Tchaikovsky
www.tchaikovsky-research.net

Félix Mackar (1837–1903)

Félix Mackar

French music publisher (b. 1837; d. 1903).

The founder of a music publishing firm in Paris, in 1885 Mackar purchased from Jurgenson the rights to publish Tchaikovsky's works in France and Belgium. Mackar had been a fervent admirer of the composer's works since the late 1870s, and he did a great deal to propagate Tchaikovsky's works in France by organising concerts and tours. The two men first became personally acquainted in 1886, and the composer stayed with the Mackar family while he was visiting Paris.

In 1886 Mackar commissioned Tchaikovsky to write the piano piece Dumka (TH 145), or Rhapsody as it was originally known.

Tchaikovsky's correspondence with Félix Mackar:

• 35 letters from Tchaikovsky to Félix Mackar have survived, dating from 1885 to 1891.