Tchaikovsky
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Sophie Menter (1846–1918) |
Sophie Menter
German pianist and composer (b. 29 July 1846 in Munich; d. 23 February 1918 in Stockdorf, near Munich).
She came from a musical background with a cellist father, Josef Menter, and a singer mother Wilhelmine (b. Diepold). Sophie learned the piano during her early years, and gave her first public performance aged just 15, and then travelled widely across Europe, and in 1883 she became an honorary fellow of the London Philharmonic Society. From 1883 to 1886 she was professor of piano at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, but left this position in 1886 following the breakdown of her 14-year marriage to the Bohemian cellist David Popper (1843–1913). She subsequently settled at Itter in Austria, but continued to compose and give recitals.
Tchaikovsky was well acquainted with Sophie Menter, and stayed with her in Austria in September 1892. During this visit he orchestrated Menter's Ungarische Zigeunerweisen for piano and orchestra, and conducted the author at its premiere in Odessa four months later. The full score of Tchaikovsky's Concert Fantasia, published in 1893, carries a dedication to Menter (although the earlier piano arrangement is inscribed to Anna Yesipova).
Tchaikovsky's arrangements of works by Sophie Menter:
- Ungarische Zigeunerweisen, TH 193 (1892) — arranged for piano with orchestra from Menter's sketches for two pianos
Tchaikovsky's works dedicated to Sophie Menter:
- Concert Fantasia, Op. 56 (1884) — full score only.
Tchaikovsky's correspondence with Sophie Menter:
- 3 letters from Tchaikovsky to Sophie Menter have survived, dating from 1891 to 1893.
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