The name Nadezhda von Meck may not be familiar to many but without this wealthy widow’s generosity some of the finest classical music of all time may never have been written. Here, Caroline Baker explains Nadezhda von Meck and Tchaikovsky’s relationship.
Nadezhda von Meck.
Following the death of her rich and successful husband in 1876, forty-five year old businesswoman Nadezhda van Meck became a social recluse and even refused to attend her own children’s weddings. Her passionate love of music was her only source of joy. Although she had, in essence, removed herself from society, she continued to clandestinely attend her beloved concerts, ensuring that she sat far apart from the rest of the audience.
Finding herself with a surplus of income, and keen to put it to good use, Nadezhda offered ongoing financial support to a composer named Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky whose music she greatly admired. This annual allowance enabled him to resign from his day job to focus full-time on his beloved music.
Pyotr, an incredibly talented young musician, was a lonely and troubled soul. His parents had forced him to attend boarding school at the age of ten; an experience that he found traumatic and never fully recovered from. He found it painfully hard to be separated from his mother, and her death when he was only fourteen years old devastated him.
Oddly, Nadezhda stipulated that her role as benefactor was conditional on them never meeting. They did, however, correspond by letter and this relationship provided great emotional support and encouragement to Pyotr. Over a thousand letters were exchanged between them over a thirteen-year period. Pyotr even described her as “his best friend”. Although they never officially met one another, they did catch sight of each other on occasion and it is reported that they even physically bumped into each other one day during a walk. Even then they did not interact with each other.
When her son Nikolai married Pyotr’s niece Anna, Nadezhda did not attend the wedding; adamant that they should not alter the status of their friendship.
End of the friendship
The relationship came to an abrupt end in 1890 when Nadezhda regretfully informed the composer that she would no longer be able to support him. She paid him a year’s allowance in advance with the understanding that there would be no more payments and no more contact. The true reasons for this were not disclosed to Pyotr, but by this time he was a successful composer and no longer needed the financial support that his patron had provided him with. The sudden loss of the emotional support, however, upset him greatly and he persisted in writing to her. Regrettably the letters were returned to him unopened.
Historians suggest that Nadezhda’s children had long been unhappy about the increasingly intense relationship that had developed between their mother and the composer, not least due to the rumors of Pyotr’s homosexuality. Squabbles within the family regarding money were also identified as a possible reason for the sudden cessation of the patronage. There were also reports that Nadezhda was suffering from atrophy of her arm which would have made writing letters difficult. Due to the intimate nature of their correspondence, it is unlikely that she would have felt comfortable dictating them to another person.
Death
Pyotr sadly died only three years after the relationship ended. His official cause of death was listed as cholera but there were rumours at the time that it may have been a suicide. He was only fifty-three. Nadezhda died only a few months later from tuberculosis at the age of sixty-two.
Thanks to Nadezhda von Meck’s financial and emotional support, Pyotr’s outstanding musical accomplishments of 169 pieces including ballets, symphonies, operas and concertos, have resulted in him becoming one of the world’s most famous composers of all time. Some of his greatest works, including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker Suite and the 1812 Overture are recognised and loved all over the world.
In Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s final letter to Nadezhda he wrote:
“..you probably yourself do not suspect the full immensity of your good deed!”
What do you think of the relationship between Tchaikovsky and Nadezhda von Meck? Let us know below.
Sources
https://www.californiasymphony.org/composer/tchaikovsky/the-woman-behind-tchaikovsky/
Holden, A (1995) Tchaikovsky: A Biography. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-420064
https://www.mfiles.co.uk/composers/Peter-Ilyich-Tchaikovsky.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/oct/21/tchaikovsky-where-to-start-with-his-music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadezhda_von_Meck
