The Museum Estate of P. I. Tchaikovsky houses a small collection of notes — drafts and sketches — made by the composer.
The earliest works of Tchaikovsky were poems and translations that he wrote at the age of seven or eight in Russian and French. They were kept in two notebooks, which were checked by the governess of the Tchaikovsky family, Fanny Dürbach. Modest Tchaikovsky, the composer’s elder brother, recalled that young Pyotr kept these notebooks solely for himself. In them “poems alternate with excerpts from books, sometimes simple drawings of a house, draft letters and random words…”
The museum displays an authentic handwritten autograph of Tchaikovsky — a page from a book with a dedicatory inscription, which the composer made for Alexandra Jurgenson. Alexandra was the daughter of Pyotr Jurgenson, Tchaikovsky’s friend who also published his music. The name of the book, which the classic gifted to Alexandra, is unknown. Only the blank page has survived to the present day, where Tchaikovsky wrote, ‘To Alexandra Petrovna Jurgenson as a memento. P. Tchaikovsky. Moscow. November 26, 1880’. This autograph was transferred to the Museum Estate in January 1977 from the P. I. Tchaikovsky State House-Museum in Klin.
Pyotr Jurgenson started publishing Tchaikovsky’s works long before his music became popular in Russia. It was not profitable to publish sheet music, as they were hardly ever bought. However, Jurgenson did his best to ensure that Tchaikovsky’s texts were published on time and with great care. In addition, the publisher carried out a variety of assignments for Tchaikovsky, helping him financially, and also provided musical sheets for all of the composer’s tours in Russia and other countries. Tchaikovsky stayed with Jurgenson in his house on Kolpachny Lane when he was in Moscow. Nearby, in Khokhlovsky Lane, a sheet music printing house was located: in 1875, the Chambers of Ukraintsev were transferred to the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society, and a printing house was established there.
Jurgenson not only published the composer’s works, but also actively collected his manuscripts. Tchaikovsky was a friend of the publisher’s entire family, regularly corresponded with them. Tchaikovsky dedicated the romance “A Tear Trembles” to Jurgenson.
The earliest works of Tchaikovsky were poems and translations that he wrote at the age of seven or eight in Russian and French. They were kept in two notebooks, which were checked by the governess of the Tchaikovsky family, Fanny Dürbach. Modest Tchaikovsky, the composer’s elder brother, recalled that young Pyotr kept these notebooks solely for himself. In them “poems alternate with excerpts from books, sometimes simple drawings of a house, draft letters and random words…”
The museum displays an authentic handwritten autograph of Tchaikovsky — a page from a book with a dedicatory inscription, which the composer made for Alexandra Jurgenson. Alexandra was the daughter of Pyotr Jurgenson, Tchaikovsky’s friend who also published his music. The name of the book, which the classic gifted to Alexandra, is unknown. Only the blank page has survived to the present day, where Tchaikovsky wrote, ‘To Alexandra Petrovna Jurgenson as a memento. P. Tchaikovsky. Moscow. November 26, 1880’. This autograph was transferred to the Museum Estate in January 1977 from the P. I. Tchaikovsky State House-Museum in Klin.
Pyotr Jurgenson started publishing Tchaikovsky’s works long before his music became popular in Russia. It was not profitable to publish sheet music, as they were hardly ever bought. However, Jurgenson did his best to ensure that Tchaikovsky’s texts were published on time and with great care. In addition, the publisher carried out a variety of assignments for Tchaikovsky, helping him financially, and also provided musical sheets for all of the composer’s tours in Russia and other countries. Tchaikovsky stayed with Jurgenson in his house on Kolpachny Lane when he was in Moscow. Nearby, in Khokhlovsky Lane, a sheet music printing house was located: in 1875, the Chambers of Ukraintsev were transferred to the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society, and a printing house was established there.
Jurgenson not only published the composer’s works, but also actively collected his manuscripts. Tchaikovsky was a friend of the publisher’s entire family, regularly corresponded with them. Tchaikovsky dedicated the romance “A Tear Trembles” to Jurgenson.
