Exciting Discovery!

Here's what I learned about researching today: When you request a copy of a document, you might have to wait a little bit before you receive it.  When you request a copy of many documents, you might have to wait weeks or months.  Make sure the research institution you are working at can accommodate.  Thank goodness- I think mine can.

Today I looked at MANY excellent manuscripts.  I think I will see many great manuscripts again tomorrow.  They likely won't be able to get them all copied for me while I'm here, so we will have to work out other arrangements.

There is a slight chance I could be done tomorrow at the Tchaikovsky Museum.  Then, either on Thursday or Friday, I will get started at the other museum.  I'm hopeful that I won't need to ask for as many documents at the Glinka Museum.  I'll be more selective, mainly because I have to be realistic- I only have a few weeks here.  I could order some documents and potentially wait around for two weeks, and miss John's family vacation.  Or, I could be more selective in the documents and only order things that are on my "top" or "second" list.  That way, I could fly home earlier and get some relaxation in.  I have things I can use for my dissertation.  I'd love to find a few more things, but I won't be able to take everything with me.  I wanted to take everything, but I won't be able to.  Not this time.

I mentioned my "top" and "second" list.  I have four lists.  I'd love to find ANY manuscript on my top list (there are four pieces).  I have found a few on my second list- and that is very encouraging.  My "second" list is a larger than my top list, but not as large as my other two lists.  This helps me prioritize what I am looking for and how much time I will spend on a manuscript.

Ready for something exciting?  I also found some other pieces that are not listed in New Grove (that source always leads me astray) that Taneyev listed both as "quartet" and for "хор" (choir).  So I'm getting some copies of some of his quartets.  These could easily be sung by a choir.  This was an unexpected and delightful surprise.

I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but this is all excellent.