Details
RACHMANINOV, Sergei (1873-1943). Autograph letter signed ('S. Rachmaninov') to the poet Marietta Shaginyan ('My dear Re'), 111 Strastnoi Boulevard, Moscow, 15 March 1912, in Russian, one page, 4to, autograph envelope (addressed 'for Re').
RACHMANINOV ON THE FOURTEEN ROMANCES OP. 34. Rachmaninov writes asking for help in finding suitable texts, which should be original and not translations, of a suitable length, and be sad rather than happy, 'I need the texts for my Romances ... whether the author is a contemporary one or a dead one makes no difference! Only that they should be original and not a translation and that they are no more than 8-12 or a maximum of 16 lines long ... The mood should be sad rather than happy ... The light colours do not come easily to me'; expressing the hope that she will not be angry, and in a postscript characteristically declining to tell her anything about himself 'I am not writing anything about myself. I cannot and I do not like to. Whoever told you that I am a most ordinary and uninteresting person was not telling you a lie'.
Marietta Shaginyan (1888-1982) was the daughter of a brilliant doctor and an aristocratic mother. She first worked as a journalist before acquiring fame with her collection of poems Orientalia in 1912, the year in which she graduated in philosophy. She later became a leading figure in Soviet literary life. Her correspondence with Rachmaninov began when she wrote to him about his music, concealing her identity from him by using the pseudonym 'Re'; it was some time before Rachmaninov discovered her real name. The correspondence was published by Shaginyan after Rachmaninov's death. 'In his letters to Shaginyan, Rachmaninov revealed more of his intimate thoughts, foibles, his lack of self confidence than to any of his other correspondents' (B. Martyn. Rachmaninoff, 1990).
RACHMANINOV ON THE FOURTEEN ROMANCES OP. 34. Rachmaninov writes asking for help in finding suitable texts, which should be original and not translations, of a suitable length, and be sad rather than happy, 'I need the texts for my Romances ... whether the author is a contemporary one or a dead one makes no difference! Only that they should be original and not a translation and that they are no more than 8-12 or a maximum of 16 lines long ... The mood should be sad rather than happy ... The light colours do not come easily to me'; expressing the hope that she will not be angry, and in a postscript characteristically declining to tell her anything about himself 'I am not writing anything about myself. I cannot and I do not like to. Whoever told you that I am a most ordinary and uninteresting person was not telling you a lie'.
Marietta Shaginyan (1888-1982) was the daughter of a brilliant doctor and an aristocratic mother. She first worked as a journalist before acquiring fame with her collection of poems Orientalia in 1912, the year in which she graduated in philosophy. She later became a leading figure in Soviet literary life. Her correspondence with Rachmaninov began when she wrote to him about his music, concealing her identity from him by using the pseudonym 'Re'; it was some time before Rachmaninov discovered her real name. The correspondence was published by Shaginyan after Rachmaninov's death. 'In his letters to Shaginyan, Rachmaninov revealed more of his intimate thoughts, foibles, his lack of self confidence than to any of his other correspondents' (B. Martyn. Rachmaninoff, 1990).
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