Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893) was a Russian
composer of the Romantic period. He was the first
Russian composer whose music would make a lasting
impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of
the most popular concert and theatrical music in the
current classical repertoire, including the ballets
Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his
First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the Romeo and
Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the
opera Eugene Onegin. Althou...(+)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893) was a Russian
composer of the Romantic period. He was the first
Russian composer whose music would make a lasting
impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of
the most popular concert and theatrical music in the
current classical repertoire, including the ballets
Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his
First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the Romeo and
Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the
opera Eugene Onegin. Although musically precocious,
Tchaikovsky was educated for a career as a civil
servant as there was little opportunity for a musical
career in Russia at the time and no system of public
music education. When an opportunity for such an
education arose, he entered the nascent Saint
Petersburg Conservatory, from which he graduated in
1865. The formal Western-oriented teaching that
Tchaikovsky received there set him apart from composers
of the contemporary nationalist movement embodied by
the Russian composers of The Five with whom his
professional relationship was mixed.
The accepted structure of the modern piano recital
(first and second half divided by an intermission) may
be responsible for the exclusion of Tchaikovsky's Dumka
for piano, Op. 59, from the standard concert repertory.
It is difficult to place on a program. At nearly nine
minutes, it shares the duration of a Chopin Ballade,
but has no suitable companion pieces to accompany it.
It is not part of a set of compositions, and
Tchaikovsky wrote nothing similar that might pair well.
By itself it is too short to occupy an entire half of a
recital. So, by default, it begins the program. Given
the intensity and range of emotions contained in this
small masterpiece, the Dumka deserves a contemplative
pause to isolate it from the rest of the program.
By April of 1885, Tchaikovsky had sought refuge from
hectic metropolitan life and taken up solitary
residence in the countryside far north of Moscow. The
previous decade had taken its toll. The tragedy of his
failed marriage, coming to terms with his
homosexuality, the deaths of mentors and family, and a
hectic schedule of work, left the composer prone to
occasional periods of depression and drinking. The
financial support of his patroness, Nadezhda von Meck,
eased his circumstances to some degree and after
intermittent travels abroad, Tchaikovsky found much in
his new environment inspiring and comforting. He wrote
to von Meck: "I love our Russian countryside more than
any other, and for me the Russian landscape in winter
has an incomparable charm… It's a marvelous day,
sunny, the snow is glistening like myriads of diamonds
and is thawing slightly, my window gives me a wide view
right into the distance. It's wonderful and spacious,
you can breathe properly in these immense
horizons."
The Seasons (Op. 37a/b published with the French title
"Les Saisons"), is a set of twelve short character
pieces for solo piano by the Russian composer Pyotr
Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Each piece is the characteristic of
a different month of the year in Russia. The work is
also sometimes heard in orchestral and other
arrangements by other hands. Individual excerpts have
always been popular – Troika (November) was a
favourite encore of Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Barcarolle
(June) was enormously popular and appeared in numerous
arrangements (including for orchestra, violin, cello,
clarinet, harmonium, guitar and mandolin).
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seasons_(Tchaikovsky
))
Although originally composed for Solo Piano, I created
this Interpretation of "January: At the Fireside" (Op.
37 No. 1) for Flute & Strings (2 Violins, Viola &
Cello).
