The Life Letters Of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky

IN offering to English and American readers this abridged edition of The Life and Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, my introduction must of necessity take the form of some justification of my curtailments and excisions. The motives which led to this undertaking, and the reasons for my mode of procedure, may be stated in a few words. In 1900 I published a volume dealing with Tchaikovsky, which was, I believe, the first attempt to embody in book form all the literatureÑscattered through the byways of Russian journalismÑconcerning the composer of the Pathetic Symphony. In the course of a year or twoÑthe book having sold out in England and AmericaÑa proposal was made to me to prepare a new edition. Meanwhile, however, the authorised Life and Letters, compiled and edited by the composerÕs brother, Modeste Ilich Tchaikovsky, was being issued in twenty-five parts by P. I. Jurgenson, of Moscow. This original Russian edition was followed almost immediately by a German translation, published in Leipzig by the same firm. In November, 1901, the late P. I. Jurgenson approached me on the subject of a translation, but his negotiations with an American firm eventually fell through. He then requested me to find, if possible, an English publisher willing to take up the book. Both in England and America the public interest in Tchaikovsky seemed to be steadily increasing. Frequent calls for copies of my small bookÑby this time out of printÑtestified that this was actually the case. An alternative course now lay before me: to revise my own book, with the help of the material furnished by the authorised Life and Letters, or to take in hand an English translation of the latter. The first would have been the less arduous and exacting task; on the other hand, there was no doubt in my mind as to the greater value and importance of Modeste TchaikovskyÕs work. The simplestÑand in many ways most satisfactoryÑcourse seemed at first to be the translation of the Russian edition in its entirety. Closer examination, however, revealed the fact that out of the 3,000 letters included in this book a large proportion were addressed to persons quite unknown to the English and American publics; while at the same time it contained a mass of minute and almost local particulars which could have very little significance for readers unversed in every detail of Russian musical life.Ê

The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, has been regarded as significant work throughout human history, and in order to ensure that this work is never lost, we have taken steps to ensure its preservation by republishing this book in a contemporary format for both current and future generations. This entire book has been retyped, redesigned, and reformatted. Since these books are not made from scanned copies, the text is readable and clear.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1906 edition. Excerpt: ... empty room. I knew it would be so, and that the poor Frenchman would take it deeply to heart, so I did not wish to be a witness of his disappointment. But also I did not want to interrupt my work." Tchaikovsky stayed at Maidanovo to complete the instrumentation of the whole score of The Enchantress, and left on May 9th to visit his sick friend, Kondratiev, before starting on his journey to the Caucasus. XIII To N. F. von Meek. "the Caspian Sea, May rilk June tfh), i&Sj. "I left Moscow on the 20th. At Xijni-Xovogorod I had great trouble in securing a second-class ticket for the steamer, Alexander II. This steamer is considered the best, and is therefore always full. My quarters were very small and uncomfortable, but I enjoyed the journey down the Volga. It was almost high tide, and therefore the banks were so far away that one could almost imagine oneself at sea. Mother Volga is sublimely poetical. The right bank is hilly, and there are many beautiful bits of scenery, but in this respect the Volga cannot compare with the Rhine, nor even with the Danube and Rhone. Its beauty does not lie in its banks, but in its unbounded width and in the extraordinary volume of its waters, which roll down to the sea without any motion. We stopped at the towns on the way just long enough to get an idea of them. Samara and the little town of Volsk pleased me best, the latter having the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. We reached Astrakhan on the fifth day. Here we boarded J little steamer, which brought us to the spot where the mouth of the Volga debouches into the open sea, where 've embarked on a schooner, on board which we have been or the last two days. The Caspian Sea has been very: reacherous. It was so storiy during the night that I fas quite...

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