- Biography
- Andante Cantabile
- Romeo and Juliet
- Eugene Onegin
- 1812 Overture
- Serenade for Strings
- Sleeping Beauty
- Dance of the Reed Flutes
- Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
- Nutcracker March
- Pathétique
- Swan Lake
Biography
If you see a concert advertised as a ‘Tchaikovsky Night’ you can expect two things: firstly that you will hear the 1812 Overture, the First Piano Concerto, Romeo and Juliet or Swan Lake and quite probably one the of Symphonies nos. 4, 5 or 6, with maybe a bit of the Nutcracker Suite thrown in for good measure; secondly that the concert hall will undoubtedly be full, because these are all great works that have found a place in the hearts of audiences all around the world.
Tchaikovsky’s style is marked by wonderful tunes, luscious harmonies and dramatic colourful orchestrations, and if you are a lover of mainstream classical music then this is the music for you.
Tchaikovsky was rather strange as a young boy and, it seems, became even stranger as time went on.
There was a piano in the house where he was born, and his parents were somewhat taken aback to hear him being able to play on this instrument the tunes that he’d heard and become familiar with on their St Petersburg music box.
They sent him off for formal piano lessons and, with such an exceptional ear for music, he naturally made progress straight away.
However, the family were suffering great difficulties at this time.
Tchaikovsky’s father had problems with his job and it was necessary to send Peter and his brother to a boarding school.
This had a profound effect on Peter, which was compounded by the death of his mother from cholera just shortly after the family had found security again in St Petersburg in 1854.
Tchaikovsky never really found his direction and ended up as a clerk in the Ministry of Justice.
Having always been a man of slightly odd habits, he was known to be partial to chewing up official documents, an activity that was not well received by his colleagues.
He eventually left his rather formal occupation in search of enjoyment and satisfaction in a musical career and, having such an extraordinary talent, success was not long in coming: he soon found himself a respectable job at the Moscow Conservatoire.
Having kicked the habit of chewing documents, Tchaikovsky then suffered all sorts of physical and mental problems, including hallucinations, hypochondria, colitis and tingling sensations in his extremities.
Nevertheless he continued his work and wrote some wonderful (and some not so wonderful) music.
The early symphonies are generally regarded as pieces of little stature, but of course works such as Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, the 1812 Overture and the Symphonies nos. 4, 5 and 6 have found their way to being all-time favourites.
Tchaikovsky was homosexual, but in the back of his mind there was always the desire to get married.
He did so in 1877, to an attractive but very odd girl by the name of Antonina Milyukova, who was apparently a nymphomaniac and thought she had the power to bring Tchaikovsky round.
However, after just five days Tchaikovsky wrote a letter to his brother saying, ‘physically she is totally repulsive to me!’ and, of course, things went from bad to worse.
He ended up running away to his sister’s estate at Kamenka and made an unsuccessful attempt to take his own life.
It was at this point that another woman entered his life who this time was to behis saviour – Nadezhda von Meck, a very wealthy widow who was extremely fond of music.
She looked after Tchaikovsky by giving him an annual allowance of 6,000 roubles, although it appears that the two hardly ever met in person, preferring to correspond in lengthy, explicit letters to each other.
In 1896 Tchaikovsky’s wife Antonina died in a lunatic asylum (to which she had been committed due to sexual derangement) and his relationship with Madame von Meck seemed to provide all he needed out of a relationship with someone of the opposite sex – security, understanding and affection without any physical contact.
This all went towards helping him find his creative genius once more, and he was moved to write the opera Eugene Onegin and the Symphony No. 4 in 1878.
Following a break in the relationship with Madame von Meck and the death of his father, Tchaikovsky spent his last twelve years as something of a nomad.
He lived mainly in hotels and was a man of extreme habits.
He would always awake at seven in the morning, have a cup of tea and then read the Bible.
At 9.30 precisely he would begin composing and then spend the afternoons walking, using the evenings for yet more composing and proof reading.
It was not until about 1888 that he started to write anything of great note – the early part of the decade had been a bit bleak – but with the Symphony No. 5, his symphonic poem Hamlet and the wonderful ballet score for Sleeping Beauty, Tchaikovsky was at his most inspired and producing very great work indeed.
In 1893 he producede the work that he considered to be his finest, the Symphony No. 6 (The Pathetique).
Tchaikovsky admitted to having found writing it an intense and emotional experience, and was frequently moved to tears whilst composing.
It received a strangely cool reception in St Petersburg, which I suppose is not surprising as it is a work of extraordinary vision that needs more than one hearing to fully appreciate.
In November of the same year Tchaikovsky foolishly drank a glass of water straight from the tap, knowing full well that it was the middle of the cholera season.
He died four days later, on 6 November 1893.
In certain highbrow circles, Tchaikovsky’s music is looked down upon for the reason that it is considered over indulgent and too obvious in its expression – the very reason that it is amongst the most popular of all music the world over.
Much of it would be ideal as film soundtracks, and the main theme from the Fantasy Overture Romeo and Juliet has been used on television for all kinds of commercials and romantic background music.
If you do see a concert advertising the music of Tchaikovsky, do go and try it and keep in mind all the troubles and the inner problems he faced throughout his life – you’ll find it a moving and enjoyable experience.
Andante Cantabile
String Quartet No. 1 in D Major: Andante Cantabile
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Taken from Tchaikovsky’s First String Quartet in D Major, this movement is Romantic in the most pastoral sense. The atmosphere is completely relaxed and mellow, yet very much typical of the man’s style.
Romeo and Juliet
**Fantasy Overture ‘Romeo and Juliet’ **
1869, Overtures
The composers who have been inspired, or thought they were inspired, by Shakespeare make an endless list.
Of those on that list, Tchaikovsky is one of the very few whose music speaks with the elemental passion and strife that grip in the same way as the words of Shakespeare.
Yet, incredible as is may seem, Romeo and Juliet was only the fourth of Tchaikovsky’s published orchestral works. He composed it when he was twenty-nine, and it certainly stands out amongst his works as a sudden blaze of inspiration, revealing a unique genius which, though it seldom burned with a steady flame, reached peaks of intensity.
A thorough search through biographies and histories has failed to reveal an explanation for this masterpiece. All that is known is that, during the winter of 1868–9, the composer was involved in a mild relationship with a great singer of the time, Désirée Artét, who had come to Moscow with an Italian touring opera. Tchaikovsky was incredibly attracted to her and discussed the prospect of marriage, much to the concern of his friends. However, it could not have been a serious affair, for within a month the singer had married a popular baritone in Warsaw, where she had gone to sing after her stay in Moscow. Nevertheless, Tchaikovsky was an artistic and sensitive man for whom anything slightly emotional could be interpreted as ‘inspiration’
The overture begins with a hymn-like passage for the woodwinds that recalls the peace of Friar Lawrence, but this is soon broken by a fiery Allegro as the ancient feud between the Montagues and Capulets rages through the orchestra.
A love theme is introduced on a solo clarinet, which develops into a tender communication between the lovers that is constantly interrupted by the fury of street brawls.
Mixing in the Lawrence theme, the orchestra combines all these opposing musical forces to rise to a great fury, but is overwhelmed by the love music that dies away to a lament, ending with sharp tragic chords from the orchestra.
Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin: ‘Waltz’
1879, Opera
Based on Pushkin’s poem of the same name, this is the moving story of a young girl who is humiliated after declaring a teenage passion.
1812 Overture
1812 Overture Op. 49
1880, Overtures
In 1880 Nicholas Rubinstein asked Tchaikovsky to write a new piece for the All Russian Art and Industrial Exhibition to be held in Moscow. Initially Tchaikovsky was rather reluctant but changed his mind when he learnt that the new Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer, built to commemorate the turning away of Napoleon’s armies in 1812, was expected to be consecrated at the time of the exhibition. He soon realised exactly what was required – something to rouse the emotions and encourage patriotic fervour. After starting work, he wrote to a friend saying about the overture: ‘It will be very noisy!!’ It was written to be played in the open air and he included in the music not just a full symphony orchestra, but bells, canons, plenty of percussion and a full military band. Being a completely professional composer and a fine craftsman, Tchaikovsky achieved exactly what he wanted, and this is certainly one his more famous works.
Serenade for Strings
Serenade for Strings Op. 48
1880, Orchestral
In October 1880 Tchaikovsky wrote a letter to his friend and patron, Nadeja von Meck, describing two works he had just completed. One of these was a serenade written for a string orchestra in four movements. He was very proud of the work, saying:
‘I wrote [it] from an inward impulse: I felt it; and I venture to hope that this work is not without artistic qualities.’
The fact that the work became a serenade was something of an accident, as the preliminary sketches had left the composer somewhere between a symphony and a string quartet.
However, the final form was an inspiration to all his admirers, being sophisticated yet undemanding.
The opening section, ‘Piece in the Form of a Sonatina’, has a slow introduction that picks up to a lively and energetic Allegro moderato.
Part two takes us into one of Tchaikovsky’s favourite musical forms, the waltz, and its graceful, lilting melodies make it one of the most popular and charming waltzes he ever wrote. It contrasts nicely with the third movement, which, though initially somewhat wistful, does become livelier in the middle section.
The finale is an Allegro con spirito, though it does begin with a slow introduction based on a Russian folk tune. This movement recalls the main theme from the first movement in its original form to round off the work very effectively.
Sleeping Beauty
The Sleeping Beauty
1890, Ballet
The story of the sleeping beauty must be one of the most famous fairy tales of all time that will never fade in popularity: a princess, put under a spell on her twentieth birthday by the wicked fairy Carabosse, who can only be brought back to life by the kiss of a handsome prince.
This is definitely one of Tchaikovsky’s greatest scores and, along with his other ballet music such as ‘Swan Lake’ and ‘The Nutcracker’, proves him as one of the finest writers in this genre.
Dance of the Reed Flutes
Nutcracker Suite Op. 71a: ‘Dance of the Reed Flutes’
1892, Ballet
Taken from Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet The Nutcracker, the Dance of the Reed Flutes is the seventh movement of the suite. In the ballet, we witness a dance of ‘mirlitons’ – a kind of French crunchy pastry filled with whipped cream, usually eaten with tea or coffee, yet ‘mirliton’ is also the French name for the sort of children’s instrument that the English call a ‘kazoo’. ‘Dance of the Kazoos’ is, however, a rather unflattering name for this piece and, as there is no English name for this pastry, ‘Dance of the Reed Flutes’ has become the popular title.
The music is a trio for orchestral flutes.
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Nutcracker Suite Op. 71a: ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’
1892, Ballet
Tchaikovsky based what was to become his most famous ballet on a children’s Christmas story which tells the tale of a young girl named Clara who receives, as a Christmas present, a grotesque nutcracker. Later that night she sneaks downstairs to find the living-room greatly transformed, as the Christmas tree has grown tremendously and all the toys have come to life. Suddenly the room is invaded by an army of mice and all the toys rally against them, led by the nutcracker. At a crisis in the battle Clara throws her slipper at the king mouse and saves the day, at which point the nutcracker suddenly turns into a handsome young prince who invites her to the Kingdom of Sweets.
At the Palace of the Sugar Plum Fairy a great festival has been prepared especially for Clara, and the ballet ends with a stately grand duet for the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Prince.
The music takes the main players and represents them with instruments suitable for their characters. The Sugar Plum Fairy is heard as a celesta, which is a delicate instrument with soft and gleaming bell-like tones.
Ultimately, this is Tchaikovsky at his most light-hearted and capricious, where every melody has a unique charm and wit.
Nutcracker March
Nutcracker Suite Op. 71a: ‘Nutcracker March’
1892, Ballet
Taken from Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet The Nutcracker, the March is the work’s second movement and is set in a playful mood, with spritely rhythms emphasised by cymbals, plucked cellos and double basses.
Pathétique
Symphony No. 6 (‘Pathétique’)
1892, Symphonies, Orchestral
For many years the exact ‘program’ of the Sixth Symphony remained a mystery. Early this century, however, a note was discovered among the composer’s papers saying:
’ The ultimate essence of the plan of the symphony is LIFE. First part – impulsive passion, confidence, thirst for activity. Must be short. (Finale – DEATH result of collapse.) Second part love; third disappointments; fourth ends dying away (also short).’
What is clear from this, his final symphony, is that Tchaikovsky was, by this time, an absolute master of symphonic form as well as master of his own wild emotions. Breaking from tradition, there is no slow movement but, rather, a strange dance in 5/4 time. Similarly, the last movement, traditionally loud and boisterous, is, in fact, slow and quiet.
The first movement unfolds its scarcely powerful principal theme from the quietest of introductions, which, after extensive development, dies away like a funeral march. A change of pace (Allegro con grazia) is found in the second section as the orchestra takes us through a dance that, in 5/4 time, sounds rather like a waltz with a limp. A little way into the third movement (Allegro molto vivace) we hear the advance of a distant march that grows louder, defiant and arrogant, sweeping away everything before it. There is a sense of terrible power that rises to a furious climax, which rings more of a fall to destruction than any form of triumph.
The final movement (Andante) could almost be described as funeral music, except that it offers little hope of eternal rest, or, in fact, anything at all beyond the grave. The opening phrase of the strings is like a pathetic sigh for the blackness and nothingness of the end. The symphony eventually fades to an inaudible whisper.
Tchaikovsky died nine days after its first performance, aged fifty-three.
Swan Lake
1895, Ballet
With ‘The Nutcracker’, Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’ is one of the most famous pieces of ballet music ever written and throws us into the romantic world of moonlight, grottoes, misty forests and dark secrets.