Tchaikovsky
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A Greeting to A. G. Rubinstein

Привет А. Г. Рубинштейну

For his 50th year as an artist (1889).

Catalogue References	TH 86 ; ČW 72 (as "Greeting to Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn")
Date	September 1889
Text	Iakov Petrovich Polonskii (1819–1898), from his verses Greetings to You, Our Brother (Привет тебе, наш брат) (1889)
Language	Russian
Key	C major
Tempo/Section Listing	Allegro moderato (C major, 92 bars)
Instrumentation	Chorus (SATB)
First Performance	Saint Petersburg, 18/30 November 1889, conducted by Tchaikovsky
Autograph Location	Lost
First Publication	Moscow: P. Jurgenson, 1889
Average Duration	3 minutes
Dedication	Anton Grigor'evich Rubinstein (1829–1894)
External Links	Internet Music Score Library Project (downloadable score) The Lied and Art Songs Text Page (texts and translations)

History

Composed in Saint Petersburg in between 20 September/2 October and 30 September/12 October 1889, at the request of the jubilee committee for Anton Rubinstein's 50th anniversary as an artist, to a text specially commissioned by Iakov Polonskii [1].

On 4/16 October 1889, Avgust Gerke wrote to Tchaikovsky: "Could P. I. Jurgenson be entrusted with the printing of the full score and parts of your salutation chorus?" [2], and on 1/13 November he reported: "Jurgenson is printing your chorus" [3].

The first performance took place at the gala jubilee celebrations in the Nobles' Club on 18/30 November 1889 in Saint Petersburg.

The choral score and parts of the chorus were published by Petr Jurgenson in November 1889 [4].

From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), pp. 357–358
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston

Notes:

1. Letters from Avgust Gerke to Tchaikovsky, 1/13 August, 12/24 August and 7/19 September 1889 — Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
2. Letter from Avgust Gerke to Tchaikovsky, 4/16 October 1889 [back]
3. Letter from Avgust Gerke to Tchaikovsky, 1/13 November 1889 [back]
4. Passed by the censor on 4/16 November 1889 [back]