Tchaikovsky
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Varvara Maslova (1839–1905), standing left in this photograph, which shows her together with (from left to right) her younger siblings Anna and Fedor, the composer Sergei Taneev, and her brother Nikolai (1853–1920)

Varvara Maslova

Sister of Tchaikovsky's schoolfriend Fedor Maslov (b. 1839; d. 1905), born Varvara Ivanovna Maslova (Варвара Ивановна Маслова).

Varvara was the eldest of the five Maslov siblings. She read a lot and was proficient in German, English, and French. She was very keen on painting as well, and in her spare time she would decorate ceramics and do poker-work. At the age of 42 she decided to enrol in the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, where she studied under Vladimir Makovskii and was in the same class as Lev Tolstoi's daughter, Tat'iana, who, despite being twenty-five years younger, became a close friend. During the summer months from 1880 to 1885 Varvara helped the composer Sergei Taneev, a regular guest at the Maslovs' estate Selishche, in Oryol province, to translate Ludwig Bussler's famous textbook on counterpoint from German into Russian.

Works dedicated to Varvara Maslova:

• Impromptu—No. 1 of the Eighteen Pieces, Op. 72 (1893).

Tchaikovsky's correspondence with Varvara Maslova:

• 2 letters from Tchaikovsky to Varvara Maslova have survived, dating from 1882 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