Peter Tchaikovsky and Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich: the Epistolary Dialogue in the Mirror of K.R.’s Diary

The creative dialogue between P.I. Tchaikovsky and Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich have been drawing attention of musicologists, philologists and culture experts since the beginning of the 20th century. Though, the researchers mainly used their extensive correspondence (1880-1893) as a basis. Grand Duke’s unpublished diary notes about the composer and his works, which were made in different years (from the second half of the 1870s and up to 1915), have never been considered before. The main objective was to assess their volume, their informational value and, finally, to what extent they are the key to the understanding of mutual relations between those two historical figures. In the article, the identified views and opinions are presented in chronological order, are systematized and correlated with the correspondence, with the use of cross-commenting. Information in the diary of Grand Duke is more candid in comparison with the correspondence. Therefore, the methods of comparative source studies were used. The analysis of the diary notes allowed to specify periodization of the correspondence, to trace the evolution of Grand Duke’s interests in Tchaikovsky’s different genres - romances, piano pieces, symphonies, operas, church music, and to reveal some previously unknown facts about Tchaikovsky’s relations not only with Konstantin Konstantinovich, but also with other members of the imperial family. The article’s materials can be used in the courses of history of the Russian music, as well as in the contemporary critical edition of Tchaikovsky’s epistolary heritage and Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich’s diaries.

P.I. Tchaikovsky, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, correspondence, diaries, annotation, chamber vocal culture, romances, source study, Romanov’s archives, august patronage

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