In early 1888, Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Czech composer Antonín Dvořák met for the first time in Prague, where Tchaikovsky was scheduled to conduct two concerts of his own works. The men found they had a mutual admiration for each other's music, meeting several times while Tchaikovsky was in Prague (with Dvořák visiting Tchaikovsky at his hotel, Tchaikovsky having dinner at Dvořák's place, and Dvořák attending Tchaikovsky's rehearsals). Later that year, Tchaikovsky returned to Prague to conduct the first performance outside Russia of Eugene Onegin, his opera based on Alexander Pushkin's verse novel. The performance was attended by Dvořák, who was so enthusiastic about it that he wrote a letter to Tchaikovsky, praising him for his composition. Tchaikovsky answered Dvořák's letter about two weeks later, after having it translated from Czech.
Incidentally, it was on Tchaikovsky's initiative that Dvořák was later invited to Russia to conduct his own music. Dvořák's successful Russian tour was held in the spring of 1890; at the time Tchaikovsky was not in Russia but in Italy.
Prague, January 2nd (14th), 1889
Dear Friend,
When you were lately with us in Prague I promised to write to you on the subject of your opera Oniegin. I am now moved to do so, not only in answer to your request, but also by my own impulse to express all I felt on hearing your work. I confess with joy that your opera made a profound impression on me—the kind of impression I expect to receive from a genuine work of art, and I do not hesitate to tell you that not one of your compositions has given me such pleasure as Oniegin.
It is a wonderful creation, full of glowing emotion and poetry, and finely elaborated in all its details; in short, this music is captivating, and penetrates our hearts so deeply that we cannot forget it. Whenever I go to hear it I feel myself transported into another world.
I congratulate both you and ourselves upon this work. God grant you may give us many another like it.
I embrace you, and remain your sincerely devoted
Anton Dvořák
18/30 January 1889
Frolovskoye village
Dear, kind, most respected friend!
You cannot imagine how gladdened I was by your letter. Your opinion about my opera is especially valuable to me, not only because you are a great artist, but because you are an honest and sincere person! I am proud and happy to the utmost degree to be worthy of such sincerely felt words from you, my kind, most respected friend! Thank you once more with all my heart!!!
Forgive me for not replying at once to your letter. Having received it I, despite all my efforts, could not understand it, although I vaguely surmised that it would be welcome! I had to send it to Hřímalý in Moscow to be translated, and this translation has only today been delivered to me.
Ten days ago I wrote a long letter to A. O. Patera, asking him to speak in detail with you regarding your visit to Moscow. Thus far I still haven't received a reply. For God's sake, dear friend, do agree to come; we all want this very much.
Give my regards to your most respected spouse and all our mutual friends: Bendl, Fibich, N. P. Apraksin, Mariya Fyodorovna, etc.
I embrace you, dear Dvořák!!!
Yours, P. Tchaikovsky
Notes:
-By January 1889, when the above letters were written, Tchaikovsky was an internationally recognised composer and one of the leading musicians of his time. Many of his major works had already been composed, although some of his most popular works were still to come: Sleeping Beauty (being finalized in 1889), The Nutcracker (1892), and Symphony No. 6, Pathétique (1893). Dvořák, while already a successful and respected composer in Europe, would not achieve wide international fame until after he moved to the United States in 1892. In 1893, he composed his Symphony No. 9 (From the New World), which is often considered his masterpiece.
-It took considerable time for Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (premiered in 1879 in Moscow) to gain widespread recognition outside of Russia. While the Prague performance in 1888, attended by Dvořák, was well received, the real turning point came with the Hamburg performance in 1892, conducted by Gustav Mahler. After the Hamburg success, Eugene Onegin gradually became an internationally popular and frequently performed opera.
- Regarding the double dates of the letters: Both the Julian calendar (Old Style) and the Gregorian calendar (New Style) are used. The Julian calendar was used throughout the Russian Empire, which was 12 days behind the international Gregorian calendar (New Style). Russia would not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1918.
Source letter Dvořák: The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky by Modest Tchaikovsky (1906), via Project Gutenberg
Image top: Tchaikovsky by Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov in 1893; in November of that year, the composer suddenly died at the age of 53, his death attributed to cholera
Image bottom: Dvořák with his wife Anna in London, 1886
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