Letter 975
| Date | 23 November/5 December 1878 |
|---|---|
| Addressed to | Nadezhda von Meck |
| Where written | Florence |
| Language | Russian |
| Autograph Location | Klin (Russia): Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve (a3, No. 2894) |
| Publication | П. И. Чайковский. Переписка с Н. Ф. фон-Мекк, том 1 (1934), p. 490–491 П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том VII (1962), p. 470–471 |
Text and Translation
| Russian text (original) |
English translation By Henry Zajaczkowski |
Четверг утром Пожалуйста, дорогой друг, не беспокойтесь насчёт моих занятий с Пахульским. Он настолько музыкант, что мне вовсе не утомительно с ним беседовать. В следующий раз я попрошу его пофантазировать, но заранее чувствую, что он будет при мне стесняться, и с этой стороны я не узнаю его так хорошо, как Вы. Нужно очень большое и интимное знакомство для того, чтобы не стесняться при фантазировании. Я ещё ничего не знаю относительно своих предположений на будущее, но вряд ли на праздники поеду в Россию. В следующем письме объясню почему. Мне очень хочется побывать в этот раз в Неаполе, хотя не надолго, и, может быть, вскоре после Вашего отъезда я бы решился предпринять туда поездку. Впрочем, об этом напишу Вам в другой раз. А пока мне здесь так хорошо, что и не хочется думать об отъезде. Благодарю за билет. Непременно воспользуюсь им. Кормят меня отлично. Вообще я очень доволен прислуживающим мне синьором Гектором. Он очень мил и предупредителен. Благодарю ещё раз за письмо и билет. Книги и газеты я возвращу Вам завтра. Будьте здоровы, дорогая моя. Как меня огорчает, что Вы получаете невесёлые известия из России! П. Ч. Папирос у меня покамест вполне достаточно. |
Thursday morning Please, dear friend, do nщt worry about my work with Pachulski. He is so much the musician that it is not at all tiresome to me to converse with him. Next time I shall request that he do some improvising [1], but I sense already that he will feel too inhibited in my presence to do any, and in that respect I do not know him as well as you do. It is necessary to know someone fully and extremely well to avoid feeling too inhibited when improvising. I am still undecided as to my future plans, but it is hardly likely I shall go to Russia for the holidays. In my next letter I shall explain why. I rather fancy paying a visit just now to Naples, though not for long, and, maybe, shortly after you have gone I shall have made my mind up to undertake an excursion there. However I shall write to you about that another time. But as for now, things are so good for me here that I have no wish to dwell on the thought of departing. Thank you for the ticket [2]. I will certainly use it. They are feeding me excellently. In general I am very satisfied with being waited upon by Signor Ettore [3]. He is very nice and attentive. Thank you again for the letter and the ticket. I am returning the books and newspapers to you tomorrow. Keep well, my dear. How it distresses me that you receive such sombre news from Russia [4]! P. T. I have quite enough cigarettes for now. |
Notes and References
- ↑ Tchaikovsky is, therefore, about to add another strand to his composition-tutoring of his benefactress's employee. Nadezhda von Meck had specifically indicated she would be very glad if Pachulski "would venture to play for you his improvisations on the piano", as she felt these showed much creativity (see her letter of 23 November/5 December 1878, printed in П. И. Чайковский. Переписка с Н. Ф. фон-Мекк, том 1 (1934), p. 487).
- ↑ Tchaikovsky's ticket from Nadezhda von Meck admitted him to the highly revered opera house, the Teatro della Pergola (see Letter 988 of 28 November/10 December 1878, for his account to her of the performances he experienced there).
- ↑ The Italian name "Ettore" is equivalent to "Hector", which Tchaikovsky renders in the traditional Russian way with a "g": "Gektor" (the Russians have no exact equivalent to our letter "h", hence they would also refer to "Gamlet" as the title of Shakespeare's play or, indeed, Tchaikovsky's overture-fantasia on that subject).
- ↑ Nadezhda von Meck had been upset "to the depths of my heart" by reading the details of a murder trial in the Moscow Gazette, particularly as she felt the acquittal of the defendant was wrong (see p. 490 in her letter cited in note 1, above).
