Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Difference between revisions
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<ref name="note5">See [[tchaikovsky:Letter 968|Letter 968]] to [[tchaikovsky:Pyotr Jurgenson|Pyotr Jurgenson]], 15/27 November 1878; [[tchaikovsky:Letter 976|Letter 976]] to [[tchaikovsky:Nadezhda von Meck|Nadezhda von Meck]], 23 November/5 December 1878; [[tchaikovsky:Letter 1016|Letter 1016]] to [[tchaikovsky:Anatoly Tchaikovsky|Anatoly Tchaikovsky]], 11/23 December 1878; and [[tchaikovsky:Letter 1008|Letter 1008]] to [[tchaikovsky:Modest Tchaikovsky|Modest Tchaikovsky]], 6/18 December 1878.</ref>. On 6/18 December 1878 he told [[tchaikovsky:Nadezhda von Meck|Nadezhda von Meck]]: "For the moment I have only [[tchaikovsky:Schiller|Schiller]]'s drama translated by [[tchaikovsky:Zhukovsky|Zhukovsky]]. Obviously the opera text cannot be based strictly on [[tchaikovsky:Schiller|Schiller]]'s scenario. There are too many characters, too many minor episodes. It requires a reworking, not just an abridgement..." | <ref name="note5">See [[tchaikovsky:Letter 968|Letter 968]] to [[tchaikovsky:Pyotr Jurgenson|Pyotr Jurgenson]], 15/27 November 1878; [[tchaikovsky:Letter 976|Letter 976]] to [[tchaikovsky:Nadezhda von Meck|Nadezhda von Meck]], 23 November/5 December 1878; [[tchaikovsky:Letter 1016|Letter 1016]] to [[tchaikovsky:Anatoly Tchaikovsky|Anatoly Tchaikovsky]], 11/23 December 1878; and [[tchaikovsky:Letter 1008|Letter 1008]] to [[tchaikovsky:Modest Tchaikovsky|Modest Tchaikovsky]], 6/18 December 1878.</ref>. On 6/18 December 1878 he told [[tchaikovsky:Nadezhda von Meck|Nadezhda von Meck]]: "For the moment I have only [[tchaikovsky:Schiller|Schiller]]'s drama translated by [[tchaikovsky:Zhukovsky|Zhukovsky]]. Obviously the opera text cannot be based strictly on [[tchaikovsky:Schiller|Schiller]]'s scenario. There are too many characters, too many minor episodes. It requires a reworking, not just an abridgement..." | ||
<ref name="note6">[[tchaikovsky:Letter 1007|Letter 1007]] to [[tchaikovsky:Nadezhda von Meck|Nadezhda von Meck]], 6/18 December 1878.</ref>. "I want to burrow in catalogues and obtain a small collection of books on '' Jeanne d'Arc''" | <ref name="note6">[[tchaikovsky:Letter 1007|Letter 1007]] to [[tchaikovsky:Nadezhda von Meck|Nadezhda von Meck]], 6/18 December 1878.</ref>. "I want to burrow in catalogues and obtain a small collection of books on '' Jeanne d'Arc''" | ||
<ref name="note7">See [[tchaikovsky:Letter 1007|Letter 1007]] to [[tchaikovsky:Nadezhda von Meck|Nadezhda von Meck]], 6/18 December 1878.</ref> . "I'm thinking a very great deal about the libretto and can't yet make a definite plan. There's much that pleases me in [[tchaikovsky:Schiller|Schiller]], but I must admit I'm disturbed by his disdain for historical accuracy" | <ref name="note7">See [[tchaikovsky:Letter 1007|Letter 1007]] to [[tchaikovsky:Nadezhda von Meck|Nadezhda von Meck]], 6/18 December 1878.</ref> . "I'm thinking a very great deal about the libretto and can't yet make a definite plan. There's much that pleases me in [[tchaikovsky:Schiller|Schiller]], but I must admit I'm disturbed by his disdain for historical accuracy" | ||
<ref name="note8">[[tchaikovsky:Letter 1013|Letter 1013]] to [[tchaikovsky:Modest Tchaikovsky|Nadezhda von Meck]], 10/22 December 1878.</ref>. | <ref name="note8">[[tchaikovsky:Letter 1013|Letter 1013]] to [[tchaikovsky:Modest Tchaikovsky|Nadezhda von Meck]], 10/22 December 1878.</ref>. | ||
He was particularly impressed by a scene in which "the king, archbishops and knights recognize Jeanne as a missionary from on high"<ref>Pëtr Il'ic Cajkovskij, Perepiska s N. F. fon-Mekk, vol. 1, p. 543 (letter from Florence, December 6-18, 1878)</ref> and decided that it just had to be a part of his opera. And the scenes of her passion, which he related to the passion of Christ, had a profound impact on him: | |||
{{quote|text=Imagine, my dear friend, that my heroine, that is Jeanne d'Arc, is to blame for my yesterday's abnormally excited condition and bad night. At last, in the evening I began reading your book [Henri-Alexandre Wallon, Jeanne d'Arc, Paris, 1876.], and having reached Jeanne's last days, her sufferings and execution that was preceded by abjuration, when her strength was out and she admitted that she was a witch, I felt such a pity and pain for all the mankind in her person, that it made me feel completely destroyed|author=Pyotr Tchaikovsky|source=Perepiska s N. F. fon-Mekk, vol. 1, p. 539-540 (letter from Florence, December 10, 1878)}} | |||
==== Movements and Duration ==== | ==== Movements and Duration ==== | ||