You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Russian. (May 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Russian Wikipedia article at [[:ru:Давыдов, Владимир Львович]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|ru|Давыдов, Владимир Львович}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Vladimir Davydov (December 14 [ O.S. December 2] 1871 – December 27 [ O.S. December 14] 1906) was the second son of Lev and Alexandra Davydov, and nephew of the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who called him "Bob". ^[1]

Life

From his earliest years, Davydov showed an aptitude for music and drawing, which was encouraged by his uncle. After he studied at the Imperial School of Jurisprudence in Saint Petersburg, however, Bob decided on a military career and joined the Preobrazhensky Lifeguard regiment. ^[1] He resigned his commission as a lieutenant in 1897 ^[2] and moved to Klin, where he helped the composer's brother Modest create a museum to commemorate Tchaikovsky's life. ^[3] Prone to depression, Davydov turned to morphine and other drugs before he committed suicide in 1906 at the age of 34. ^[2] He is buried at the town's Dem'ianovo Cemetery. ^[1]

Relationship with Tchaikovsky

After Tchaikovsky lost the support of Nadezhda von Meck in 1890, he made Davydov his confidant. ^[4] Tchaikovsky considered relocating from Klin to Saint Petersburg in the last few years of his life so as to live closer to Davydov (a potential move that caused fellow composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov some distress ^[5]) writing to his brother Modest, "Seeing the importance of Bob in my life is increasing all the time.... To see him, hear him and feel him close to me will soon become for me, it seems, the paramount condition for my happiness." ^[6] Davydov was one of the party that remained with Tchaikovsky through his final illness. ^[7] Tchaikovsky named Davydov in his will as the inheritor of the royalties and copyrights to his musical works. ^[8]

Dedications

Tchaikovsky dedicated his Children's Album of piano works, Op. 39 to Davydov, as well as his Sixth Symphony, Op. 74, the Pathétique. ^[1]

Notes

References

• Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Years of Wandering, 1878–1885, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1986). ISBN  0-393-02311-7.
• Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Final Years, 1885–1893, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991). ISBN  0-393-03099-7.
• Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Man and His Music (New York: Pegasus Books, 2007). ISBN  0-571-23194-2.
• Holden, Anthony, Tchaikovsky: A Biography (New York: Random House, 1995). ISBN  0-679-42006-1.
• Taruskin, Richard, Stravinsky and the Russian Traditions: A Biography of the Works Through Mavra, Volume 1 (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1996). ISBN  0-19-816250-2.

External links

• Love letters from Tchaikovsky to Vladimir "Bob" Davydov
• Tchaikovsky Research article on Vladimir Davydov