Skip to main content

Primary sourceArtifact1890

Tchaikovsky & Anton Rubinstein & Friends

Julius Block · 1890

An 1890 Edison cylinder recording made by Julius Block, preserving the only known recording of Tchaikovsky's voice.

This is the only surviving recording of Tchaikovsky's own voice, captured informally among fellow musicians.

Ask Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Edison cylinder recording of Tchaikovsky, Anton Rubinstein and friends, made by Julius Block, 1890.

About this source

What it is

This is an audio cylinder recorded in 1890 by Julius Block on behalf of Thomas Edison, capturing the voices of several Russian musicians, including the composer Anton Rubinstein, singer Elizaveta Lavrovskaya, conductor Vasily Safonov, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky himself.

Why it matters

This recording is historically significant because it is the only known recording of Tchaikovsky's actual voice. On it, he comments on a trill and jokes about the new recording technology, giving a rare, informal glimpse of the composer among friends and colleagues rather than through his formal compositions.

Look closer

  • What does hearing a historical figure's actual voice add that written sources cannot?
  • Why might Block have wanted to capture this gathering of musicians on Edison's new technology?
  • What do the playful, joking comments reveal about the personalities of those recorded?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky sources

Meet the AI Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky →
Stage performance of Swan Lake: a ballerina in a white tutu kneels center stage in blue light, surrounded by a V-shaped formation of dancers in white tutus, with several more ballerinas in white tutus posed in the background.Artifact

Secondary source

Swan Lake

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky · 1875–1876

A large orchestra performs on a stage in a dark arena, with a full choir standing in tiers behind the players. Stage lights, lasers and white pyrotechnic sparks and flares fill the air, with spectators seated in the foreground.Artifact

Secondary source

1812 Overture

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky · 1880

Handwritten-style printed orchestral score excerpt showing the opening measures of a multi-staff musical score in 3/4 time with key signature of two sharps, with multiple staves including treble, bass, and strings, with slurs, rests, and fermatas.Artifact

Primary source

Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky · 1893

Cover of an late 19th-century edition of the opera Eugene Onegin. Turquoise decorated binding with Cyrillic title 'Евгений Онегин' and author name 'П. Чайковский' at top, with a gold-colored ornamental emblem at the bottom center.Artifact

Primary source

Eugene Onegin

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky · 1877–1878

Oil portrait of an older man with white hair and a white mustache and beard, wearing a dark suit, dark tie, and white collar. He gazes to the side against a dark background, with one hand resting on an open sheet of music at lower left.Painting

Primary source

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov · 1893

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions