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761

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:8,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

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Auction Date:2010 Jul 14 @ 22:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
ALS in Russian, signed “P. I. Tchaikovsky,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 4.5 x 7.25, November 24/December 6, 1884 [the date is given in both Western and old-style Russian calendar]. Letter to his brother-in-law, Lvov Davidov, regarding a visit to Davos, Switzerland, where his friend and student Josef Kotek is in a sanitorium. In part: “I found Kotek in a better condition than I had expected; there is some hope of recovery though it is highly likely that he will have to spend another winter in Davos, something he, the poor soul, fears more than death. His doctor is now concerned particularly about two symptoms of his illness: first, his daily fever, and secondly, the swelling of vocal chords caused by cough, as a result of which he does not speak in a normal voice, but rather in a hoarse whisper…Davos is overcrowded with patients. And it is amazing that, although the winter here is very much like Russia, with harsh frosts, they [the patients] all spend the whole day outside and are dressed quite lightly, some even wear no overcoats. The healing powers of Davos are not the purity in the air, but in the air that is highly rarefied, which permits the weak-chested and the consumptive to breathe faster. As a result, the lungs get, as it were, exercised and strengthened, the lesions heal, and most patients recover completely.” In fine condition, with uniform light toning to all pages, and signature a bit cramped.

Josef Kotek studied harmonics and composition at the Moscow Conservatory under Tchaikovsky, with the men soon developing an intimate friendship. Kotek assisted the composer with technical advice in his Violin Concerto, which was written while the two men were staying at a Swiss estate in 1878. According to Tchaikovsky's private correspondence from around this time, the composer was infatuated with Kotek, though their relationship quickly deteriorated further due to Kotek's reluctance to perform Tchaikovsky's concerto. In 1882, Kotek moved to Berlin to further his studies, and as referenced here, by 1884 was gravely ill with tuberculosis. Upon hearing of his friend’s poor condition, Tchaikovsky traveled to Davos to visit for what was the last time. Tchaikovsky may have been overly optimistic in his statement that “most patients recover completely” as Kotek’s fears were realized; he indeed spent the winter at Davos...and died the following January. Despite the unhappy circumstances, the Swiss town of Davos made a favorable impression on Tchaikovsky, who composed the Cherubim's Song No. 3 (of the Nine Church Pieces) during his stay.
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