Tchaikovsky's Legacy to the World

Abstract

In 2015 the musical world will celebrate the 175th anniversary of Tchaikovsky's birth. One of the most significant memorial tributes to the great Russian composer will be the digital database, Tchaikovsky, Open World, which is currently under construction at the Glinka National Museum Consortium of Musical Culture in Moscow. However, the full realisation of the project will be impossible without the combined collaboration of all Russian and foreign museums, archives and libraries that hold Tchaikovsky documents. Tchaikovsky, Open World will be a public online resource of digital reproductions of the materials that were either wholly or partially handwritten by the composer himself. This is the first time that a project of this nature has been undertaken in Russia. In Tchaikovsky's case, primary sources and issues of authorship are especially acute. For instance, many of his musical compositions are best known in versions that appeared after the composer's death and that significantly distort the authentic text. But even where these versions are accurate, they cannot fully convey the original manuscript, the features of its design or details of its history. These data are vital for a better understanding of the composer's intentions, and to inform contemporary performing practice. The present article outlines the nature of this ambitious project and the intentions of the scholars involved in it. They aim to ensure that the digitised material is accompanied by information about the physical characteristics of the manuscripts, as well as historical, textual and analytical commentaries. These particulars will bring Tchaikovsky's manuscript legacy to the widest range of users and reveal previously unknown aspects of his creative personality in all of their depth and complexity.