and References
- ↑ Tchaikovsky had agreed to conduct his symphonic ballad The Voyevoda at a Russian symphony concert organised by Mitrofan Belyayev in Saint Petersburg on 26 January/7 February 1891 (in the present letter he was mistaken about the date). Although the ballad had been composed the previous autumn, he did not manage to orchestrate it until September 1891. After its premiere on 6/18 November that year, Tchaikovsky became dissatisfied with the work and destroyed the score, although it was reconstructed from the orchestral parts after his death.
