17 February/2 March 1914

Last evening we put on a musicale for our parents and all the usual – Anya, the countess, Dr Botkin, M Gilliard. It’s maddening that Tatiana practises the least and still plays best of the four of us. She swept through her Tchaikovsky as though the palace were on fire. And Mashka played the “Moonlight Sonata” very well, and Olga played “Claire de Lune”, a modern piece by the French composer Debussy.

Then there was my Chopin. I’ve been working on the preludes for weeks and thought I was making progress, but my fingers turn thick and clumsy the minute I have an audience. When I finished, I announced that the Polish composer would have been pleased to know that his piece could be played by ten Russian sausages. (Mama was appalled, as usual.)

Alexei had a surprise for us. He’s been taking lessons on the balalaika, a traditional Russian stringed instrument shaped like a triangle. He played “Kalinka”, one of Papa’s favourites. Papa jumped up and began to dance to it, and we had a terrific time.