Tchaik­ovsky's great Russian music patron: Madame von Meck.

In Women in C19th Russia told of the lives of wo­men across Russia, from weal­thy St Petersburg noble wo­men to Siberian peas­ants, and their cont­ribution to the arts. Rosslyn & Tosi showed how women tried for great­er auton­omy and developed a presence in Russ­ia's cul­ture from 1800-1917. But the important role pl­ay­ed by the cultural salons meant that if women did try serious music, it was in the form of songs and instrum­ent­al works suitable for homes.

Family von Meck c1875

Baroness holding youngest daughter. Engineer Karl von Meck in centre, with dark hat.

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.

violinist Iosif Kotek with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 1877

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.

Nadezhda von Meck became a widow in 1876, 

Wiki

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. 

 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,

c1888 by Émile Reutlinger

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.

 When she abrupt­ly ended the relat­ion­ship and cash-flow in 1890, it caused Tchaikovsky real pain. In fact the loss of von Meck’s emotional and financial sup­port made Tchaik­ov­s­ky’s 3 final years of life miserable. In 1893 cholera killed him.     

Women in C19th Russia: Lives and Culture, 2012 

by Wendy Rosslyn and Alessandra Tosi eds

Another important supporter was pianist, conductor and composer Nikolay Rubinstein who became very popular within the city's literary-artistic circles. In 1860, he was appointed head of the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society, where he arranged and conducted concerts, and established the RMS music classes that led to the opening of the Moscow Conservatory. Nikolay made Tchaikovsky the Professor of Music Theory, encouraged his musical abilities and gave him lodgings. Rubinstein did a great deal to promote Tchaikovsky's music, and in 1866-80 he conducted the premieres of most orchestral compositions that Tchaikovsky wrote. Tchaikovsky was very grateful for Rubinstein's support, dedicating many of his works to him.

Read Beloved friend: Story of Tchaikowsky and Nadejda von Meck by Catherine Bowen, 1946.