Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich. (1840–1893). Autograph Letter. Autograph Letter Signed to 'Katou' in Russian, both sides of a correspondence-card (two words on first page smudged) with autograph envelope (part torn away), 3/15 June [1891]. A fine letter to Ekaterina Ivanovna Laroche, third wife of Herman Laroche (Tchaikovsky's old and close friend) and the dedicatee of one of the Opus 72 piano pieces. The letter mentioning his return to work on The Nutcracker and published in Tchaikowsky Gesellschaft Mitteilungen, Heft 17 (2010) (with English and German translations).
Tchaikovsky thanks her for eveything she has endured on his behalf. He does not need a house during the winter, but just three or four rooms. He has started work and his work ('travail') is going forward with great success. He excuses himself for only being able to write briefly today. When is she coming? Something - he does not know what - must be sent to Karlsbad as soon as possible. He hopes that she will be able to spend the latter part of the summer with him at Maidonovo. 'I have with me now Modest (his brother, 1850-1916), Bob and Sania Litke. I kiss your little hand." Translated in full:
"Dear Katu! I received your thorough report, which I read with great interest and for which I am terribly grateful to you. Thank you for everything you had to endure on my account. Bearing in mind that I do not need a whole house for the winter, but just 3 or 4 rooms, I think that Strandman's dacha would still be habitable for the winter. All these matters can be put off until the autumn, and something else might well have turned up by then. I have sat down to work, and my work is coming along very successfully. Forgive me that it is only possible to write a few lines today. I will write again soon. When are you leaving? For God's sake do not put it off. He must be taken to Karlsbad without delay, and I hope this can be done with the utmost haste, so that you can spend the end of the summer with me at Maydanovo. At present I have Modest, Bob, and Sania Litke with me. With kisses for both your hands. Yours, P. Tchaikovsky"
Although the autograph only bears the date "3 June", the postmark on the envelope reads "3...1891", thus dating the letter to 3/15 June 1891. Only a few days earlier, Tchaikovsky had returned from his tour of America to stay in a rented house at Maydanovo (near Klin), where he had previously resided between February 1885 and April 1888. Believing this to be available or unsuitable during the winter months, the composer had asked Yekaterina Laroche to find alternative accommodation, and had expressed interest in a nearby dacha owned by a certain "Strandmann." In letter 4401 to his cousin Anna Merkling on 11/23 June 1891, Tchaikovsky reported that "Regarding Strandmann['s dacha], I decided that it's necessary to defer consideration until the autumn." In fact Tchaikovsky would remain in the same house at Maydanovo until 28 March/9 April 1892, after which he moved to his final residence in the town of Klin itself. The work he refers to here as "coming along successfully," is his celebrated Nutcracker ballet, on which he had recently resumed work, the composition of which had been interrupted by his tour of America in the spring.
Tchaikovsky greatly respected Ekaterina and also pitied her for her husband's drunkenness. Herman Laroche had been suffering from ill health over the last few years, compounded by his excessive drinking and long spells of lethargy. Tchaikovsky evidently hoped that taking the waters at Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic) would benefit his old friend.
Tchaikovsky thanks her for eveything she has endured on his behalf. He does not need a house during the winter, but just three or four rooms. He has started work and his work ('travail') is going forward with great success. He excuses himself for only being able to write briefly today. When is she coming? Something - he does not know what - must be sent to Karlsbad as soon as possible. He hopes that she will be able to spend the latter part of the summer with him at Maidonovo. 'I have with me now Modest (his brother, 1850-1916), Bob and Sania Litke. I kiss your little hand." Translated in full:
"Dear Katu! I received your thorough report, which I read with great interest and for which I am terribly grateful to you. Thank you for everything you had to endure on my account. Bearing in mind that I do not need a whole house for the winter, but just 3 or 4 rooms, I think that Strandman's dacha would still be habitable for the winter. All these matters can be put off until the autumn, and something else might well have turned up by then. I have sat down to work, and my work is coming along very successfully. Forgive me that it is only possible to write a few lines today. I will write again soon. When are you leaving? For God's sake do not put it off. He must be taken to Karlsbad without delay, and I hope this can be done with the utmost haste, so that you can spend the end of the summer with me at Maydanovo. At present I have Modest, Bob, and Sania Litke with me. With kisses for both your hands. Yours, P. Tchaikovsky"
Although the autograph only bears the date "3 June", the postmark on the envelope reads "3...1891", thus dating the letter to 3/15 June 1891. Only a few days earlier, Tchaikovsky had returned from his tour of America to stay in a rented house at Maydanovo (near Klin), where he had previously resided between February 1885 and April 1888. Believing this to be available or unsuitable during the winter months, the composer had asked Yekaterina Laroche to find alternative accommodation, and had expressed interest in a nearby dacha owned by a certain "Strandmann." In letter 4401 to his cousin Anna Merkling on 11/23 June 1891, Tchaikovsky reported that "Regarding Strandmann['s dacha], I decided that it's necessary to defer consideration until the autumn." In fact Tchaikovsky would remain in the same house at Maydanovo until 28 March/9 April 1892, after which he moved to his final residence in the town of Klin itself. The work he refers to here as "coming along successfully," is his celebrated Nutcracker ballet, on which he had recently resumed work, the composition of which had been interrupted by his tour of America in the spring.
Tchaikovsky greatly respected Ekaterina and also pitied her for her husband's drunkenness. Herman Laroche had been suffering from ill health over the last few years, compounded by his excessive drinking and long spells of lethargy. Tchaikovsky evidently hoped that taking the waters at Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic) would benefit his old friend.
Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich. (1840–1893). Autograph Letter. Autograph Letter Signed to 'Katou' in Russian, both sides of a correspondence-card (two words on first page smudged) with autograph envelope (part torn away), 3/15 June [1891]. A fine letter to Ekaterina Ivanovna Laroche, third wife of Herman Laroche (Tchaikovsky's old and close friend) and the dedicatee of one of the Opus 72 piano pieces. The letter mentioning his return to work on The Nutcracker and published in Tchaikowsky Gesellschaft Mitteilungen, Heft 17 (2010) (with English and German translations).
Tchaikovsky thanks her for eveything she has endured on his behalf. He does not need a house during the winter, but just three or four rooms. He has started work and his work ('travail') is going forward with great success. He excuses himself for only being able to write briefly today. When is she coming? Something - he does not know what - must be sent to Karlsbad as soon as possible. He hopes that she will be able to spend the latter part of the summer with him at Maidonovo. 'I have with me now Modest (his brother, 1850-1916), Bob and Sania Litke. I kiss your little hand." Translated in full:
"Dear Katu! I received your thorough report, which I read with great interest and for which I am terribly grateful to you. Thank you for everything you had to endure on my account. Bearing in mind that I do not need a whole house for the winter, but just 3 or 4 rooms, I think that Strandman's dacha would still be habitable for the winter. All these matters can be put off until the autumn, and something else might well have turned up by then. I have sat down to work, and my work is coming along very successfully. Forgive me that it is only possible to write a few lines today. I will write again soon. When are you leaving? For God's sake do not put it off. He must be taken to Karlsbad without delay, and I hope this can be done with the utmost haste, so that you can spend the end of the summer with me at Maydanovo. At present I have Modest, Bob, and Sania Litke with me. With kisses for both your hands. Yours, P. Tchaikovsky"
Although the autograph only bears the date "3 June", the postmark on the envelope reads "3...1891", thus dating the letter to 3/15 June 1891. Only a few days earlier, Tchaikovsky had returned from his tour of America to stay in a rented house at Maydanovo (near Klin), where he had previously resided between February 1885 and April 1888. Believing this to be available or unsuitable during the winter months, the composer had asked Yekaterina Laroche to find alternative accommodation, and had expressed interest in a nearby dacha owned by a certain "Strandmann." In letter 4401 to his cousin Anna Merkling on 11/23 June 1891, Tchaikovsky reported that "Regarding Strandmann['s dacha], I decided that it's necessary to defer consideration until the autumn." In fact Tchaikovsky would remain in the same house at Maydanovo until 28 March/9 April 1892, after which he moved to his final residence in the town of Klin itself. The work he refers to here as "coming along successfully," is his celebrated Nutcracker ballet, on which he had recently resumed work, the composition of which had been interrupted by his tour of America in the spring.
Tchaikovsky greatly respected Ekaterina and also pitied her for her husband's drunkenness. Herman Laroche had been suffering from ill health over the last few years, compounded by his excessive drinking and long spells of lethargy. Tchaikovsky evidently hoped that taking the waters at Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic) would benefit his old friend.
Tchaikovsky thanks her for eveything she has endured on his behalf. He does not need a house during the winter, but just three or four rooms. He has started work and his work ('travail') is going forward with great success. He excuses himself for only being able to write briefly today. When is she coming? Something - he does not know what - must be sent to Karlsbad as soon as possible. He hopes that she will be able to spend the latter part of the summer with him at Maidonovo. 'I have with me now Modest (his brother, 1850-1916), Bob and Sania Litke. I kiss your little hand." Translated in full:
"Dear Katu! I received your thorough report, which I read with great interest and for which I am terribly grateful to you. Thank you for everything you had to endure on my account. Bearing in mind that I do not need a whole house for the winter, but just 3 or 4 rooms, I think that Strandman's dacha would still be habitable for the winter. All these matters can be put off until the autumn, and something else might well have turned up by then. I have sat down to work, and my work is coming along very successfully. Forgive me that it is only possible to write a few lines today. I will write again soon. When are you leaving? For God's sake do not put it off. He must be taken to Karlsbad without delay, and I hope this can be done with the utmost haste, so that you can spend the end of the summer with me at Maydanovo. At present I have Modest, Bob, and Sania Litke with me. With kisses for both your hands. Yours, P. Tchaikovsky"
Although the autograph only bears the date "3 June", the postmark on the envelope reads "3...1891", thus dating the letter to 3/15 June 1891. Only a few days earlier, Tchaikovsky had returned from his tour of America to stay in a rented house at Maydanovo (near Klin), where he had previously resided between February 1885 and April 1888. Believing this to be available or unsuitable during the winter months, the composer had asked Yekaterina Laroche to find alternative accommodation, and had expressed interest in a nearby dacha owned by a certain "Strandmann." In letter 4401 to his cousin Anna Merkling on 11/23 June 1891, Tchaikovsky reported that "Regarding Strandmann['s dacha], I decided that it's necessary to defer consideration until the autumn." In fact Tchaikovsky would remain in the same house at Maydanovo until 28 March/9 April 1892, after which he moved to his final residence in the town of Klin itself. The work he refers to here as "coming along successfully," is his celebrated Nutcracker ballet, on which he had recently resumed work, the composition of which had been interrupted by his tour of America in the spring.
Tchaikovsky greatly respected Ekaterina and also pitied her for her husband's drunkenness. Herman Laroche had been suffering from ill health over the last few years, compounded by his excessive drinking and long spells of lethargy. Tchaikovsky evidently hoped that taking the waters at Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic) would benefit his old friend.