Photocopy of autograph letter signed from Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky to Adolph Brodsky

Scope and Content

The letter is on monogrammed paper. Tchaikovsky is overjoyed to have heard from Brodsky of more success with the concerto. [Brodsky gave the London premiere at one of the Richter concerts in spring 1882.] Tchaikovsky asks Brodsky to pass on his gratitude to Richter and rejoices that Brodsky has achieved success in London. Tchaikovsky hopes that once he has established a name for himself Brodsky may return to the Conservatoire in Moscow. Tchaikovsky is enjoying the pleasures of the country after a month in Moscow where he bore much distressing melancholy with the awareness of the irretrievableness of time. This sick feeling increases with age. However both at Kamenka and when in isolation in Rome Tchaikovsky's moral well-being is much stronger. He is planning to write an opera. He wishes Brodsky success and wonders how definite is the question of Brodsky's going to Moscow in the summer. Brodsky did play the concerto at the Great Exhibition in Moscow in August 1882.] The letter is dated 4 May 1882. The original letter was presented to John Ogdon on 22 May 1962 to commemorate his success with the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow 1962. The date the photocopy was taken is unknown.