Tchaikovsky
www.tchaikovsky-research.net
Letter 4394a
| Date | 3/15 June 1891 |
|---|---|
| Addressed to | Ekaterina Laroche |
| Where written | Maidanovo |
| Language | Russian |
| Autograph Location | Madrid (Spain): Private collection |
| Publication | Tschaikowsky Gesellschaft Mitteilungen, Heft 17 (2010) (with English and German translations) |
| Notes | Published in facsimile at: John Wilson Manuscripts
Limited, Cheltenham
 |
|
Russian text (original) |
English translation |
|
| 3 Июня | 3 June [1] | |
|
Милая Кату! Подробное донесение Ваше получил, прочёл его с величайшим интересом и страшно Вам за него благодарен. Спасибо за всё что Вы из-за меня претерпели. В виду того, что мне зимой не нужно всего дома, а лишь 3 или 4 комнаты, — я думаю, что дача Штрандман'а обитаема и зимой. Всё это дело нужно отложить до осени, а тем временем может быть ещё что сыщется. Я засел за работу и работа идёт очень успешно. Простите, что сегодня имею возможность написать лишь несколько строк. Скоро опять напишу. Когда едете? Ради Бога не откладывайте. Его необходимо везти в Карльсбад и я желаю, чтобы это совершилось поскорее, дабы конец лета Вы могли провести у меня в Майданове. У меня теперь Модест, Боб и Саня Литке. Целую Ваши ручки. |
Dear
Katu! I received
your thorough report, which I read with great interest and for which I
am
terribly grateful to you. Thank you for everything you had to endure on my account. Bearing in mind that I
do not need a whole house for the winter, but just 3 or 4 rooms, I think that Strandman's
dacha would still be habitable for the winter
[2]. All these matters can be put off until the autumn, and something else might well have turned up by then. I have sat down to work, and my work is coming along very successfully [3]. Forgive me that it is only possible to write a few lines today. I will write again soon. When are you leaving? For God's sake do not put it off. He must be taken to Karlsbad without delay [4], and I hope this can be done with the utmost haste, so that you can spend the end of the summer with me at Maidanovo. At present I have Modest, Bob, and Sania Litke with me. With kisses for both your hands. |
|
| Ваш П. Чайковский | Yours, P. Tchaikovsky |
Notes:
- Although the autograph only bears the date "3 June", the postmark on the envelope reads "3 Июня 1891", thus dating the letter to 3/15 June 1891 [back]
- Only a few days earlier, Tchaikovsky had returned from his tour of America to stay in a rented house at Maidanovo (near Klin), where he had previously resided between February 1885 and April 1888. Believing this to be unavailable or unsuitable during the winter months, the composer had asked Ekaterina Laroche to find alternative accommodation, and had expressed interest in a nearby dacha owned by a certain "Strandmann". In letter 4401 to his cousin Anna Merkling on 11/23 June 1891, Tchaikovsky reported that "Regarding Strandmann['s dacha], I decided that it's necessary to defer consideration until the autumn". In fact Tchaikovsky would remain in the same house at Maidanovo until 28 March/9 April 1892, after which he moved to his final residence in the town of Klin itself [back]
- Tchaikovsky had recently resumed work on his ballet The Nutcracker, the composition of which had been interrupted by his tour of America in the spring [back]
- Herman Laroche had been suffering from ill health over the last few years, compounded by his excessive drinking and long spells of lethargy. Tchaikovsky evidently hoped that taking the waters at Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic) would benefit his old friend [back]
This page was last updated on 03 February 2011