Letter 68
| Date |
28 July/9 August 1864 |
| Addressed to |
Aleksandra Davydova
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| Where written |
Trostinets |
| Language |
Russian |
| Autograph Location |
Saint Petersburg
(Russia): Manuscript department (ф. 834, ед. хр.
16, л. 16–17) |
| Publication |
Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского, том 1 (1900), p. 191 (abridged)
П. И. Чайковский. Письма к родным, том 1 (1940), p. 64
П. И. Чайковский. Письма к близким (1955), p. 16
П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том V (1959), p. 80–81
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Letters to his family. An autobiography
(1981), p. 14–15 (English translation).
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Russian text (original)
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English translation
Copyright © 2010 by Luis Sundkvist
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| 28 июля 1864 г. |
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28 July 1864 |
| Милая Саша!
Напрасно ты думаешь, что меня нет в Каменке
потому, что у Голицына мне так хорошо,
что я не могу с ним расстаться. Я не
скрываю, что мне здесь очень хорошо,
но не сомневаюсь в том, что у тебя, с
твоим мужем, детьми и всем Вашим
семейством, — мне было бы гораздо ещё
лучше. Но как сердце меня ни тянет к
тебе, — а рассудок ясно говорит, что
по весьма многим причинам следует
мою поездку в Каменку
отложить до будущего лета и уж тогда
— прямо из Петербурга
на все три месяца. Чтоб ты не думала,
что я недостаточно стремлюсь к Вам
душой, я тебе скажу, что перед
отъездом из Петербурга
я хлопотал ехать прямо к тебе, но
обстоятельства этого не позволили;
сюда же я приехал, надеясь без
особенных неудобств пробраться к
тебе. |
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Dear Sasha!
You are wrong to suppose that the reason why I'm not in Kamenka
is that I feel so well at Golitsyn's[1]
that I cannot bring myself to part with him. I make no secret that I
feel very well here, but I have no doubt that at your place, in
the company of your husband, children, and all your family, I would
feel far better. However, for all that my heart draws me towards
you, my reason says distinctly that for many reasons I must postpone
my visit to Kamenka until
next summer: then I would come directly from Petersburg
and stay the whole three months. So that you do not imagine that my
heart's longing to be with you isn't that great, let me tell you
that before my departure from Petersburg
I made preparations to travel straight to your place, but
circumstances didn't allow me to [2];
moreover, I came here hoping that I would be able to make my way to
you without any particular
inconvenience. |
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Благодарю тебя за письмо. Оно меня
действительно успокоило; я немножко
боялся, чтоб ты не сердилась. Худая
погода, о к[ото]рой ты пишешь, меня ни
мало не ужасает, — здесь она нисколько
не лучше. Живу я очень покойно и, кроме
Голицына, никого не вижу. Скажи Вере
Васильевне, что «Гроза»
моя сильно подвигается и что она (т. е. В[ера]
В[асильевна]) рискует услышать её в
Русском музык[альном] общ[естве]. От Папаши, Толи и Моди
не имею уже с месяц никаких известий.
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I thank you for your letter. It really did set my mind at rest: I had
been somewhat afraid lest you should get angry with me. The bad
weather which you write about doesn't frighten me in the least: here
it is in no way better. I am leading a very quiet life, and, apart
from Golitsyn, I am seeing no one [3]. Tell Vera
Vasil'evna that my Storm is rumbling along, and
that she (i.e. Vera
Vasil'evna) may run the risk of hearing it at the Russian Musical Society.
I haven't had any news from Papasha, Tolia and Modia
for about a month.
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Не получила ли ты на моё имя писем;
если да, то перешли их, пожалуйста,
сюда!
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Have you perhaps received any letters addressed to me? If yes,
then please forward them to me here!
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| Итак, ещё раз благодарю тебя,
милая Саша,
грущу до смерти, что не могу быть у
тебя, но повинуюсь своей судьбе и
прошу твоего извиненья, что не
исполнил обещания. Поцелуй Лёву
и Алёшу. Таню
и Веру
пожми и разлобызай от меня нещадно.
Кланяйся низко Александре Ивановне и
Е[лизавете], А[лександре], С[офье] и Вере
Васильевнам. |
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And so, I thank you once again, dear Sasha;
I am terribly sad that I cannot be at your place, but I must submit
to my destiny. I beg your forgiveness for not having kept my
promise. Give a kiss to Leva
and Alesha [4]. Hug
and mercilessly smother Tania and Vera
with kisses from me. Give my humble regards to Aleksandra
Ivanovna and Elizaveta, Aleksandra, Sof'ia, and Vera
Vasil'evna [5]. |
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[Signature is missing] |
Notes:
- Tchaikovsky was spending the summer at the
estate of his friend Prince Aleksei Vasil'evich Golitsyn (1832-1901)
in Trostinets, Kharkov
province. He had been introduced to Golitsyn, a diplomat with a great
interest in the arts, some years earlier, when he was still working at
the Ministry of Justice. Golitsyn was one of the few society friends
of Tchaikovsky's who stayed in touch with him after his decision to
abandon the hedonistic lifestyle of a young man about town and to
devote himself to music in earnest. Moreover, as Modest
Tchaikovsky tells us in his biography of the composer, Golitsyn
generously helped him to find pupils and often invited him to dine at
his house in Saint
Petersburg. See Жизнь
Петра Ильича Чайковского,
том 1 (1997), p. 175. Golitsyn also moved in the aristocratic
homosexual circles of Saint
Petersburg and other European cities, and Tchaikovsky would
frequently meet up with him during his long stays abroad in later
years, even though he had ambivalent feelings about his friend's
lifestyle. For more details on Golitsyn and his friendship with the
composer, see Alexander Poznansky, Tchaikovsky:
The Quest for the Inner Man (1993), passim [back]
- According to Modest,
his brother did not have enough money to make the journey to Kamenka
that summer: there was as yet no railway connection to the Ukraine,
and travelling to Kiev by
stage-coach was very expensive. Tchaikovsky had therefore accepted
Prince Golitsyn's invitation to make use of a free seat in his private
stage-coach with which he was travelling from Moscow
to Kharkov. See Жизнь
Петра Ильича Чайковского,
том 1 (1997), p. 175 [back]
- It is worth supplementing this letter with the
more detailed account provided by Modest
in his biography: "This stay [at Trostinets]
remained in Petr Il'ich's memory like something out of a fairy-tale.
Until then he had never before been surrounded by such luxury and
opulence. He was given complete freedom to do what he liked. The
location proved to be wondrous, with many varied walks, one better
than the other. In the mornings and afternoons he would apply himself
to his work or undertake solitary excursions, and only at dinner-time
and in the evenings did he join the prince and his guests". On Tchaikovsky's name-day (29 June/10 July),
Golitsyn organised some festivities in honour of his friend. A celebratory breakfast was followed later that evening by a carriage ride through the forest, "where the whole road had been flanked with flaming pitch barrels, while in a pavilion in the midst of the woods a feast for the peasants had been set up as well as a sumptuous supper in honour of the subject of the celebration".
See Жизнь
Петра Ильича Чайковского,
том 1 (1997), p. 175 [back]
- Aleksei Vasil'evich Davydov (1846-1909), the
younger brother of Lev Davydov [back]
- Aleksandra Ivanova Davydova (née Potapova;
1802-1895) was the mother of Lev
Davydov. In the autumn of 1863 she had moved to Saint
Petersburg together with her daughters Elizaveta (1823-1904), Aleksandra
(1827-1917), Sof'ia (1832-1903), and Vera
(1843-1923), although they continued to spend the summer months at Kamenka.
Tchaikovsky had very
quickly become friends with the whole family. He especially liked to
listen to Aleksandra Ivanovna talk about her eventful life: her late
husband, Vasilii L'vovich Davydov (1792-1855), had taken part in the
famous "Decembrist uprising" of 1825, and she had followed
him into exile in Siberia. She had also been acquainted with Pushkin,
because the poet had often stayed at the Davydovs' family estate at Kamenka.
Among Aleksandra Ivanovna's daughters, it was Vera
whom Tchaikovsky found the most congenial because of her love of
music. As Modest
put it in his biography of the composer, he acted as Vera's
"musical protector and cicerone", introducing his
sister-in-law to the works of Schumann, Berlioz, and Glinka. Vera would in fact fall
in love with Tchaikovsky, but her feelings were not reciprocated and
she later married a much older man, Vice-Admiral Ivan Ivanovich
Butakov (1822-1882). Although the other Davydov sisters, except for
Elizaveta, were not as interested in music, Tchaikovsky also enjoyed
their company very much, especially that of Elizaveta, who was very
artistic herself (she was an accomplished illustrator of travel books)
and had known such leading artists as the writer Nikolai Gogol' and
the painter Aleksandr Ivanov. In letters to his own relatives
Tchaikovsky would frequently refer to Aleksandra Ivanovna and her
daughters Elizaveta and Aleksandra as "our three angels" or
"our three darlings". See Жизнь
Петра Ильича Чайковского,
том 1 (1997), p. 173-175 [back]
This page was last updated
on 26 February 2012
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