Date	4/16 November 1886 (?)
Addressed to	Pavel Peterssen
Where written	Saint Petersburg
Language	Russian
Autograph Location	unknown; sold by Sotheby's in London on 18 May 1995 advertised by Bonham's for auction on 20 April 2011 (see: http://www.bonhams.com/eur/auction/19377/lot/281/ ).
Publication	Sotheby's. Continental Manuscripts and Music. London, Thursday 18th May 1995 (1995), p. 148 (abridged English translation; includes facsimile of last page)[1]  Čajkovskijs Homosexualität und sein Tod. Legenden und Wirklichkeit (1998), p. 166 (abridged English translation)
Notes	For a detailed commentary on this letter, see "I would like something very poetic and at the same time very simple, intimate and human!" (Tchaikovsky Research Bulletin No.2), p. 8–10.

---

Russian text (original)		English translation Copyright © 2011 by Luis Sundkvist
Дорогой Павел Леонтьевич!		Dear Pavel Leont'evich!
Вчера мне целый день нездоровилось, а сегодняшнюю ночь я провёл самым болезненным образом и между прочим от боли и опухоли в дёснах могу с трудом говорить. Вследствие этого мне необходимо сегодня просидеть весь день дома. Очень, очень сожалею, что не могу с Вами позавтракать. Не зайдёте ли Вы с П[етром] И[вановичем] Ю[ргенсоном] ко мне после завтрака? Очень бы рад [был] повидать Вас.		Yesterday I was ill all day long, whilst I spent last night in the most painful fashion, and, among other things, the pain and swelling in my gums makes it difficult for me to speak. As a result of this it is essential that today I stay at home all day long. I am very, very sorry not to be able to have lunch with you. Could you not drop in to see me after lunch together with Petr Ivanovich Jurgenson? I would be very glad to see you.
Ваш		Yours,
П. Чайковский		P. Tchaikovsky

---

Note:

1. A photocopy of the relevant page from the catalogue was kindly provided by Sarah Colville of Sotheby's, London [back]

---

This page was last updated on 26 February 2012