Musical Catechism (Lobe)

Tchaikovsky Research

The Musical Catechism (Музыкальный катехизис) (TH 333 ; ČW 630) is Tchaikovsky's translation from German to Russian of the book Katechismus der Musik. Erläuterung der Begriffe und Grundsätze der allgemeinen Musiklehre (1851) by the German composer and musicologist Johann Christian Lobe (1797-1881).

Tchaikovsky's translation was probably commissioned by Pyotr Jurgenson, and had been completed by November 1868 [1]. Described as a "new translation from the 8th German edition", it was published by Jurgenson in 1870, and went on to run to seven further editions during the composer's lifetime [2]. In 1961, the Catechism was included in volume 3Б of Tchaikovsky's Complete Collected Works (1961), edited by Vladimir Protopopov.

The whereabouts of Tchaikovsky's autograph are unknown.

Notes and References

  1. Passed by the censor on 8/20 November 1869.
  2. i.e. in 1874, 1875, 1878, 1882, 1884. 1887 and 1892.