Tchaikovsky
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TH 86

A Greeting to A. G. Rubinstein

Привет А. Г. Рубинштейну

For his 50th year as an artist, C major (1889).

• Composed September 1889.
• Text by Iakov Polonskii, from his verses Greetings to you, our brother [Привет тебе, наш брат] (1889).
• Scored for unaccompanied SATB chorus.
• First performed in Saint Petersburg, 18/30 November 1889, conducted by Tchaikovsky.
• Dedicated to Anton Rubinstein.
• Average duration: 3m.

History

Composed in Saint Petersburg in between 20 September/2 October and 30 September/12 October 1889, at the request of the jubilee committee for Anton Rubinstein's 50th anniversary as an artist, to a text specially commissioned by Iakov Polonskii [1].

On 4/16 October 1889, Avgust Gerke wrote to Tchaikovsky: "Could P. I. Jurgenson be entrusted with the printing of the full score and parts of your salutation chorus?" [2], and on 1/13 November he reported: "Jurgenson is printing your chorus" [3].

The first performance took place at the gala jubilee celebrations in the Nobles' Club on 18/30 November 1889 in Saint Petersburg.

The choral score and parts of the chorus were published by Petr Jurgenson in November 1889 [4].

From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), pp. 357–358
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston

References:

1. Letters from Avgust Gerke to Tchaikovsky, 1/13 August, 12/24 August and 7/19 September 1889 — Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
2. Letter from Avgust Gerke to Tchaikovsky, 4/16 October 1889 [back]
3. Letter from Avgust Gerke to Tchaikovsky, 1/13 November 1889 [back]
4. Passed by the censor on 4/16 November 1889 [back]