Tchaikovsky
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The Volunteer Fleet
(Добровольный флот)
March (1878).
| Catalogue References | TH 140 ; ČW 149 (as "The Russian Volunteer Fleet") |
|---|---|
| Date | April 1878 |
| Key | C major |
| Tempo/Section Listing | Tempo di Marcia. Marziale. Allegro moderato (C major, 122 bars) |
| Instrumentation | Piano (solo) |
| Autograph Location | Moscow (Russia): Glinka National Museum Consortium of Musical Culture (ф. 88, No. 116) |
| First Publication | Moscow: P. Jurgenson, 1878 (published under the pseudonym 'P. Sinopov') |
| Average Duration | 4 minutes |
| Notes | Originally known as 'Skobelev March'. |
| External Links | IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library
 (downloadable score) |
History
At the end of 1877 Pyotr Jurgenson approached Tchaikovsky with a request to write a "Skobelev March" as a response to the war between Russia and Turkey. Tchaikovsky flatly refused: "I’m not taking up your suggestion, because I cannot. It's so terribly vulgar" [1].
In April 1878 the Russian government formed a committee to organize a Volunteer Fleet and to appeal for donations towards the war effort. It seems that as a result of this, Pyotr Jurgenson repeated his request, this time suggesting that it was Tchaikovsky's patriotic duty to agree to it [2]. The March was composed on 24 April/6 May at Kamenka, the same day that Jurgenson's letter was received (according to the author’s date on the manuscript). That very day the manuscript was dispatched to Jurgenson in Moscow together with a letter: "I have written the march and am sending it to you. No fee is necessary, because I am also a patriot; but I ask you not to include my name, but to come up with an appropriate pseudonym" [3].
It is not known who invented the pseudonym, but on the autograph score Tchaikovsky wrote "P. Sinopov" [4].
The March was published by Pyotr Jurgenson in May 1878. The cover of the edition contained the note: "All proceeds, with the exception of publishing costs, will be donated to the fund for acquiring a cruiser".
From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958),
pp. 408–409
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston
Notes:
- Letter 663 to Pyotr Jurgenson, 27 November/9 December 1877. Major-General Mikhail Dmitriyevich Skobelev was a commander of the Russian army in the war against Turkey of 1877–78 [back]
- See letters 818 and 828 to Pyotr Jurgenson, 24 April/6 May and 15/27 May 1878 [back]
- Letter 818 to Pyotr Jurgenson, 24 April/6 May 1878 [back]
- In commemoration of the decisive victory at the Battle of Sinop (Sinope) on 18/30 November 1853, where the Russian Fleet, commanded by Admiral Pavel Nakhimov (1802–1855), destroyed several Ottoman warships. [back]