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.