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Peterhof

Peterhof (Петергоф, Petergof) is a Russian town on the south shore of the Gulf of Finland, part of the Petrodvortsov district (Петродворцовый район) in the federal district of Saint Petersburg. During Tchaikovsky's lifetime it was the administrative centre of the Peterhof district (Петергофский уезд) in the Saint Petersburg province (Санкт-Петербургская губерния) of the Russian Empire.

Tchaikovsky visited Peterhof on at least two occasions:

• late May/early June–mid/late August 1866 — at the invitation of Aleksandra Davydova (mother of the composer's brother-in-law, Lev Davydov), Tchaikovsky and his brother Modest stayed in the Davydov family residence at a dacha near Peterhof. Here he began the orchestration of his Symphony No. 1 which, according to Modest, caused the composer many sleepless nights and left him in a state of nervous exhaustion [1].
• late July/early August 1890 — as part of a six-day trip around the northern Baltic (from 26 July/7 August to 1/13 August). "I've been to Tsarskoe, to Peterhof, to Terijoki (Finland) with Menter, to Ozerki, and to Arkadii, and generally spent a very pleasant time" [2].

Notes:

1. See Modest Tchaikovsky, Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского, том 1 (1900), p. 248 [back]
2. Letter 4188 to Anatolii Tchaikovsky, 2/14 August 1890 [back]