Tolstoy and "the shorthand of emotion"

[Alexandra Popoff]

The quote comes from Tolstoy's letter to Sophia Andreevna of January 16, 1905.
See Jubilee Edition, vol. 84, pp. 370-71.

Regards,

Alexandra Popoff

"Brewer, Michael" wrote:

> It looks to me like Tolstoy wrote something like this to his wife on 17
> January 1905 or in his journal on the 20th of that month.  (музыка - это
> стенография чувств or музыка есть стенография чувств).  I did not go back to
> his collected works to check if the whole quote comes from this particular
> letter, but at least part of it is there (he may have come up with this
> earlier and was just repeating it at this point).
>
>
>
> mb
>
>
>
> Michael Brewer
>
> German and Slavic Studies Librarian
>
> Fine Arts/Humanities Team
>
> Main Library A210
>
> University of Arizona
>
> 621.9919
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Geoffrey Chew [mailto:uhwm006 at SUN.RHUL.AC.UK]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2002 10:25 PM
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Tolstoy and "the shorthand of emotion"
>
>
>
> On Tue, 24 Sep 2002, Alfred Cramer wrote:
>
>
>
> > As a music theorist researching connections between music and
>
> > stenography (shorthand) in the nineteenth century, I am interested in
>
> > the source of the following statement, said to be by Tolstoy.
>
> >
>
> > "Music is the shorthand of emotion.  Emotions which let themselves
>
> > be described in words with such difficulty, are directly conveyed to man
>
> > in music, and in that is its power and significance."
>
> >
>
> > The quotation is attributed to Tolstoy in a number of quotation
>
> > dictionaries, but chapter and verse are never given. I've read around
>
> > and electronically searched the standard Tolstoy works found online
>
> > without success. Does anyone have any ideas?
>
> >
>
> > I'd appreciate any responses. It might be best to respond to me
>
> > privately rather than to the whole list.
>
>
>
> I'd appreciate responses posted to the list...
>
>
>
>  Geoffrey Chew
>
>  Music Department, Royal Holloway, University of London
>
>  Internet: chew at sun.rhul.ac.uk
>
>  Fax:      0870-131 6521 (UK)
>
>  Fax:      (240)209-1260 (USA)
>
>
>
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