[P. Tchaikovsky]. Letter about Tchaikovsky by his former pupil (and lover), Josif Kotek, Davos 1884

[TCHAIKOVSKY, PYOTR]--JOSIF KOTEK (1855-1885).

Autograph letter in German by Kotek about Tchaikovsky (his former teacher, and probably his lover), who has been taking care of him in Davos, signed ("J. Kotek"), 2 December 1884

to an unidentified recipient, probably the composer Ernst Rudorff, apologizing for the late completion of his arrangement of [Rudorff's] "charming Serenade" [op.22], explaining that he has been very ill and that even now he cannot sit for long at his writing desk, informing him that Tchaikovsky has just visited him for eight days at his sanatorium in Davos, where they played through the arrangement, which Tchaikovsky praised, and he has now sent it to Hugo Bock to be published (as long as Rudorff is happy with it), congratulating him on the great success of his "2 Vereins Concerten" in Berlin and asking to be remembered to Joachim and Spitta ("...Vorgestern verliess mich Tschaikowsky, welcher so gut war mich hier auf 8 Tagen besucht zu haben. Mit ihm spielt ich die Serenade und freut mich, daß dieselbe ihm sehr gefiel; besonders die ersten 3 Sätze..."),

4 pages, 8vo, (c.16 x 10.5cm), Davos-Platz Kurhaus, 2 December 1884, minor creasing and staining at folds

Tchaikovsky regarded the violinist Josif Kotek (1855-1885) as his favourite pupil in Moscow, and was indeed infatuated with him; but Kotek was notoriously promiscuous and by no means exclusively homosexual. Kotek studied with Joachim in Berlin and had a short but glittering career; he suffered from syphilis and tuberculosis, and died at a sanatorium in Davos, aged only 29, on 4 January 1885. Tchaikovsky had taken pity on him and travelled from Saint Petersburg to visit him, administering his care for a week in November 1884.