Consider Russian rulers’ influence on Enlightenment. Led by Alexandra Fedorovna (1798–1860), wife of Czar Nicholas I (1796–1855), the Imperial household loved music. Alexandra was an active patron of court musicals, where she and Nicholas played the piano, and she encouraged the nobility to get involved. Women’s education was now including literature, music, drawing, dancing and languages, designed to improve noble girls’ marriage prospects.
Only when St Petersburg Conservatoire and Moscow
Conservatoire opened in 1862 and 1866 respectively could musicians
aspire to high status in Russian society. Although much of this credit
belonged to Anton Rubinstein (1829–94), nothing could have
been done without the support of his Imperial patron, Grand Duchess
Elena Pavlovna (1807–73). The greatest beneficiaries of conservatoire
training were of course men. Young women students were dedicated, but they
would have no public careers.
Married at 16, Nadeshda von Meck (1831-1894) helped her railway
engineer husband in building his empire, while having 11 surviving children
and developing her reputation as a good musician. She could not make music a
career, because of Imperial Russia’s rigid societal-gender rules. But Madame was not satisfied just with giving private concerts for family and
friends. She preferred to be directly involved in the music world and she
certainly had the funds and passion to succeed.
When writing his will, engineer Karl von Meck knew his wife
could manage her power well, though he couldn’t have foreseen that she’d
become one of Russia’s best patrons of the arts. Karl’s sudden
death from heart-failure in 1876 left her controlling great wealth. But owing to his early death, 45 year old Madame von
Meck became a lonely recluse with 11 children.
Now examine the relationship between the brilliant Russian composer Pyotr
Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-93) and Madame von Meck. In 1876 the widow
was already a strong upper-class matron with cultivated tastes. She took the
family to Italy each summer, so the Paris Conservatoire of Music sent
young students there, to instruct and play music with her.
Tchaikovsky
and Von Meck got together because of young violinist Iosif Kotek,
Tchaikovsky’s ex-pupil. Kotek suggested to Madame, then his own patron and
employer, that she reach out to the composer. The friendship started
with a fan letter from the widow, sent Dec 1876. She’d
heard Tchaikovsky’s music at concerts, particularly The Tempest, and loved it. While she was grieving her husband, music sustained her.
After his disastrous marriage in 1877, gay Tchaikovsky had a breakdown and
fled over Europe. So von Meck stepped in properly, paying off his large debts
and sending a monthly cheque. They were equally lonely & depressed. The
widow needed him to provide arrangements of his own works, for violin and piano, for her to perform.
A way of supporting the later C19th career aspirations of men was by providing substantial financial support. In Tchaikovsky’s case, von Meck proved vital in dealing with his personal & professional difficulties. The composer was grateful & thrilled when she began to commission compositions from him, and paid him! Boldly he also began to ask von Meck for more loans. In time she gave him 6,000 Russian rubles a year, a lavish salary. He was able to quit the Moscow Conservatory, where he taught music theory, and devote himself to composing full time.
In mid 1880, teenage Claude Debussy (1862–1918) was among the
students sent to Villa Oppenheim in Florence. He too came under
Madame von Meck’s patronage. She engaged Debussy to play duets with her and
her children, travelling to her palatial residences in Europe in the
Conservatory’s summer holidays.
By mutual planning, the two never met and their relationship was conducted through a series of long letters. Their correspondence lasted from
1877-90, and 1,200+ of their letters survived! Madame’s money
was instrumental in allowing her mentee to establish himself as Russia’s first
full-time professional composer. Throughout this era, Tchaikovsky enjoyed
great financial security.
It was traditional for an artist to dedicate a masterpiece to the valued patron,
and Tchaikovsky did! He dedicated his Symphony #4, performed in
Moscow in Feb 1878, to Madame von Meck, thus also affirming her as an equal
partner in its creation. The letters suggested that she was directly involved
in planning the composition and the larger programme. She also patronised
him while he was writing the opera Eugene Onegin, premiered in Moscow
in 1879.
Tchaikovsky’s only obligations to von Meck were producing beautiful music AND replying to her impassioned letters. This was unusual back then; it was more common for patrons to show off their protégés and to keep them as companions in public events. In return, the musician added prestige and sophistication to the patron. But von Meck and Tchaikovsky remained solely correspondents.
26 comments:
Tchaikovsky was very aware of how dependent he was on the Imperial court, the Emperor, Dukes and their generous moneys. But I have never heard of this amazing woman, Madam Von Meck.
What a story. I learnt so much about this woman Madam Von Meck. There are always more background stories to any famous personality.
Nadejda - nice russian name and she looks rather nice in the picture.
Lucky Tchaikovsky to get such a generous matron! His music was worth every ruble. I'm paricularly fond of his ballet music: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker.
How fortunate was Tchaikovsky to have such patronage and how grateful are we that he was able to devote his time to composing instead of teaching.
An early version of a woman with 'My gay boyfriend' except the relationship was only conducted by letters, and true to form, it ended in tears. I wonder what he did that triggered Madame to end the relationship.
Deb, Nadeshda von Meck grew up in a wealthy landowning, music playing family and married a railway tycoon. So she was well connected to the moneyed class. But her claim to fame was her passionate love of music, which she had intensely studied and showed off in concerts, and her foreign language skills. Yet, as you say, you have never heard of this amazing woman.
roentare, it is very true that there are always more background stories to any famous personality than we know. Famous, respectable people want to 1] hide embarrassing family stories, 2] ignore their past career failures, 3] ignore their past sexual failures etc. But the reason you didn't know of Madam Von Meck was because she was a woman.
DUTA, you picked your favourite Tchaikovsky ballet music that were the three Helen selected - Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker. She also likes Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird, The Rite of Spring, Petrushka.
Fun60, true! Tchaikovsky and all other aspiring musical stars clearly understood the importance of sincere patronage, and expressed their gratitude openly. They even encouraged their own patrons to share the love around with other musicians who needed the support.
Teaching music would have at least been a tolerable fallback position, if there wasn't enough income to support the family from the chosen career. Consider poor Jan Vermeer who had to be an innkeeper; James Joyce worked as a bank clerk; and Henri Rosseau was a toll collector.
Andrew, the relationship ended suddenly and without much explanation. Von Meck's son later wrote: The first was that it had become physically impossible for my mother to continue her correspondence with Pyotr Ilyich owing to a sharp decline in her faculties, following pneumonia in winter 1889-1890.
The second reason was purely on moral grounds. Following my mother's illness, my older brother then became mortally ill. My mother was so shaken by this illness that to her everything and everyone else became secondary, and she devoted herself to taking care of my brother during his last days. My mother saw my brother's illness as a divine punishment for her having indulged in correspondence and friendly relations with Pyotr Ilyich, instead of devoting herself wholly to her children.
https://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Nadezhda_von_Meck
Once free of the ties of teaching, Tchaikovsky began to travel widely throughout the world but he still kept in touch with Nadejda by letter. Soon the income from his compositions grew so that he was no longer dependent on the money she provided for him.
Almost inevitably their relationship began to crumble. Mainly it seems the reason was the result of a misunderstanding. Fearing, mistakenly as it turned out, that she was near bankruptcy, Madame von Meck decided that she could no longer make Tchaikovsky a regular allowance. The composer felt the ending of their friendship very deeply. Although he was now famous throughout Europe, his fame seemed to do little to ease his unhappiness. Towards the end of his life he completed one of his most famous works – his Sixth Symphony/Pathetique. Its first performance was a success but a few days later he was dead from cholera.
Boa tarde e boa quarta-feira com muita saúde e paz.
Obrigado pela excelente explicação e materiais.
Luiz Gomes
That's quite a tale. Having a wealthy patron seemed to be a good thing to have. I've read a few other comments too and it is interesting about this composer's life. He was very talented, but I knew little of his life. Hope your week is going well.
Look and Learn, thank you. Did people know that the income from Tchaikovsky's compositions grew so that he was no longer dependent on the money von Meck provided for him? Von Meck's son suggested it was all her decision, albeit a decision made from old age and disease.
Luiz, the Russian royals, upper classes and intellectuals were so committed to leading the world in the arts, especially music, they created every technique known to support their rising stars - patronage, royal concerts, paid education at Paris Conservatoire of Music and in Italy.
Erika, Tchaikovsky came from a very large and emotional family, and must have struggled throughout his childhood and teens. When his young mother died, Ilya was left in charge of all the youngest siblings. Tchaikovsky spent 9 years boarding student at a School of Jurisprudence which both enhanced his homosexual preferences and left him open to rape and ridicule. For a very very talented man, it seems he suffered from depression and uncertainty all his adult life.
Thankyou so much for this post . I had heard about Madame but had never investigated. So very interesting .
mem
Fascinating yes. My family is very Russian in its cultural practices. I learned ballet with Borovansky for years and my late mother loved playing Tchaikovsky (and other Russians) on the piano. Yet neither of us had known the name Nadeshda von Meck.
I have a lot more reading to do, clearly!
Nadezhda von Meck has an intriguing face but not as intriguing as her life. I was fascinated by your post today. The architecture of the French Quarter has made my historical fantasies truly colorful ...and made my writing a bit more challenging to do it justice! https://rolandyeomans.blogspot.com/2023/04/k-is-for-misunderstaning.html
Roland
Thank you for reading the post.
The difference is that the von Meck story is (largely) not a historical fantasy. Although only a half of 1200 letters between Tchaikovsky and his patron survived, they have been carefully preserved, translated and published in a book. I hope you can get access to it.
Boa tarde e bom final de semana com muita saúde e paz.
Luiz Gomes
Very interesting - as is the speculation in the comments as to why the composer and his patron parted ways, and whether it caused financial (or emotional) ruin to the former
Luiz
it is so important to learn about the culture of other nations, I think. I hope you enjoy this look at 19th century Russia.
Mandy
the end of the patron-protégé relationship was certainly a terrible, emotional wrench for both parties, but at that stage in Tchaikovsky's career, the financial risks were largely mitigated.
I cannot imagine 14 years of an intimate relationship ending overnight with little explanation. It would break my heart, and I am not deeply depressed and constantly anxious about my sexuality.
What an interesting bunch off people you come from Helen . You should do a memoir post !!
mem
I selected both my mother's parents and cousins very carefully :)
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