Tchaikovsky
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Funeral March

(Похоронный марш)

On themes from the opera The Oprichnik (1877).

History

Written by Tchaikovsky in March 1877, at the request of Nadezhda von Meck.

In a letter of 7/19 March 1877, Nadezhda von Meck approached Tchaikovsky with a request to write a "Marche funèbre" on themes from the opera The Oprichnik: "Now I put it to you", she wrote, "that from your opera, which I so admire, I should like to have a march, and if you find it possible to do this, I humbly request that it should be for piano four hands" [1].

This work had been completed by Tchaikovsky by 16/28 March 1877, when he wrote to Nadezhda von Meck: "I do not know if you will be pleased with the march, and whether it comes close to what you had in mind. If not then do not be afraid honestly to tell me so. One day, perhaps, I shall write you something more appropriate" [2].

The piece was not published, and its present whereabouts remain unknown.

From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), pp. 403–404
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston

Notes:

1. Letter from Nadezhda von Meck to Tchaikovsky, 7/19 March 1877 — Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
2. Letter 545 to Nadezhda von Meck, 16/28 March 1877 [back]