Letter 527
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Russian text (original)
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English translation
Copyright © 2010 by Luis Sundkvist
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| Москва,
24 декабря 1876 г |
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Moscow,
24 December 1876 |
| Граф! Искренно
благодарен Вам за присылку песен! Я должен Вам сказать откровенно, что
они записаны рукой неумелой и носят на себе разве лишь одни следы своей
первобытной красоты. Самый главный недостаток,— это что они втиснуты искусственно
и насильственно в правильно размеренный ритм. Только плясовые русские
песни имеют ритм с правильным и равномерно акцентированным тактом, а ведь
былины с плясовой песнью ничего общего иметь не могут. Кроме того, большинство
этих песен, и тоже, по-видимому, насильственно, записано в торжественном D-dur'е, что опять-таки не согласно с строем настоящей русской
песни, почти всегда имеющей неопределённую тональность, ближе всего подходящую
к древним церковным ладам. Вообще присланные Вами песни не могут подлежать
правильной и систематической обработке, т. е. из них нельзя сделать сборника,
так как для этого необходимо, чтоб песнь была записана, насколько возможно,
согласно с тем, как её исполняют в народе. Это необычайно трудная вещь
и требует самого тонкого музыкального чувства и большой музыкально-исторической
эрудиции. Кроме Балакирева
и отчасти Прокунина,
я не знаю ни одного человека, сумевшего быть на высоте своей задачи. Но
материалом для симфонической разработки Ваши песни служить могут, и даже
очень хорошим материалом, и я непременно так или иначе воспользуюсь им |
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Count! I
am sincerely grateful to you for sending those songs! [1] I must tell
you frankly that they have been recorded in a very clumsy manner, and
they display no more than a few traces of their primitive beauty. The
principal defect is that they have been artificially and violently forced
into a regularly measured rhythm. Only Russian dance songs have a rhythm
with a regular and uniformly accented beat, whereas byliny of course
cannot have anything in common with dance songs. Furthermore, the majority
of these songs have been transcribed—and this, again, evidently in a forced
manner—in the triumphant key of D major, which is also not in keeping
with the structure of true Russian folk-song, whose tonality is almost
always indefinite and in fact comes closest of all to the modalities of
ancient church music. In general, the songs you have sent cannot be subjected
to proper and systematic elaboration—that is, it is impossible to gather
them into an anthology, since for that it would be essential to have each
song transcribed as closely as possible to the manner in which it is performed
among the people. This is an uncommonly difficult task and requires the
most exquisite musical feeling and great musical and historical erudition.
Apart from Balakirev,
as well as Prokunin to
some extent, I cannot think of anyone who would be up to it. However,
your songs can indeed serve as material for symphonic treatment—and very
good material, too—and I definitely intend to make use of them in some
way or other [2].
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| Как я рад, что вечер в Консерватории оставил в Вас хорошее
воспоминание! Наши квартетисты в этот вечер играли как никогда.
Вы можете из этого факта вывести то заключение, что пара ушей такого великого
художника, как Вы, способна воодушевить артиста в сто раз больше, чем
десятки тысяч ушей публики. |
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How glad I am that you went away with a pleasant recollection
of the soirée at the Conservatory! [3] Our quartet musicians played
that evening as they had never played before. From this you may
infer that a pair of ears belonging to a great artist like you is capable
of inspiring an artist a hundred times more than the tens of thousands
of ears of the public. |
| Вы один из тех писателей, которые заставляют любить не
только свои сочинения, но и самих себя. Видно было, что, играя так
удивительно хорошо, они старались для очень любимого и дорогого человека.
Что касается меня, то я не могу сказать Вам, до чего я был счастлив и
горд, видя, что моя музыка могла Вас тронуть и увлечь. |
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You are one of those writers who cause us to love not
only their works but also themselves. It was evident that in playing so astonishingly well the musicians were giving their all for someone
whom they love and cherish very much. As for me, I cannot describe to
you how happy and proud I was to see that my music could move and captivate
you [4].
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| Я передам Ваше поручение Рубинштейну, как только
он приедет из Петербурга.
Кроме Фитценхагена,
не читающего по-русски, все участвовавшие в квартете читали Ваши сочинения.
Я полагаю, что они будут Вам очень благодарны, если Вы пришлёте им каждому
какое-нибудь одно сочинение. Что касается меня, то я попросил бы Вас подарить
мне «Казаки», если не теперь, то в другой раз, когда Вы опять побываете
в Москве, чего я буду ожидать с
величайшим нетерпением |
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I will pass on your request to Rubinstein as soon
as he gets back from Petersburg [5]. Apart
from Fitzenhagen,
who doesn't read Russian, all the other members of the quartet have read
your works. I think that they will be very grateful to you if you send
them all one work each. As far as I am concerned, I would kindly ask you
to present me with a copy of The Cossacks—if not now, then
on some other occasion, when you again happen to be in Moscow: I shall be looking forward
to this with the greatest impatience |
| П. Чайковский |
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P. Tchaikovsky |
| Если Вы будете посылать Рубинштейну свой портрет,
то и меня не забудьте! |
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If you do send Rubinstein your portrait,
please do not forget to send one to me, too! |
Notes:
- According to Sergey Tolstoy (the writer's eldest
son), who included this letter in his article «Лев
Толстой и Чайковский» (1924), p. 114–124, Tchaikovsky had very likely
received from Tolstoy a copy
of Kirsha Danilov's famous anthology of Russian songs (compiled in the second
half of the eighteenth century, but first published in 1804). Although no
copy of this anthology has come to light in the composer's library or archive,
many of the songs in Kirsha Danilov's collection are transcribed in D major
and it contains lots of byliny (epic songs), which would tally with
Tchaikovsky's remarks further on in his letter. The letter which Tolstoy sent to Tchaikovsky
from Yasnaya Polyana together with these songs has survived, though, and
is believed to have been written between 19/31 December 1876 and 21 December
1876/2 January 1877 [back]
- Because the songs sent by Tolstoy have not survived in
Tchaikovsky's archive, it is impossible to establish whether the composer
used them in his later works, and if so, how exactly [back]
- In his letter to Tchaikovsky Tolstoy had written: "I have
never received such a cherished reward for my literary endeavours as this
wonderful soirée". In mid/late December 1876 Nikolay Rubinstein, at
Tchaikovsky's request, had organized a chamber music soirée at the Conservatory
specially for Tolstoy, who had
come to Moscow to oversee the publication
of the next instalments of Anna Karenina, but who had also expressed
the wish to meet the city's leading musicians [back]
- At this musical soirée in Tolstoy's honour Tchaikovsky's String Quartet No. 1
was played by Jan Hřímalý, Adolph Brodsky, Yuly Gerber
(viola), and Wilhelm Fitzenhagen.
This work made a strong impression on Tolstoy, especially the famous
slow movement (Andante cantabile). Writing in his diary almost ten
years later, on 1/13 July 1886, Tchaikovsky would confess: "Perhaps never
in my life has my composer's pride been so flattered and moved as when L. N. Tolstoy, sitting beside
me and listening to the Andante from my First Quartet, burst
into tears". See
Дневники П. И. Чайковского, 1873–1891 (1993), p.210–211, and also letter 533 to Modest Tchaikovsky, 2/14-3-15
January 1877 [back]
- In his letter Tolstoy had asked Tchaikovsky
to clarify which particular photograph of himself Nikolay Rubinstein wanted
him to inscribe and send to Moscow
so that it could be hung in the room at the Conservatory where the musical
soirée had taken place [back]
This page was last updated
on 10 February 2013
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