What did Tchaikovsky’s voice sound like? rare Recording ( 1890 )

Tchaikovsky’s Voice Captured in 1890: The Forgotten Edison Phonograph Recording Rediscovered

In a quiet corner of music history, a remarkable moment was captured in time—a rare recording from 1890 featuring the voices of legendary composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and several of his contemporaries. This fragile audio was preserved on an Edison phonograph cylinder, thanks to Julius Block, a Russian businessman of German descent who became captivated by the possibilities of sound recording.

Julius Block and the Birth of Recorded Sound

Block wasn’t just a collector—he was an early visionary in the world of sound preservation. Fascinated by Thomas Edison’s newly invented phonograph, he began documenting voices and music long before most people even understood what a recording was. In fact, Block managed to convince none other than Tchaikovsky himself to endorse the phonograph, helping to bridge 19th-century music and 20th-century technology.

One of the most remarkable sessions took place in 1890, when Block gathered a group of prominent musicians in his home. The cylinder, now over 130 years old, includes brief, candid snippets from Anton Rubinstein, Elizaveta Lavrovskaya, Vassily Safonov, and Tchaikovsky himself.

What They Said: Translations from the 1890 Cylinder

Though much of the audio is faint—barely above a whisper—you can still hear traces of conversation, jokes, musical warm-ups, and laughter. It feels like eavesdropping on a secret gathering of musical greats, each exploring this “wonderful invention” for the first time.

Some of the translated moments include:

    Anton Rubinstein: “What a wonderful thing [the phonograph].”

    Pyotr Tchaikovsky: “This trill could be better.” and “Block is good, but Edison is even better.”

    Elizaveta Lavrovskaya: playfully singing and reacting to being named.

    Vassily Safonov: attempting a scale and naming publisher Peter Jurgenson.

 Why This Matters

For music historians, this isn’t just an old recording—it’s one of the earliest audio documents of a composer we’ve only known through manuscripts, letters, and written biographies. To hear Tchaikovsky’s voice, even briefly, is a surreal bridge between past and present. It offers an intimate, unscripted look into the personal world of classical music giants.