Souvenir of an expensive place, op. 42
Piotr Illitch Tchaikovsky

The dear place to which the title of this collection of three charming pieces for violin and piano refers is Braïlov, property of the patron and friend of Tchaikovsky Nadezhda von Meck. This is where the composer spent the month of May 1878 and ended his score in idyllic isolation. Composed almost at the same time as his violin concerto, Souvenir d'un lieu cher also testifies to his incomparable talent for romantic melody. The Russian specialist of Tchaikovsky Alexander Komarov, who was responsible for preparing this edition of the highest quality, consulted all the sources of the work in the Russian and foreign archives. On this occasion, he was also able to clearly refute the current thesis according to which the title Souvenir d'un lieu cher would not have been added until after the composer's death.