Letter 4951b
Tchaikovsky Research
| Date | 3/15 June 1893 |
|---|---|
| Addressed to | George Henschel |
| Where written | Paris |
| Language | German |
| Autograph Location | unknown [1] |
| Publication | J. A. Stargardt, Autographen aus allen Gebieten (1979), p. 281 (extract) Tchaikovsky Research Bulletin No. 1 (February 2011), p. 72 (extract, with English translation) Чайковский. Новые материалы к творческой биографии (2013), p. 260 (extract, with Russian translation) |
| Notes | Autograph auctioned by J. A. Stargardt (Marburg), 1979 |
Text and Translation
This incomplete extract was first published in Stargardt's auction catalogue (1979), p. 281, and may contain differences in formatting and content from Tchaikovsky's original letter, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.
| German text (original) |
English translation By Luis Sundkvist |
| [...] Ich habe mich in London photographieren lassen, aber die Portraits sind nicht fertig. Also ich werde Ihnen eine Photographie aus Russland schicken. Bitte aber: schicken [Sie] mir die Ihrige und wenn es möglich ist auch einen Portrait von Ihrer Frau; ich bin in Sie vollständig verliebt und es wird mir einen ungeheuren Vergnügen machen! [...] | [...] I had my picture taken in London [2], but the portraits aren't ready yet. So I'll send you a photograph from Russia. I would, however, ask you to send me yours and, if possible, also a portrait of your wife [3]; I am altogether in love with her, and it will give me tremendous pleasure! [...] |
Notes and References
- ↑ Auctioned by J. A. Stargardt (Marburg) in 1979.
- ↑ Tchaikovsky visited the Henschels at their house in Londonn during his last visit to England in June 1893, occasioned by his award of an honorary doctorate of music by the University of Cambridge.
- ↑ The American soprano Lilian Henschel (née Bailey; 1850–1934). In the biography of Henschel written by his daughter Helen (1882–1973), when recalling Tchaikovsky's visit to their house in the summer of 1893, she mentioned that "I do possess a personal remembrance of Tschaikovsky—the photograph he gave to my mother, inscribed: 'A Madame L. B. Henschel, de la part de son fervent admirateur, P. Tschaikovsky'" — see Helen Henschel, When Soft Voices Die. A Musical Biography (London, 1949), p. 73.
