Tchaikovsky
www.tchaikovsky-research.net

Empress Mariia Fedorovna

Императрица Мария Федоровна

Wife of Tsar Aleksandr III from 1866. Born Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke DAGMAR of Denmark at Copenhagen on 26 November 1847, the second daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark (1818-1906) and Queen Louise of Hesse (1817-1898).

In 1866 she married the heir to the Russian throne, and became the Grand Duchess Mariia Fedorovna (Мария Федоровна). Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write a Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem, Op. 15, as part of the wedding festivities, and he also made an orchestral arrangement of Aleksandr Dubuque's piano polka entitled Maria-Dagmar. The composer was rewarded for his efforts with a set of jewelled cuff-links, which he promptly sold on to Dubuque.

When her husband succeeded as Aleksandr III in 1881, Mariia assumed the title Empress of Russia. For the coronation celebrations in May 1883, Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write a festival cantata - entitled Moscow - and a Coronation March for orchestra. The latter work contained extracts from the Danish Royal Anthem, in the Empress's honour.

In 1886 Tchaikovsky also wrote his Twelve Romances, Op. 60 in response to a suggestion by the Empress Mariia Fedorovna, and the whole set is dedicated to her.

After the death of her husband in 1894, Mariia Fedorovna remained in Russia as Dowager Empress until she was forced to leave the country in 1919 in the aftermath of the Bolshevik revolution. She died at Hvidøre, Denmark, on 13 October 1928, aged 80.