Tchaikovsky
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Andrei Arends (1855–1924)

Andrei Arends

Russian conductor, violinist and composer of German extraction (b. 2/14 April 1855 in Moscow; d. 27 April 1924 in Moscow), born Andrei Fedorovich Arends (Андрей Федорович Арендс, Andrej Fedorovič Arends, Andrey Fyodorovich Arends); also known outside Russia as Heinrich Arends.

In 1877 he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied violin with Ferdinand Laub, and composition with Tchaikovsky. In 1883  Arends became a  violinist in the Bol'shoi Theatre Orchestra in Moscow, becoming chief conductor at the Malyi Theatre in Moscow in 1892, after being selected in a competition in which Tchaikovsky was one of the judges. He conducted the first performance in Moscow of The Sleeping Beauty in 1899, and served as chief conductor of the Bol'shoi Ballet Theatre in Moscow from 1900 until 1924.

Arends also made orchestral arrangements of Tchaikovsky's Nocturne—No. 4 of the Six Pieces (Op. 19), and of the Mazurka—No. 5 of the Twelve Pieces (Op. 40) for piano.

Correspondence with Andrei Arends:

• 3 letters from Tchaikovsky to Andrei Arends have survived, dating from 1884 to 1892.