Tchaikovsky
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Theodor Avé-Lallement (1806–1890)

Theodor Avé-Lallement

German musician and musicologist (b. 2 February 1806 in Magdeburg; d. 9 November 1890 in Hamburg), born Johann Theodor Friedrich Avé-Lallement.

The son of a music teacher, Avé-Lallement studied music from the age of nine, in Greifswald and Lubeck, before settling in Hamburg in 1828. Here he helped to found the Philharmonic Society (Philharmonie) in 1838, becoming its chairman and director of concerts. Half-a-century later he met Tchaikovsky, who was conducting a concert of his own music at the Philharmonie. The composer wrote about this meeting in Chapter XI of his Autobiographical Account of a Tour Abroad in the Year 1888:

"First of all I should mention the chief director of the Philharmonic Society, the aged Herr Avé-Lallement. This most venerable old man of over eighty paid me great attention and treated me with paternal affection. In spite of his age and frailness, as well as the long distance from his house, he attended my two rehearsals, the concert, and even Dr Bernuth's reception. In his extraordinary kindness he went so far as to request some photographs of me, which were to be taken by the best photographer in Hamburg. He even called on me to ask about this and arranged an appointment when I could pose for the photographer, as well as deciding on my behalf what size and format the photographs should be produced in. When I then visited this kindly old gentleman, who passionately loves music and who, as should be obvious to the reader, is quite free from that aversion which many old people have against everything that has been written in recent times, I had a very lengthy and interesting conversation with him.

Herr Avé-Lallement openly confessed that there was a lot in those works of mine which had been performed in Hamburg that wasn't to his liking; that he could not stand my noisy instrumentation; that he hated some of the orchestral effects which I resorted to (especially with regard to the percussion), but that all the same he saw in me the makings of a good, truly German composer. Almost with tears in his eyes he exhorted me to leave Russia and to settle permanently in Germany, where the classical traditions and the general atmosphere of a higher culture would not fail to correct me and rid me of those deficiencies which he felt were easily accountable by the fact that I was born and grew up in a country which was still so unenlightened and backward when compared to Germany as regards progress.

Evidently, Herr Avé-Lallement harbours a deep prejudice against Russia, and I tried as far as I could to mitigate his hostile feelings towards our country, which, incidentally, this venerable Russophobe did not actually express openly, but merely allowed to shine through in his words. We parted as great friends."

The composer did not forget this meeting, and he dedicated his next major work—the Symphony No. 5—to "Monsieur Theodore Avé-Lallement á Hamburg". Unfortunately ill health prevented the dedicatee from hearing Tchaikovsky conduct the new work at the Hamburg Philharmonie on 3/15 March 1889.

Works dedicated to Theodor Avé-Lallement:

• Symphony No. 5, Op. 64 (1888), TH 29.