Tchaikovsky
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Anna Maslova (b. 1844), seated at the table in this photograph, which shows her together with (from left to right) her elder sister Varvara, her elder brother Fedor, the composer Sergei Taneev, and her younger brother Nikolai (1853–1920)

Anna Maslova

Sister of Tchaikovsky's schoolfriend Fedor Maslov (b. 1844; d. after 1925), born Anna Ivanovna Maslova (Анна Ивановна Маслова).

Anna was the liveliest member of the Maslov family. She loved Nature passionately and was a keen gardener, especially on the family estate at Selishche, in Oryol province, where the composer Sergei Taneev was often a guest in the summer months and highly appreciated the raspberries and apples grown by her. She never married, but for her godson Petr, the son of Taneev's elder brother Vladimir, she created a valuable herbarium which has survived to this day. In later years she became interested in photography and took many pictures of her family and their numerous guests, which included Lev Tolstoi's wife, the countess Sof'ia Andreevna, and the painter Vladimir Makovskii, who painted some of his best paintings while at Selishche. Anna had some knowledge of medicine and she was always willing to attend to sick peasants in the villages surrounding their family estate.

Tchaikovsky's works dedicated to Anna Maslova:

• Un poco di Schumann—No. 9 of the Eighteen Pieces, Op. 72 (1893)

Tchaikovsky's correspondence with Anna Maslova:

• 3 letters from Tchaikovsky to Anna Maslova have survived, dating from 1880 to 1891.

Bibliography

• Tamara Slutskaia, "«Очень хочется в Селище...» (Танеев и семья Масловых)" in E. V. Fetisova (ed.), Новое о Танееве (Moscow, 2007), p. 57–69