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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ddae5a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #50230 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50230) diff --git a/old/50230-0.txt b/old/50230-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 070a252..0000000 --- a/old/50230-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1999 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Tchaikowsky and His Orchestral Music, by Louis Biancolli - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Tchaikowsky and His Orchestral Music - The New York Philarmonic Symphony Society Presents... - -Author: Louis Biancolli - -Release Date: October 16, 2015 [EBook #50230] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TCHAIKOWSKY, HIS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Kris de Bruijn, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - [Illustration: PETER ILYITCH TSCHAIKOWSKY - _A drawing of the composer late in life._] - - - - - _Tschaikowsky_ - - AND HIS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC - - - By LOUIS BIANCOLLI - - [Illustration: Harp and cello logo] - - NEW YORK - _Grosset & Dunlap_ - PUBLISHERS - - Copyright 1944, 1950 - The Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York - - Printed in the United States of America - - - - - _Foreword_ - - -Included in this little book are analyses and backgrounds of most of -Tschaikowsky’s standard concert music. A short sketch of Tschaikowsky’s -life precedes the section devoted to the orchestral music. Yet, -the personal outlook and moods of Russia's great composer are so -inextricably bound up with his music, that actually the whole booklet -is an account of his strangely tormented life. In the story of -Tschaikowsky, life and art weave into one closely knit fabric. It is -hoped that this simple narrative will aid music lovers to glimpse the -great pathos and struggle behind the music of this sad and lonely man. - - - - - _Tschaikowsky_ - AND HIS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC - - -Few great names in music spell as much magic to the average -concert-goer as that of Peter Ilyitch Tschaikowsky. In almost every -musical form will be found a work of his ranking high in popularity. -And quite deservedly so. Tschaikowsky’s music brims with a warm -humanity and stirring drama. The themes and feelings are easy to -grasp. The personal, intimate note is so strong in this music that we -find it natural, while listening to the _Pathetic_ symphony or the -_Nutcracker_ ballet suite, for example, to share Tschaikowsky’s joys -and sorrows. His music seems to take us into his confidence and show us -the secret places of his heart. Although Tschaikowsky’s range of moods -is wide—from the whimsical play of light fantasy to stormy outcries -of anguish—essentially he was a melancholy man, in his music as in -his life. Perhaps it is the genuineness of his music in conveying great -pathos and suffering that has drawn millions to his symphonies and -concertos. A frank sincerity and warmheartedness well from his music. -The best of his melodies linger hauntingly in the mind and heart. So -long as sincere feeling expressed in sincere artistic form can move the -hearts of men, Tschaikowsky’s music will continue to hold a high place -in the concert hall and opera house. - -Only Beethoven and Mozart can rival Tschaikowsky in the number of -compositions in various musical forms that stand out as repertory -favorites. Tschaikowsky’s violin concerto is as much a “request” item -as Beethoven’s. The _Pathetic_ symphony ranks with the three or four -enduring favorites of the repertory. Tschaikowsky’s _Nutcracker_ ballet -is probably the most popular suite of its kind in music. The opera, -_Eugene Onegin_, a masterpiece worthy to stand beside some of the -best Italian and German operas, is widely loved even outside Russia. -Tschaikowsky’s Piano Concerto, or, at any rate, the big opening theme, -is doubtless known to more people than all other piano concertos put -together. The overture-fantasies, _Romeo and Juliet_ and _Francesca da -Rimini_, rank with the most popular in that form, and the _Overture -1812_ is an international hit with music-lovers of all ages and stages. -Tschaikowsky’s song, _None But the Lonely Heart_, is better known -to many music-lovers than most of the songs of Brahms and Schubert, -and the great String Quartet contains a melody familiar to every -follower of popular song trends. For, of all the classical composers, -Tschaikowsky has been a veritable gold-mine as a lucrative source of -themes for popular arrangement. - -Yet, this sad and sensitive musical genius who knew so well how to -reach the human soul surprisingly began his career as a clerk in -the St. Petersburg Ministry of Justice. Like other great Russian -composers, Tschaikowsky arrived at music by a circuitous route, almost -by accident. Moussorgsky, one recalls, was long an officer in the -Czar’s Army before he switched to music. And Borodin always regarded -music as a secondary pursuit to his medical practice and his laboratory -experiments in chemistry. Tschaikowsky was first a lawyer. But soon he -found court action and the preparation of briefs tiresome and unsavory -toil, so at twenty-one he returned to his first love, which was music. - -Born on May 7, 1840, Tschaikowsky had begun to study piano at the -age of seven. When he was ten, his father, a director of a foundry -at Votinsk with next to no interest in music, took the family to St. -Petersburg. There young Peter continued his musical studies, never, -though, with any thought of preparing for a career in music. Yet, -later, even while studying law, he went on playing the piano and taking -part in the performances of a choral society. Although he amused -friends by improvising on the piano, few detected any signs of creative -genius. At twenty-one Tschaikowsky made his crucial break. He abandoned -law, began earnestly to master musical theory, and resolved to risk -poverty and starvation by devoting himself to music professionally. -Today we can only applaud his decision. The repertory would be the -poorer without his music. Besides, it is not likely that the law lost a -great practitioner when Tschaikowsky bade it farewell. - -His first important step was to enroll in the Russian Musical -Society, later to become the St. Petersburg Conservatory. There -Anton Rubinstein, the renowned pianist and composer, then teaching -composition and orchestration, exerted a lasting influence on him. -At that time Anton’s brother Nicholas was founding the Moscow -Conservatory. Impressed by Tschaikowsky’s brilliant showing at the St. -Petersburg school, he engaged him as instructor in harmony for the -new Moscow organization. Tschaikowsky held the post for eleven years. -The pay was scant, but there were weightier compensations. Nicholas -Rubinstein gave the young man a room in his Moscow house, encouraged -him to compose, introduced him around, and gave him sound advice on -sundry matters. Best of all, he produced many of Tschaikowsky’s early -compositions. Tschaikowsky, loyal and devoted in all his ties, never -forgot his friend. After Rubinstein’s death, he dedicated his Trio, _In -Memory of a Great Artist_, to the great man who had given him his real -start in music and a creative life. - -During his second year in the Moscow Conservatory Tschaikowsky fell -madly in love with the French soprano Désirée Artôt, then touring -Russia. While the indecisive Russian wasted time weighing the -advantages and disadvantages of marriage, a Spanish baritone named -Padilla came along, made violent love to Mlle. Artôt, and hurried her -off to the altar before she could catch her breath and notify her -Russian suitor. We nevertheless owe the fickle French lady a debt of -gratitude. Without the emotional disturbance Tschaikowsky might not -have been moved to write the _Romeo and Juliet_ overture-fantasy. His -first serious rebuff in love had at any rate paid dividends in art. - -From then on Tschaikowsky wrote at a feverish pace. Whenever his duties -at the Conservatory could spare him, he retired to his study and wrote -symphonies, overtures, operas, chamber music, songs, and religious -choruses. Sometimes a gnawing doubt in his own talents assailed him. To -his friends he wrote voluminous letters complaining of the strong sense -of inferiority bedevilling his work. There were attacks of bleak gloom -and diffidence lasting weeks. Trips to the country or to Italy and -Switzerland were often needed to restore his damaged nervous system and -jarred self-confidence to normalcy. Unfavorable reviews stung him like -wasps. And while Moscow often evidenced great enthusiasm for his music, -St. Petersburg was harder to please. The press there was often virulent -with abuse. - -Then Tschaikowsky pinned great hopes on his operas _Eugene Onegin_ and -_Pique Dame_ (“The Queen of Spades”). Both proved fiascos at their -premières, though the public and press later revised their opinions -drastically. Moreover, reports reached him of the cold reception -accorded his _Romeo and Juliet_ in Paris and the catcalls greeting his -music in Vienna. And there was a music critic named Eduard Hanslick in -Vienna who kept Tschaikowsky awake nights wondering what new critical -blast was awaiting his latest Viennese première. - -Ironically, America and England were the only two countries instantly -attracted to Tschaikowsky’s music. There his prestige rose with each -new symphony or overture. Cambridge University conferred an honorary -doctor’s degree on him in 1893. Europe was soon to be won over, -however. Despite an often hostile press, the music publics of France, -Germany, and Austria began clamoring for more and more of his music, -and conductors were forced to acquiesce. But to the end he remained a -sorrowing and morose man, hypersensitive, even morbidly so, but almost -always the soul of kindliness and punctilio. When, on the invitation of -Walter Damrosch, Tschaikowsky came to America in 1891, he was widely -acclaimed by public and press. While here he gave six concerts in all, -four in New York, one in Baltimore and one in Philadelphia. In New York -he was guest of honor on the programs of the New York Symphony Society -celebrating the opening of the Music Hall, now Carnegie Hall. The -festival lasted from May 5 to May 9, and Tschaikowsky was widely feted -socially and professionally. He conducted several of his own works in -the hall constructed largely from funds provided by the steel magnate, -Andrew Carnegie. - -The year 1877 is an important one in the chronicle of Tschaikowsky’s -life. He made his one disastrous experiment in marriage with a -romantic-minded young conservatory student named Antonina Miliukov. -The girl had aroused his pity and alarm by her passionate avowals of -love and equally passionate threats of suicide. The story is discussed -below in my account of the Fourth Symphony, which grew partly out of -that distressing episode. Suffice it here to note that the experience -was so shattering to Tschaikowsky that he attempted to end his life by -standing up to his neck at night in the freezing waters of the Neva -River. Antonina eventually died in an insane asylum. Tschaikowsky -formed another alliance that year, one far more profitable and far -less nerve-wracking than his short tie with Mlle. Miliukov. This was -his famous friendship with Nadezhka von Meck, a wealthy and cultivated -widow. Out of profound admiration for his music and a probable romantic -hope to become Mrs. Tschaikowsky, Mme. von Meck settled an annuity -amounting to $3,000 on the destitute and ailing composer. The gift -continued for thirteen years. Many letters about life, music, and -people were exchanged between Tschaikowsky and his Lady Bountiful. The -two never met, however. Tschaikowsky’s Fourth Symphony is dedicated to -this remarkable woman, who was the most famous Fairy Godmother in music. - -Although Tschaikowsky himself thought of the _Pathetic_ symphony as -his crowning masterpiece, the première on October 28, 1893, in St. -Petersburg proved a disappointment. Tschaikowsky took it bitterly. -Two weeks later, however, the tables were turned. Everybody acclaimed -it warmly. But Tschaikowsky was not there to bow his acknowledgment. -He had fallen victim to the cholera epidemic then raging in St. -Petersburg. Though warned by the authorities, Tschaikowsky drank some -unboiled water on November 2. Four days later he was dead. No symphony -was more appropriately named than this melancholy masterpiece, the -_Pathetic_ symphony, the brooding phrases of which sound truly like the -“swan song” of a tired and abysmally disillusioned man of genius. - - - MARCHES, OVERTURES, FANTASIAS, ETC. - - - _Marche Slave_, OPUS 31 - -The _Marche Slave_ stands foremost among Tschaikowsky’s marches, -of which he wrote numerous, including several incorporated in his -operas and suites. Most of them were composed for special purposes -or occasions. There is the _Marche Solennelle_, written “for the Law -Students,” which figured on the housewarming program at the opening -of Carnegie Hall in May, 1891, besides a _Marche Militaire_, which he -wrote for the band of the Czar’s 98th Infantry Regiment. In 1883 the -city of Moscow requisitioned a _Coronation March_ from him. Earlier, -Tschaikowsky had written a march in honor of the famous General -Skobelev. But he held it in such low esteem that he allowed it to -circulate as the work of a non-existent composer named Sinopov. - - [Illustration: The composer at the age of twenty-three, during his - early years at the Moscow Conservatory.] - - [Illustration: Désirée Artôt, the French soprano who, in jilting -Tschaikowsky, helped to inspire his Romeo and Juliet overture-fantasy.] - -The _Marche Slave_ was written in 1876 for a benefit concert to raise -funds for soldiers wounded in the Turko-Serbian war, which presently -merged into a greater war between Turkey and Russia. It is based -largely on the old Russian anthem, “God Save the Emperor,” and some -South Slavonic and Serbian tunes. The main theme has been traced to the -Serbian folk song, _Sunce varko ne fijas jednako_ (“Come, my dearest, -why so sad this morning?”). Divided into three sections, the march -features fragments of the old Czarist hymn in the middle portion. -How the hymn itself came to be written is told by its author, Alexis -Feodorovich Lvov: - -“In 1833, I accompanied the Emperor Nicholas during his travels in -Prussia and Austria. When we had returned to Russia I was informed by -Count von Benkendorf that the sovereign regretted that we Russians had -no national anthem of our own, and that, as he was tired of the English -tune which had filled the gap for many years, he wished me to see -whether I could not compose a Russian hymn. - -“The problem appeared to me to be an extremely difficult and serious -one. When I recalled the imposing British national anthem, ‘God Save -the King,’ the very original French one and the really touching -Austrian hymn, I felt and appreciated the necessity of writing -something big, strong and moving; something national that should -resound through a church as well as through the ranks of an army; -something that could be taken up by a huge multitude and be within the -reach of every man, from the dunce to the scholar. The idea absorbed -me, but I was worried by the conditions thus imposed on the work with -which I had been commissioned. - -“One evening as I was returning home very late, I thought out and wrote -down in a few minutes the tune of the hymn. The next day I called on -Shoukovsky to ask him to write the words; but he was no musician and -had much trouble to adapt them to the phrases of the first section of -the melody. - -“At last I was able to announce the completion of the hymn to Count von -Benkendorf. The Emperor wished to hear it, and came on November 23 to -the chapel of the Imperial Choir, accompanied by the Empress and the -Grand Duke Michael. I had collected the whole body of choristers and -re-enforced them by two orchestras. The sovereign asked for the hymn -to be repeated several times, expressed a wish to hear it sung without -accompaniment, and then had it played first of all by each orchestra -separately and then finally by all the executants together. His Majesty -turned to me and said in French: ‘Why, it’s superb!’ and then and there -gave orders to Count von Benkendorf to inform the Minister of War that -the hymn was to be adopted for the army. The order to this effect was -issued December 4, 1883. The first public performance of the hymn was -on December 11, 1883, at the Grand Theater in Moscow. The Emperor -seemed to want to submit my work to the judgment of the Moscow public. -On December 25 the hymn resounded through the rooms of the Winter -Palace on the occasion of the blessing of the colors. - -“As proof of his satisfaction the Emperor graciously presented me with -a gold snuff-box studded with diamonds, and in addition gave orders -that the words ‘God Save the Tsar’ should be placed on the armorial -bearings of the Lvov family.” - - - _Overture 1812_, OPUS 49 - -Although clearly a _pièce d’occasion_ prompted by the commemoration -of a crucial page in Russian history, the _Overture 1812_ is a minor -mystery in the Tschaikowsky catalogue. Supposedly Nicholas Rubinstein -commissioned Tschaikowsky in 1880 to write a festival overture for the -Moscow Exhibition. At least the composer admits as much in letters to -Nadezhka von Meck and the conductor Napravnik. - -But his friend Kashkin insisted the piece was requested for the -ceremonies consecrating the Moscow Cathedral of the Saviour, intended -to symbolize Russia’s part in the Napoleonic struggle. The overture, -accordingly, pictured the great events beginning with the Battle of -Borodino (September 7, 1812) and ending with Napoleon’s flight from -Moscow, after the city was set aflame. To make it more effective, the -work was to be performed in the public square before the cathedral. -An electric connection on the conductor’s desk would set off salvos -of real artillery, and all Moscow would thrill with thoughts of its -heroic past. In any case Tschaikowsky finished the overture at Kamenka -in 1880, and though the cathedral was dedicated in the summer of 1881, -there is no record of the planned street scene having come off. - -Instead, we find Tschaikowsky offering the overture to Eduard -Napravnik, then directing the Imperial Musical Society of St. -Petersburg: “Last winter, at Nicholas Rubinstein’s request, I composed -a Festival Overture for the concerts of the exhibition, entitled -‘1812.’” Tschaikowsky then makes a statement that possibly suggests -an earlier rebuff: “Could you possibly manage to have this played? It -is not of great value, and I shall not be at all surprised or hurt if -you consider the style of the music unsuitable to a symphony concert.” -Apparently Napravnik turned down the overture, and its première was -postponed to August 20, 1882, when it figured on an all-Tschaikowsky -concert in the Art and Industrial Exhibition at Moscow. - -Tschaikowsky’s attitude to the work is further expressed in the -letter to his patroness-saint Mme. von Meck. There he speaks of the -overture as “very noisy” and having “no great artistic value” because -it was written “without much warmth of enthusiasm.” And in a diary -entry of the time he refers to it as having “only local and patriotic -significance.” - -The “patriotic significance,” of course, is what gives the overture -its _raison d’être_ as a motion picture of historical events. -Tschaikowsky’s brushstrokes are bold and obvious. The French and -Russians are clearly depicted through the use of the Czarist National -Anthem and the _Marseillaise_. Fragments of Cossack and Novgorod folk -songs enter the scheme, and the battle and fire scenes are as plain as -pictures. As the overture develops, one envisions the clash of arms -at Borodino, with the Russians stiffly disputing every step and the -_Marseillaise_ finally rising dominant. The Russians are hurled back; -the French are in Moscow. Finally the city is ablaze and the dismal -rout begins, as cathedral bells mingle with the roll of drums and the -hymn, _God Preserve Thy People_, surges out in a paean of victory. - - - _Capriccio Italien_, OPUS 45 - -Described by Edwin Evans as a “bundle of Italian folk-tunes,” the -_Capriccio Italien_ draws partly on published collections of such -melodies and partly on popular airs heard by Tschaikowsky in 1880 while -touring Italy. “I am working on a sketch of an ‘Italian Fantasia’ based -on folksongs,” he notifies his patroness-confidante, Nadeshka von Meck, -from Rome on February 17, 1880. “Thanks to the charming themes, some of -which I have heard in the streets, the work will be effective.” - - [Illustration: A facsimile of a piece of Tschaikowsky’s music, signed - by the composer.] - -Tschaikowsky’s room at the Hotel Constanzi overlooked the barracks of -the Royal Cuirassiers. Apparently the bugle-call sounded nightly in -the barracks yards contributed another theme “heard in the streets,” -for it may be heard in the trumpet passage of the introduction. The -_Italian Fantasia_ was fully sketched out in Rome and the orchestration -begun. With the title now changed to _Capriccio Italien_, the work was -completed that summer on Tschaikowsky’s return to Russia. Nicholas -Rubinstein directed the première at Moscow on December 18, 1880. Six -years later Walter Damrosch introduced it to America at a concert in -the Metropolitan Opera House, the precise date being November 6, 1886. - -After the introductory section, the strings chant a lyric theme of -slightly melancholy hue, which the orchestra then develops. Later -the oboes announce, in thirds, a simple folk melody of less sombre -character. This, too, is elaborately worked out, before the tempo -changes and violins and flutes bring in another tune. This promptly -subsides as a brisk march section sets in, followed by a return of -the opening theme. There is a transition to a lively tarantella, then -another bright theme in triple rhythm, and finally the Presto section, -with a second tarantella motif leading to a brilliant close. - -“It is a piece of music which relies entirely on its orchestration for -its effects,” writes Evans in the Master Musicians Series. “Its musical -value is comparatively slight, but the coloring is so vivid and so -fascinating, and the movement throughout so animated, that one does not -realize this when listening to the work. It is only afterwards that -one experiences certain pangs of regret that such a rich garment should -bedeck so thin a figure.” - - - SUITE FOR STRINGS, _Souvenir de Florence_, OPUS 70 - -Compared with his output in other forms, Tschaikowsky’s chamber music -is small, consisting of an early quartet, of which only the first -movement survives, three complete string quartets, a trio, and the -_Souvenir de Florence_, written for violins, violas, and ’cellos in -pairs. - -As the title implies, the work grew out of a visit to Italy early in -1890, though as a clew to the mood and manner of the music, _Souvenir -de Florence_ is a better title for the first two movements than for the -others. The remaining _Allegretto moderato_ and _Allegro vivace_ bear -an Italian “memory” only insofar as much other music by Tschaikowsky -and other composers may share the same quality. Even a marked Slavic -character is evident in places, which is only natural. As is well -known, Tschaikowsky’s overture-fantasy _Romeo and Juliet_ is often -dubbed “Romeo and Juliet of the Steppes.” - -A first mention of the _Souvenir_ occurs in a letter to -Ippolitoff-Ivanoff dated May 5, 1890, written shortly after -Tschaikowsky’s return from abroad. It is quoted by his brother Modeste: -“My visit brought forth good fruit. I composed an opera, ‘Pique Dame,’ -which seems a success to me.... My plans for the future are to finish -the orchestration of the opera, sketch out a string sextet [the -_Souvenir_], go to my sister at Kamenka for the end of the summer, and -spend the whole autumn with you at Tiflis.” - -On the following June 30 he communicated news of the sextet to his -patroness-saint Mme. von Meck, hoping she would be “pleased to hear” -about it. “I know your love of chamber music,” he writes, “and I hope -the work will please you. I wrote it with the greatest enthusiasm and -without the least exertion.” - -In November Tschaikowsky went to St. Petersburg for a rehearsal of -_Pique Dame_. While there he arranged for a private hearing of the -sextet by friends. The performance left him cold and he resolved to -rewrite the Scherzo and Finale. By the following May the work was -thoroughly remodelled. It was not till June, 1892, while in Paris, that -he actually completed the revision to his satisfaction. - -The four movements comprise an _Allegro con spirito_ (D minor, 4-4), -an _Adagio cantabile e con moto_ (D major, 3-4), an _Allegretto -moderato_ (A minor, 2-4), and an _Allegro vivace_ (D minor-D major, -2-4). The form is largely that of the classical string quartet, though -characteristically bold and novel devices of color and structure -abound. Often the strings are ingeniously treated to suggest wind -instruments, and one senses Tschaikowsky’s frequent striving for -orchestral effects. - -Research has failed to unearth the “opprobrious epithets” Tschaikowsky -is alleged to have heaped upon this slight but appealing work. - - - OVERTURE-FANTASY, _Romeo and Juliet_ - -Shortly before the overture-fantasy on Shakespeare’s tragedy took -shape in Tschaikowsky’s mind, he had been jilted by the French soprano -Désirée Artôt, then enjoying a prodigious vogue as opera singer in St. -Petersburg. The twenty-eight-year-old composer and Mlle. Artôt had -become engaged in 1868, but the lady promptly left him and married the -Spanish baritone Padilla y Ramos. The theory is that Tschaikowsky’s -composition grew out of the resulting emotional upset, or at least that -his frame of mind conduced to tragic expression on a romantic theme. - -The Artôt episode acted as stimulus, but the concrete suggestion for -using Shakespeare’s tragedy in a symphonic work came from Balakireff -during a walk with Tschaikowsky and their friend Kashkin “on a lovely -day in May.” Balakireff, head of the group of five young Russian -composers (Tschaikowsky was not one of them) bent on achieving a pure -national idiom, went so far as to outline the scheme to Tschaikowsky, -unfolding the possibilities of dramatic and musical co-ordination so -vividly that the young composer took eagerly to the project. Balakireff -even furnished the keys and hints for themes and development. - -However, four months went by before Tschaikowsky plunged into the -actual composition of the overture-fantasy. Balakireff kept in close -touch with him and virtually supervised the process. His dogmatism and -narrowness often bored and irritated the young composer. Balakireff -accepted this and rejected that, was pitilessly graphic in his -comments, and yet somehow egged on the hypersensitive Tschaikowsky to -completion of a taxing assignment. Finally, in January of the following -year, Balakireff and Rimsky-Korsakoff came to visit him and he could -write: “My overture pleased them very much and it also pleases me.” -Still, the Moscow public responded coolly, and Tschaikowsky felt -obliged to revise much of the score that summer. Further rewriting was -done for the definitive edition brought out in 1881. - -The thematic scheme is easy to follow. Friar Laurence takes his bow in -a solemn andante introduction for clarinets and bassoons in F-sharp -minor. The feud of the Montagues and Capulets rages in a B minor -allegro. Romeo and Juliet enter via muted violins and English horn in -a famous theme in D-flat major suggesting Tschaikowsky’s song _Wer nur -die Sehnsucht kennt_ (“None But the Lonely Heart”). The strife-torn -Montagues and Capulets return for another bout. Chords of muted violins -and violas hinting at mystery and secrecy bring back the love music. -The themes of Romeo and Juliet, the embattled families, and Friar -Laurence are heard in succession, followed by a fierce orchestral -crash, and the storm subsides to a roll of kettledrums. - - - _Francesca da Rimini_, FANTASIA FOR ORCHESTRA (AFTER DANTE), OPUS 32 - -Written in 1876, Tschaikowsky’s symphonic treatment of the celebrated -love story of Paolo and Francesca grew out of an original project for -an opera on the same subject. He abandoned the idea of an opera when -the libretto submitted to him proved impossible. Later Tschaikowsky -again read through the fifth canto of Dante’s _Inferno_, in which the -tragedy is related. Stirred by the verses and also by Gustave Doré’s -illustrations, he resolved to write an orchestral fantasy on the -subject. - -Prefacing the score are the following lines from Dante’s great poem: - -“Dante arrives in the second circle of hell. He sees that here the -incontinent are punished, and their punishment is to be continually -tormented by the crudest winds under a dark and gloomy air. Among these -tortured ones he recognizes Francesca da Rimini, who tells her story. - -“‘ ... There is no greater pain than to recall a happy time in -wretchedness; and this thy teacher knows. But if thou hast such desire -to learn the first root of our love, I will do like one who weeps and -tells. - -“‘One day, for pastime, we read of Lancelot, how love constrained him. -We were alone, and without all suspicion. Several times reading urged -our eyes to meet, and changed the color of our faces. But one moment -alone it was that overcame us. When we read of how the fond smile was -kissed by such a lover, he, who shall never be divided from me, kissed -my mouth all trembling. The book, and he who wrote it, was a Galeotto. -That day we read in it no farther.’ - -“While the one spirit thus spake, the other wept so that I fainted with -pity, as if I had been dying; and fell, as a dead body falls.” - -Tschaikowsky used to insist that the following titles be given in the -program-book at performances of his fantasia: - - I. Introduction: The gateway to the Inferno - (“Leave all hope behind, all ye who enter here”) - Tortures and agonies of the condemned. - II. Francesca tells the story of her tragic love for Paolo. - III. The turmoil of Hades. Conclusion. - -The composition starts with a descriptive setting, in which a sinister, -gruesome picture is painted of the second circle of Dante’s _Inferno_. -The awesome scene, with its haunting, driving winds, desolate moans, -and dread terror, is repeated at the end. In the middle occurs a -section featuring a clarinet in a plaintive and tender melody heard -against string pizzicati. This instantly evokes the image of Francesca -telling her tragic tale, which mounts in fervor and reaches its -shattering crisis, before the wailing winds of Dante’s netherworld -close in again. - - - BALLET SUITES - - - SUITE FROM THE BALLET, _Swan Lake_ (_Le Lac des Cygnes_) - -All told, Tschaikowsky wrote three ballets, plus a scattering of -incidental dances for operas, beginning with the surviving “Voyevode” -fragments. The composition of _Swan Lake_, first of the trio—the -others being _The Sleeping Beauty_ and _The Nutcracker_—originated in -a twofold impulse, the need for ready cash and a fondness for French -ballet music, especially the works of Delibes and the _Giselle_ of -Adolphe Adam, which Tschaikowsky regarded as archetype. - -He evidently thought little of his initial effort, for shortly after -the Moscow production of _Swan Lake_ he recorded in his diary: “Lately -I have heard Delibes’ very clever music. ‘Swan Lake’ is poor stuff -compared to it. Nothing during the last few years has charmed me so -greatly as this ballet of Delibes and ‘Carmen’.” Per contra, the same -entry bemoans the “deterioration” of German music, the immediate -offender being the “cold, obscure and pretentious” C minor symphony of -Brahms! - -Tschaikowsky was probably sincere when he described his own ballet as -“poor stuff” compared with Delibes’. That was in 1877. Performances of -_Swan Lake_ at the Bolshoi Theater had been flat, shabby, and badly -costumed. A conductor inexperienced with elaborate ballet scores had -directed. Modeste Tschaikowsky, in the biography of his brother, -testifies to this. Numbers were omitted as “undanceable,” and pieces -from other ballets substituted. At length only a third of the original -remained, and not the best. The ballet dropped out of the Moscow -repertory, and it was not until 1894 that the enterprising Marius -Petipa wrote to Moscow for the full score and produced _Swan Lake_ -with brilliant success at the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, -on January 15, 1895. It has since remained a repertory staple, both -the current Ballets Russes and the Ballet Theatre having staged it -successfully. Pavlova, Karsavina, and Markova, among others, have -interpreted the heroine Odette, and Prince Siegfried has been embodied -by Nijinsky, Lifar, Mordkin, and Dolin. _Swan Lake_ was one of the -first ballets witnessed in his youth by Serge Diaghileff, founder of -the famous Ballets Russes. - -Tschaikowsky first refers to _Swan Lake_ in a letter to -Rimsky-Korsakoff, dated September 10, 1875: “I accepted the work partly -because I need the money and because I have long cherished a desire to -try my hand at this type of music.” V. P. Begitche, stage manager of -the Bolshoi, offered 800 roubles (less than $500) and in turn granted -Tschaikowsky’s request for a story from the Age of Chivalry, making -the sketch himself. Tschaikowsky set to work in August, 1875, and had -the first two acts planned out in a fortnight, but the score was not -completed till the following March and for some reason held up for -performance until February, 1877. - -The story, possibly of Rhenish origin, tells how Prince Siegfried woos -and wins Odette, the Swan Queen. At a celebration the prince is told -he must soon choose a bride. A flight of swans overhead distracts him -and a hunt is proposed. Siegfried and the hunters are at the lake-side. -It is evening. Odette appears surrounded by a bevy of swan-maidens. -She begs the hunters to spare the swans. They are maidens under the -spell of the enchanter Rotbart. Swans by day, they return briefly to -human form at midnight. The prince and Odette fall in love. Siegfried -swears she will be his wife. Odette cautions him about Rotbart’s evil -power. Breach of promise will mean her death. Rotbart brings his own -daughter to the court ball, disguised as Odette. Siegfried makes the -false choice of bride, and the pledge is broken. Discovering Rotbart’s -ruse, he hastens to Odette, who at first rebuffs him. Siegfried -blames Rotbart and Odette relents. At length Rotbart whips up a storm -which floods the forest. When Siegfried vows he will die with Odette, -Rotbart’s spell is shattered and all ends happily. - -Tschaikowsky’s close friend and collaborator Kashkin is authority for -the statement that an adagio section in _Swan Lake_ was a love-duet -in the opera _Undine_ before it found new lodgings. Conversely, a -Danse Russe in the group of piano pieces, Op. 40, was written for -_Swan Lake_, thus balancing matters. Like _The Sleeping Beauty_ and -_The Nutcracker_, _Swan Lake_ is famed for its waltz. The score brims -with typical Tschaikowskyan melody, and probably for the first time -in ballet music a scheme of leitmotifs is used, two of the principal -subjects being the tremulous theme of the swans in flight and the -hauntingly wistful theme of Odette herself, assigned to the oboe -against soft strings and harp arpeggios. The music adjusts itself -snugly to the technic of pure classical ballet and solos and ensembles -are contrasted adroitly. - - - SUITE FROM THE BALLET, _The Sleeping Beauty_, OPUS 66 - -Based on Perrault’s famous fairy tale, Tschaikowsky’s _Sleeping Beauty_ -ballet dates from the summer of 1889. Its music is generally regarded -as superior to that of the _Swan Lake_ ballet and inferior to that -of the _Nutcracker_ suite. Few ballet scores are so suitable in mood -and style for the action they accompany. The music is truly melodious -in Tschaikowsky’s lighter vein. The fantasy is conveyed in bright, -glittering colors, and, as Mrs. Newmarch pointed out, the music “never -descends to the commonplace level of the ordinary ballet music.” -There are thirty numbers in all, many of them, especially the waltz, -endearing in their lilting and haunting grace. The work was first -produced in St. Petersburg on January 2, 1890. In the early twenties, -Diaghileff, the great ballet producer, revived the work in London and -elsewhere with immense artistic _éclat_. Fragments of the ballet have -been gathered in the Monte Carlo Ballet Russe’s production of _Aurora’s -Wedding_. - - - SUITE FROM THE BALLET, _The Nutcracker_, OPUS 71-A - -The usual fit of depression assailed Tschaikowsky while composing -the music for his _Nutcracker_ ballet, based on E. T. A. Hoffmann’s -story _Nussknacker und Mausekönig_ (“Nutcracker and Mouse King”). -Commissioned by the St. Petersburg Opera early in 1891, the work was -slow in taking shape. At length, on June 25, Tschaikowsky completed -the sketches for the projected ballet. What had taken him weeks should -have been finished in five days, he lamented. “No, the old man is -breaking up,” he wrote. “Not only does his hair drop out, or turn as -white as snow; not only does he lose his teeth, which refuse their -service; not only do his eyes weaken and tire easily; not only do his -feet walk badly, or drag themselves along, but, bit by bit, he loses -the capacity to do anything at all. The ballet is infinitely worse than -‘The Sleeping Beauty’—so much is certain.” - -Apparently the first night audience agreed with him, for at the -première in the Imperial Opera House, the response was chilling. Yet an -earlier concert performance of the music had drawn plaudits from both -public and press. The ballet’s failure, however, was easy to explain. -The producer, Marius Petipa, fell ill, and the work of staging the -new ballet was entrusted to a man of inadequate skill and experience. -Then, the audience found it hard to thrill to the spectacle of children -dashing coyly about in the first act. And balletomanes, accustomed to -beauty and glamor in their favorite ballerinas, found the girl dancing -the part of the Sugarplum Fairy anything but appetizing to look at. - -Act I of the ballet is concerned with a Christmas Tree party. The scene -is overrun with children and mechanical dolls. Little Marie is drawn -to a German Nutcracker, which is made to resemble an old man with huge -jaws. During a game, some boys accidentally break the Nutcracker. Marie -is saddened by the tragedy. That night she lies awake in bed, sleepless -with grief over the broken utensil. Finally, she jumps out of bed and -goes to take one more look at the beloved Nutcracker. Suddenly strange -sounds reach her ears. Mice! The Tree now seems to come to life and -grow massive. Toys begin to stir into action, followed by cakes and -candies. Even the Nutcracker creaks into life. Presently a battle -arises between the mice and the toys. The Nutcracker challenges the -Mouse King to a duel. Just as the Nutcracker is about to be felled, -Marie hurls a shoe and kills the royal rodent. And of course, the -Nutcracker promptly is transformed into a handsome prince. Arm in arm, -they leave for his magic kingdom. - -The scene now changes to a mountain of jam for the second act. This is -the land ruled by the Sugarplum Fairy, who is awaiting the arrival of -Marie and her princely escort. The court cheers jubilantly when the -happy pair appears on the scene. What follows is the series of dances -usually heard in the concert hall. The sequence runs as follows: - -_Miniature Overture_ (_Allegro giusto_, B-flat, 4-4), featuring -two sharply differentiated themes, scored largely for the higher -instruments. - -_March_ (_Tempo di marcia vivo_, G major, 4-4), in which the main theme -is chanted by clarinets, horns and trumpets, as the children make their -measured entrance. - -_Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy_ (_Andante con moto_, E minor, 2-4). Here -the celesta gives out the entrancing melody, with pizzicato strings -accompanying. - -_Russian Dance: Trepak_ (_Tempo di trepak, molto vivace_, G major, -2-4), which grows out of a brisk rhythmic figure heard at the beginning. - -_Arabian Dance_ (_Allegretto_, G minor, 3-8). Intended to convey -the idea of “Coffee.” A melody in Oriental mood is announced by the -clarinet, later picked up by the violins. - -_Chinese Dance_ (_Allegretto moderato_, B-flat major, 4-4). Intended to -convey the idea of “Tea.” The melody is given to the flute against a -pizzicato figure sustained by bassoons and double basses. - -_Dance of the Mirlitons_ (_Moderato assai_, D major, 2-4). For the main -theme three flutes join forces. Then comes a different melody given out -by the trumpets in F-sharp minor before the chief subject is back. - -_Waltz of the Flowers_ (_Tempo di valse_, D major, 3-4). Woodwinds and -horns, aided by a harp-cadenza, offer some introductory phrases. Then -the horns give out the fetching main melody. Soon the clarinets take it -up. Flute, oboe, and strings bring in other themes, and the waltz comes -to a brilliant close. - - - CONCERTOS - - - CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA, IN D MAJOR, OPUS 35 - -Before occupying its permanent niche in the repertory, Tschaikowsky’s -violin concerto had to run a fierce gantlet of fault-finding. Friend -and foe alike took pokes at it. The wonder is that it survived at all. -Even Mme. von Meck, Tschaikowsky’s patroness-saint, picked serious -flaws in the work, and the lady was known for her unwavering faith in -Tschaikowsky’s genius. - -As a matter of fact, Tschaikowsky, often an unsparing critic of his -own music, started the trend by finding objection with the Andante -and rewriting it whole. That was in April, 1878. He was spending the -spring at Clarens, Switzerland. Joseph Kotek, a Russian violinist and -composer, was staying with him. Tschaikowsky and Kotek went over the -work several times, and evidently saw eye-to-eye on its merits. - -Then came the first outside rebuff. Mme. von Meck was frankly -dissatisfied and showed why in detail. Tschaikowsky meekly wrote back -pleading guilty on some counts but advancing the hope that in time his -Lady Bountiful might come to like the concerto. He stood pat on the -first movement, which Mme. von Meck particularly assailed. - -“Your frank judgment on my violin concerto pleased me very much,” he -writes. “It would have been very disagreeable to me if you, from any -fear of wounding the petty pride of a composer, had kept back your -opinion. However, I must defend a little the first movement of the -concerto. - -“Of course, it houses, as does every piece that serves virtuoso -purposes, much that appeals chiefly to the mind; nevertheless, the -themes are not painfully evolved: the plan of this movement sprang -suddenly in my head and quickly ran into its mould. I shall not give up -the hope that in time the piece will give you greater pleasure.” - -Next came a more serious setback from Leopold Auer, the widely -respected Petersburg virtuoso. Auer was then professor of violin at the -Imperial Conservatory and the Czar’s court violinist. Tschaikowsky, -hoping to induce Auer to launch the concerto on its career, originally -dedicated the work to him. But Auer glanced through the score and -promptly decided against it. It was “impossible to play.” - -Tschaikowsky later made a quaintly worded entry in his diary to the -effect that Auer’s pronouncement cast “this unfortunate child of -my imagination for many years to come into the limbo of hopelessly -forgotten things.” Justly or unjustly, he even suspected Auer of having -prevailed on the violinist Emile Sauret to abstain from playing it in -St. Petersburg. - -The ice finally broke when Adolf Brodsky, after two years of admitted -laziness and indecision, took it up and succeeded in performing it with -the Vienna Philharmonic on December 4, 1881. Yet, even Brodsky, despite -his wholehearted espousal of the work, complained to Tschaikowsky that -he had “crammed too many difficulties into it.” Previously, in Paris, -Brodsky had experimented with the concerto by playing it to Laroche, -who, whether because of Brodsky’s rendering or the concerto’s inherent -character, confessed “he could gain no true idea of the work.” - -Even the première went against the new concerto. In the first place -Brodsky had to do some strong propagandizing to get Hans Richter to -include the work on a Philharmonic program. Then, only one rehearsal -was granted. The orchestral parts, according to Brodsky, “swarmed with -errors.” At the rehearsal nobody liked the new work. Besides, Richter -wanted to make cuts, but Brodsky promptly scotched the idea. Finally, -during the performance, the musicians, still far from having mastered -the music, accompanied everything pianissimo, “not to go smash.” - -Of course, Brodsky outlines the chain of contretemps in a letter to -Tschaikowsky partly to assuage the composer’s pained feelings on -receiving news of the Vienna fiasco. For the première ended with a -broadside of hisses, completely obliterating the polite applause coming -from some friendly quarters. As the _coup de grâce_ Eduard Hanslick, -Europe’s uncrowned ruler of musical destinies, wrote a scathing notice, -which Philip Hale rendered as follows: - -“For a while the concerto has proportion, is musical, and is not -without genius, but soon savagery gains the upper hand and lords it to -the end of the first movement. - -“The violin is no longer played. It is yanked about. It is torn -asunder. It is beaten black and blue. I do not know whether it is -possible for any one to conquer these hair-raising difficulties, but I -do know that Mr. Brodsky martyrized his hearers as well as himself. - -“The Adagio, with its tender national melody, almost conciliates, -almost wins us. But it breaks off abruptly to make way for a finale -that puts us in the midst of the brutal and wretched jollity of a -Russian kermess. We see wild and vulgar faces, we hear curses, we smell -bad brandy. - -“Friedrich Vischer once asserted in reference to lascivious paintings -that there are pictures which ‘stink in the eye.’ Tschaikowsky’s violin -concerto brings to us for the first time the horrid idea that there may -be music that stinks in the ear.” - -The pestiferous odors of the Hanslick blast further embittered -Tschaikowsky’s already gloomy disposition, and it is not surprising to -learn that the review haunted him till the day he died. But Brodsky’s -unflagging devotion to the concerto, together with his practical -missionary zeal in acquainting the European public with it, finally -started the concerto on its path of glory. - -“Nor was that the end of time’s revenges,” wrote Pitts Sanborn. -“Hanslick was to write glowingly of the ‘Pathétique’ symphony, and -in due course Leopold Auer not only played the unplayable concerto -himself, but made a specialty of teaching it to his pupils, who have -carried its gospel the world over. But while the belated triumphs were -accruing Tschaikowsky died.” - -The dedication is to Brodsky, who certainly earned it. - -The first movement (_Allegro moderato_, D major, 4-4), opens with a -melody for strings and woodwind. Then the solo violin is heard in a -cadenza-like sequence followed by the first theme (_Moderato assai_). A -second theme, _Molto espressivo_, is next discoursed by the violin in A -major. Instead of the usual development there is an intricate cadenza -without accompaniment. A long and brilliant coda concludes the movement. - -The second movement (_Canzonetta: Andante_, 3-4) starts with the -muted solo violin chanting, after a brief preface, a nostalgic theme -in G minor. The flute and clarinet then offer the first phrase of -this theme, and later the solo violin unreels a Chopinesque second -subject, in E-flat major, _con anima_. The clarinet offers an obbligato -of arpeggios when the first theme returns. The rousing finale is an -_Allegro vivacissimo_ in D major, 2-4. - -The Rondo-like last movement, typically Russian in theme and rhythm, -develops from two folk-like melodies. Listeners will be reminded of -the well-known Russian dance, the Trepak, in this movement. The music -builds up at a brisk pace to a crashing climax. - - - CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA, IN B-FLAT MINOR, NO. 1, OPUS 23 - -Like the violin concerto, Tschaikowsky’s great piano concerto in -B-flat minor went through a gruelling ordeal of abusive rebuffs and -setbacks before becoming established as one of the world’s most beloved -symphonic scores. In the case of the violin work, it was Leopold -Auer who first flouted it as unplayable, and then made it a popular -repertory standby. Nicholas Rubinstein is the name linked with the -early stages of the piano concerto. After excoriating the concerto in -its first state, Rubinstein grew to like it, humbly apologized for his -blunder, and made practical amends by playing it in public with huge -success. - -Early in its composition we find Tschaikowsky writing to his brother -Anatol: “I am so completely absorbed in the composition of a piano -concerto. I am anxious that Rubinstein should play it at his concert. -The work proceeds very slowly and does not turn out well. However, I -stick to my intentions and hammer piano passages out of my brain; the -result is nervous irritability.” Begun in November, 1874, the concerto -was completed the following month. Rubinstein was then invited to -hear the work. Rubinstein and one or two musical colleagues gathered -in one of the classrooms of the Moscow Conservatory. Unluckily, the -great man was in a sombre mood that day. Tschaikowsky sat down and -played the first movement. No comment from Rubinstein. Then he played -the Andantino. Still no comment. Finally, Tschaikowsky ran through the -last movement. He turned around expectantly. Rubinstein said nothing. -Uneasily, Tschaikowsky asked him pointblank: “What do you think of -it?” And the storm broke. It was vulgar, cheap, pianistic, completely -valueless, retorted Rubinstein, who then stepped up to the piano and -began to burlesque the music. - -“I left the room without saying a word and went upstairs,” writes -the distraught Tschaikowsky. “I could not have spoken for anger and -agitation. Presently Rubinstein came to me and, seeing how upset I -was, called me into another room. There he repeated that my concerto -was impossible, pointed out many places where it needed to be -completely revised, and said that if I would suit the concerto to his -requirements, he would bring it out at his concert. - -“‘I shall not alter a single note,’ he replied. ‘I shall publish the -work precisely as it stands.’ This intention I actually carried out.” -Tschaikowsky did make some alterations in the score, however. - -Tschaikowsky changed his mind about dedicating the score to Rubinstein, -conferring the honor on Hans Von Bülow, instead. Von Bülow played the -world première in Boston on October 25, 1875, and in a letter to the -Russian composer conveyed his enthusiasm for the work: “The ideas are -so original, so noble, so powerful; the details are so interesting, -and though there are many of them they do not impair the clearness -and the unity of the work. The form is so mature, ripe, distinguished -for style, for intention and labor are everywhere concealed. I should -weary you if I were to enumerate all the characteristics of your -work—characteristics which compel me to congratulate equally the -composer as well as all those who shall enjoy the work actively or -passively respectively.” Later Tschaikowsky, reading reports of how -Americans were acclaiming his concerto, wrote: “Think what healthy -appetites these Americans must have! Each time Bülow was obliged to -repeat the whole finale of my concerto! Nothing like this happens in -our own country.” - -The concerto opens with a striking theme, _Allegro non troppo e molto -maestoso_, in D-flat major, 3-4, familiar to music-lovers of all tastes -the world over. The strings take it up after some brief preluding, and -it is then repeated, with rhythmic modification, by the solo piano. -There is a piano cadenza, and the theme comes back by way of the -strings, minus double-basses, against an ascending obbligato from the -piano. For reasons best known to himself, Tschaikowsky never allows -this imposing theme to return to the scene. - -The “blind beggar tune” is the name often applied to the piano theme -serving as chief subject of the main section of the first movement -(_Allegro con spirito_, B-flat minor). Tschaikowsky heard it sung on a -street in Kamenko and he wrote to his patroness-friend, Mme. von Meck: -“It is curious that in Russia every blind beggar sings exactly the same -tune with the same refrain. I have used part of this refrain in my -piano concerto.” Horns and woodwind discourse the second subject (_Poco -meno mosso_, A-flat major) before the solo instrument turns to it. - -The song-like first theme of the second movement (_Andantino semplice_, -D-flat major, 6-8) is given out first by the flute, with the oboe -and clarinets bringing in the second subject against a bassoon -accompaniment. The _Prestissimo_ middle section in F major, has the -spirit of a scherzo. A waltz enters the scheme by way of violas and -’cellos. Tschaikowsky’s brother, Modeste, insisted the theme of this -waltz derived from a French song the brothers Tschaikowsky used to sing -and whistle in their boyhood days. - -The Rondo-like finale develops from three themes, the first of which, -a lively dance in Cossack style, is given out by the piano. A further -folk-like quality is observable in the second theme, and the violins -later chant the third of the finale’s themes. In the brisk Coda the -Cossack-like first theme is given the dominant role. - - - SYMPHONIES - - - SYMPHONY IN F MINOR, NO. 4, OPUS 36 - -At first sight, this symphony arouses no “cherchez la femme” mystery. -Seemingly, the lady is not far to seek. In fact, Tschaikowsky throws -off the search in his dedication. The lady is Madame Nadia Filaretovna -von Meck. She was his loyal confidante and benefactress. The least -Tschaikowsky could do was to dedicate a symphony to her. Comfort and -encouragement in the form of checks and adulatory letters from Mme. von -Meck saw the sorrowing Slav through many bleak periods. - -The association has been called “the most amazing romance in musical -history.” That the “romance” was purely platonic does not make it any -the less “amazing.” Whatever Mme. von Meck’s secret hopes and longings, -Tschaikowsky shrank from carrying the liaison beyond epistolary scope. -Mme. von Meck resigned herself to an advisory role of patroness-friend, -and played it nobly. The world reveres her for it. “_Our_ symphony,” -Tschaikowsky wrote to her, communicating his intention to dedicate the -Fourth to her. “I believe you will find in it echoes of your deepest -thoughts and feelings.” - -What Tschaikowsky meant, of course, was “_my_ deepest thoughts and -feelings.” The plural possessive, “_ours_,” is gallant rather than -collaborative. Even so, he could with more truth than courtesy have -written to another woman, Antonina Ivanovna Miliukov, in similar -style. Antonina was Tschaikowsky’s wife in a domestic farce lasting -two weeks. The whole episode—spanning a wild sequence of engagement, -marriage, flight in the night, attempted suicide, separation—nestles -snugly in the period of the symphony’s origin. Antonina would have -understood the words “_our_ symphony.” Only fate and brother Anatol -saved it from becoming Tschaikowsky’s obituary. Not that it was -Antonina’s fault. Far from it. But no psychological analysis of the -Fourth can be complete without her. - -The girl was a conservatory pupil. Tschaikowsky’s music acted like -magic on her. Through it she came to a slavish worship of the composer. -Next followed written avowals of love sizzling with passion. At first -Tschaikowsky was amused, then alarmed, finally haunted. The girl was -persistent. Her pleas grew piteous. To make matters worse, Tschaikowsky -was immersed in his romantic opera _Eugene Onegin_ at the time. He had -just composed music for Tatiana’s impassioned love-letter to Onegin. -Antonina’s plight was too much like the spurned Tatiana’s to be lost on -Tschaikowsky’s sensitive nature. Onegin’s cold disdain had virtually -wrecked the girl’s life. Antonina might even kill herself. Tschaikowsky -saw himself as another and more heartless Onegin. The situation -probably stroked his vanity, too. - -He made a naïve offer of friendship. It only stirred up more trouble. -He finally granted a meeting. Antonina had won. The girl was deaf -to his self-depiction as a morose, ill-tempered neurotic who would -assuredly drive her mad. Antonina knew better. No, there was only -one way out—marriage. Tschaikowsky became engaged. He repented at -leisure. Attempts to break the engagement proved futile. Antonina was -bent on becoming Mrs. Tschaikowsky. They were married. A few days later -Tschaikowsky fled for his sanity. They were reconciled. There followed -two hellish weeks of tragi-farcical life together in Moscow. One night, -in a wild daze, Tschaikowsky fled again. He wandered about wildly and -reached the Moscow River. He had made up his mind. He stood neck-deep -in the water, hoping to freeze to death. He was rescued in time. - -Though for long he “bordered on insanity,” somehow he came through -the crisis with most of his mind. His brother Anatol took him to -Switzerland. Slowly Tschaikowsky got back to normal. He never saw -Antonina Ivanovna again. The clinical aspects of the case have been -thoroughly aired in recent years. The publication of long-withheld -letters throw fresh light on Tschaikowsky’s temperament. Antonina and -he were mentally and physically incompatible. Despite the fearful -suicidal state into which his marriage plunged him, Tschaikowsky never -made a harsh reference to his wife. Antonina, for her part, graciously -cleared him in her memoirs. “Peter was in no way to blame,” she wrote. - - [Illustration: The house at Votinsk, in western Russia, where - Tschaikowsky was born and where he spent the early years of his life - before his family moved to St. Petersburg.] - - [Illustration: Mme. Nadeshka von Meck, Tschaikowsky’s life-long - benefactress, whom he corresponded with but never met.] - -During this period, which extends from May to September, 1877, -Tschaikowsky worked on his Fourth Symphony. Just how much of his -private woes were transmuted into symphonic speech cannot be -determined, even from Tschaikowsky’s own written confidences. Possibly, -the symphony was an avenue of escape from his mounting anxieties. -Anyway, his completion of the sketch coincides with his engagement to -Antonina in May. The orchestration of the first movement took up a -month, from August 11 to September 12—the breathing spell between his -two flights from Antonina. Then followed the nerve-racking fortnight -in Moscow. The other three movements were completed in the Swiss Alps, -where, thanks to his brother, he regained his full sanity and working -tempo. A passage in a letter to Mme. von Meck, during the Antonina -regime, suggests an explanation of Tschaikowsky’s abstract talk of Fate -in connection with his Fourth: “We cannot escape our fate, and there -was something fatalistic about my meeting with this girl.” In January, -1878, when the whole dismal affair was safely locked away in the past, -he wrote to Mme. von Meck that he could only recall his marriage as a -bad dream: - -“Something remote, a weird nightmare in which a man bearing my name, -my likeness, and my consciousness acted as one acts in dreams: in a -meaningless, disconnected, paradoxical way. That was not my sane self, -in possession of logical and reasonable will-powers. Everything I -then did bore the character of an unhealthy conflict between will and -intelligence, which is nothing less than insanity.” - -Tschaikowsky wrote to the composer Taneieff that there was not a single -bar in his Fourth Symphony which he had not truly felt and which -was not an echo of his “most intimate self.” He frankly avowed the -symphony’s “programmatic” character, but declared it was “impossible -to give the program in words.” Yet, to Mme. von Meck, who insisted on -knowing the full spiritual and emotional content of the symphony, he -wrote out a detailed analysis which has long been familiar to concert -audiences. In reading it the listener usually does one of three things: -takes it literally; regards it as irrelevant to the music as such; -relates it to Tschaikowsky’s private life. There is the fourth choice -of combining all three. In that choice lies the synthesis of mind, -emotion, and external stimuli which is regarded as the very stuff of -art. - -“Our symphony has a program,” he writes. “That is to say, it is -possible to express its contents in words, and I will tell you—and -you alone—the meaning of the entire work and its separate movements. -Naturally I can only do so as regards its general features. - -“The Introduction is the kernel, the quintessence, the chief thought -of the whole symphony. This is Fate, the fatal power which hinders one -in the pursuit of happiness from gaining the goal, which jealously -provides that peace and comfort do not prevail, that the sky is not -free from clouds—a might that swings, like the sword of Damocles, -constantly over the head, that poisons continually the soul. This might -is overpowering and invincible. There is nothing to do but to submit -and vainly to complain. - -“The feeling of despondency and despair grows ever stronger and more -passionate. It is better to turn from the realities and to lull -oneself in dreams. O joy! What a fine sweet dream! A radiant being, -promising happiness, floats before me and beckons me. The importunate -first dream of the Allegro is now heard afar off, and now the soul -is wholly enwrapped with dreams. There is no thought of gloom and -cheerlessness. Happiness! Happiness! Happiness! No, they are only -dreams, and Fate dispels them. The whole of life is only a constant -alternation between dismal reality and flattering dreams of happiness. -There is no port: you will be tossed hither and thither by the waves -until the sea swallows you. Such is the program, in substance, of the -first movement. - -“The second movement shows another phase of sadness. Here is that -melancholy feeling which enwraps one when he sits at night alone in -the house exhausted by work; the book which he had taken to read has -slipped from his hand; a swarm of reminiscences has arisen. How sad it -is that so much has already _been_ and _gone_! And yet it is a pleasure -to think of the early years. One mourns the past and has neither the -courage nor the will to begin a new life. One is rather tired of life. -One wishes to recruit his strength and to look back, to revive many -things in the memory. One thinks on the gladsome hours when the young -blood boiled and bubbled and there was satisfaction in life. One thinks -also on the sad moments, on irrevocable losses. And all this is now so -far away, so far away. And it is also sad and yet so sweet to muse over -the past. - -“There is no determined feeling, no exact expression in the third -movement. Here are capricious arabesques, vague figures which slip into -the imagination when one has taken wine and is slightly intoxicated. -The mood is now gay, now mournful. One thinks about nothing; one gives -the fancy loose rein, and there is pleasure in drawings of marvellous -lines. Suddenly rush into the imagination the picture of a drunken -peasant and a gutter-song. Military music is heard passing by in the -distance. These are disconnected pictures which come and go in the -brain of the sleeper. They have nothing to do with reality; they are -unintelligible, bizarre, out-at-elbows. - -“Fourth movement. If you had no pleasure in yourself, look about you. -Go to the people. See how they can enjoy life and give themselves up -entirely to festivity. The picture of a folk-holiday. Hardly have -we had time to forget ourselves in the happiness of others when -indefatigable Fate reminds us once more of its presence. The other -children of men are not concerned with us. They do not spare us a -glance nor stop to observe that we are lonely and sad. How merry and -glad they all are. All their feelings are so inconsequent, so simple. -And you still say that all the world is immersed in sorrow? There still -_is_ happiness, simple, native happiness. Rejoice in the happiness of -others—and you can still live.” - - - SYMPHONY IN E MINOR, NO. 5, OPUS 64 - -If surroundings alone determined the mood of a piece of music, -Tschaikowsky’s Fifth Symphony, composed one summer in a country villa -near Klin, would be a sunlit idyl. Of course it is nothing of the sort, -for though Tschaikowsky responded keenly to outdoor beauty, he was a -prey to gloomy thoughts and visions that constantly found their way -into his music. His own inner world crowded out the other. Frolovskoe, -where he wrote his symphony in 1888, was a charming spot, fringed by a -forest. Between spurts of composing he took long walks in the woods and -puttered around the villa garden. - -On his return from Italy two years later he found that the forest -had been cut down. “All those dear shady spots that were there last -year are now a bare wilderness,” he grieved to his brother Modeste. -Ironically, Tschaikowsky also composed his _Hamlet_ overture in -the sylvan retreat at Frolovskoe, though from his own and others’ -descriptions, the place was an ideal setting for an _As You Like It_ -symphonic fantasy, say. - -The first intimation that Tschaikowsky was considering a new symphony -appears in a letter to his brother Modeste dated May 27, 1888. A dread -that he had written himself out as composer had been steadily gaining -a grip on Tschaikowsky’s mind. He had complained about his imagination -being “dried up.” He felt no urge to write. Finally he resolved to -shake off the mood and convince the world and himself there were still -a few good tunes in him. - -“I am hoping to collect, little by little, material for a symphony,” -he writes to his brother on May 27. The following month we find him -inquiring of his lady bountiful, Nadezhka von Meck: “Have I told you -that I intended to write a symphony? The beginning has been difficult; -but now inspiration seems to have come. However, we shall see.” In the -same letter he makes no bones about his intention to prove that he is -not “played out as a composer.” - -On August 6 he reported progress on the new work. “I have orchestrated -half the symphony,” he writes. “My age, although I am not very old, -begins to tell on me. I become very tired, and I can no longer play -the piano or read at night as I used to do.” Ill health troubled him -during the summer months, but by August 26 he was able to announce -the completion of the symphony. At first he was dissatisfied with -it. Even the favorable verdict of a group of musical friends, among -them Taneieff, did no good. Early performances of the symphony only -strengthened Tschaikowsky’s misgivings. The work was premièred in -St. Petersburg on November 17, 1888, with Tschaikowsky conducting. A -second performance followed on November 24, at a concert of the Musical -Society, with the composer again conducting. Then came a performance in -Prague. The public was enthusiastic. The critics, on the other hand, -almost unanimously attacked it as unworthy of Tschaikowsky’s powers. -In a letter to Mme. von Meck in December he expressed frank disgust -with the symphony: - -“Having played my symphony twice in Petersburg and once in Prague, I -have come to the conclusion that it is a failure. There is something -repellent in it, some over-exaggerated color, some insincerity of -fabrication which the public instinctively recognizes. It was clear to -me that the applause and ovations referred not to this but to other -works of mine, and that the symphony itself will never please the -public. All this causes a deep dissatisfaction with myself. - -“It is possible that I have, as people say, written myself out, -and that nothing remains but for me to repeat and imitate myself. -Yesterday evening I glanced over the Fourth Symphony, _our_ symphony. -How superior to this one, how much better it is! Yes, this is a -very, very sad fact.” A composer who was still to write the _Hamlet_ -overture-fantasy, the _Sleeping Beauty_ and _Nutcracker_ ballets, the -opera _Pique Dame_, and the _Pathetic_ symphony, was anything but -“written out,” as Tschaikowsky feared! - -After the symphony triumphed in both Moscow and Hamburg, Tschaikowsky -speedily changed his mind and wrote to his publisher Davidoff: “I like -it far better now, after having held a bad opinion of it for some -time.” He speaks of the Hamburg performance as “magnificent,” but -expresses his old complaint about the Russian press, that it “continues -to ignore me,” and bemoans the fact that “with the exception of those -nearest and dearest to me, no one will ever hear of my successes.” -Modeste Tschaikowsky attributed the work’s early failure in St. -Petersburg (that is, with the critics) to his brother’s poor conducting. - -The assumed programmatic content of the Fifth Symphony has aroused much -speculation. Most analysts are convinced Tschaikowsky had a definite, -autobiographical plan in mind. Yet he left no descriptive analysis -such as we have of the Fourth Symphony. There he had set out to depict -the “inexorableness of fate.” One Russian writer discerned “some dark -spiritual experience” in the Fifth. “Only at the close,” he observed, -“the clouds lift, the sky clears, and we see the blue stretching pure -and clear beyond.” Ernest Newman spoke of the sinister motto theme -first announced in the opening movement as “the leaden, deliberate -tread of fate.” Many have agreed with Newman in classing the Fifth with -the Fourth as another “fate” symphony. - - - SYMPHONY IN B MINOR, NO. 6, OPUS 74 (_Pathetic_) - -First drafts of a sixth symphony—not the _Pathetic_—were made by -Tschaikowsky on his return trip from America in the late spring of -1891. Dissatisfied with the way the new score was shaping up, he tore -it up and congratulated himself on his “admirable and irrevocable -determination” to do so. It is not till February, 1893, that first -mention is made of a fresh start on a sixth symphony. “I am now wholly -occupied with the new work,” he writes excitedly to his brother Anatol. -“It is hard for me to tear myself from it. I believe it comes into -being as the best of my works. I must finish it as soon as possible, -for I have to wind up a lot of affairs....” Subsequent events were to -give the last sentence of this letter a sinister note of prophesy. Like -Mozart writing the _Requiem Mass_ on his deathbed, Tschaikowsky seemed -to be defying some unfriendly fate to stop him in the midst of his -great symphony. - -There was to be a program to this symphony, a mysterious, profoundly -personal program. But Tschaikowsky would never tell the world what -it was. “Let them guess who can,” he challenged. Amid the beautiful -natural scenery of Klin, near Moscow, Tschaikowsky worked at his -symphony. Curiously enough, his mood was bright and cheerful for a -change. Early in October he left for Moscow to attend a funeral. There -he met his friend Kashkin and together they talked jovially of life -and death. Tschaikowsky was in excellent spirits and Kashkin assured -him that he would outlive them all. Tschaikowsky laughed, and talked -excitedly about his new symphony, how he was satisfied with the first -three movements, how the finale still needed tinkering. - -At length he was in St. Petersburg again. The day of the première of -his symphony was approaching. Rehearsals were begun and Tschaikowsky -soon found reason to grow morose and pessimistic again. He had counted -on the musicians reacting warmly to this new music of his, but he -began to notice cool faces, indifferent glances, and—horror of -horrors—yawns. This was too much for the hypersensitive Tschaikowsky. -He felt his hands suddenly become lifeless, his mind lose its -alertness. His confidence ebbed from him. To spare the men any further -boredom he cut short the rehearsal. Still, he knew he had written -his greatest symphony. At the première of October 28th, the audience -received the new symphony coolly, and it was not till shortly after -Tschaikowsky’s death that it began to make a mighty, overpowering -impression on listeners wherever it was played. - -But the symphony had been baptized without a name. Tschaikowsky felt -the term “No. 6” was too bald and lonely a title for it. “Programme -Symphony” was also ruled out, for the good reason that he refused to -divulge the “program.” His brother Modeste suggested “Tragic,” but -Tschaikowsky rejected that too. When Modeste left him, he went on -casting about for a title. In a flash it came to him. He rushed back -to his brother. “Peter,” he exclaimed; “I have it! Why not call it the -‘Pathetic’ symphony.” Tschaikowsky pounced on the proposal eagerly: -“Splendid, Modi, bravo—_Pathetic_!” he shouted. In his brother’s -presence Tschaikowsky wrote on the score the name by which the symphony -has since been known. Most programs, however, give the title in its -French form, _Symphonie Pathétique_. - -Shortly after the conversation with his brother, Tschaikowsky attended -a performance of Ostrowsky’s play, _A Warm Heart_. Later he went -backstage to pay his respects to the leading actor, Warlamoff. The -talk somehow turned to spiritualism, and again Tschaikowsky showed -a lighthearted mood. When Warlamoff laughingly ridiculed “these -abominations which remind one of death,” Tschaikowsky agreed jovially. -“There is plenty of time before we have to reckon with this snub-nosed -horror. It will not come to snatch us off just yet! _I feel that I -shall live a long time!_” Five days later, Peter Ilyitch Tschaikowsky, -generally regarded as Russia’s greatest composer, was dead, one of -the many victims of the fearful cholera epidemic then raging in St. -Petersburg. - -If Tschaikowsky followed a definite emotional or philosophical program -in the _Pathetic_ symphony, the key to it died with him. Had he lived, -the chances are he would have divulged it, since he was not by nature -a secretive, unconfiding man. However, many have probed the symphony’s -content and concluded it harbored a message of impending death. Yet -Kashkin, Tschaikowsky’s close friend, interpreted the fierce energy of -the third movement and the abysmal sorrow of the Finale “in the broader -light of a national or historical significance.” He refused to narrow -down the scope of the symphony to a merely personal experience. - -“If the last movement is intended to be prophetic, it is surely of -things vaster and issues more fatal than are contained in a purely -personal apprehension of death,” he said. “It speaks, rather, of -_une lamentation large et souffrance inconnue_—a large lamentation -and unknown suffering. It seems to set the seal of finality on all -human hopes. Even if we eliminate the merely subjective interest, this -autumnal inspiration of Tschaikowsky’s, in which we hear the _whirling -of the perished leaves of hope_, still remains the most profoundly -stirring of his works.” - -I think we may safely agree with Kashkin’s judgment, at the same time -reserving the right to read into this monumental dirge, for such it -unmistakably is, our own individual sense of its profoundly moving -theme of tragic resignation. That Tschaikowsky left it as a testament -of disillusion and futility is likely. Yet no one can miss the fine -vein of tenderness and the flashes of defiance recurring through it. -Few artists have bequeathed the world such a candid, soul-searing -self-portrait. - - - - - * * * * * - - - - - COMPLETE LIST OF RECORDINGS - BY THE - PHILHARMONIC-SYMPHONY SOCIETY OF NEW YORK - - - COLUMBIA RECORDS - -LP—Also available on Long Playing Microgroove Recordings as well as on - the conventional Columbia Masterworks. - - - _Under the Direction of Bruno Walter_ - - BARBER—Symphony No. 1, Op. 9 - BEETHOVEN—Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra in C major - (with J. Corigliano, L. Rose and W. Hendl)—LP - BEETHOVEN—Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major (“Emperor”) (with Rudolf - Serkin, piano)—LP - BEETHOVEN—Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra (with Joseph - Szigeti)—LP - BEETHOVEN—Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21—LP - BEETHOVEN—Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (“Eroica”)—LP - BEETHOVEN—Symphony No. 5 in C minor—LP - BEETHOVEN—Symphony No. 8 in F major—LP - BEETHOVEN—Symphony No. 9 in D minor (“Choral”) (with Elena Nikolaidi, - contralto, and Raoul Jobin, tenor)—LP - BRAHMS—Song of Destiny (with Westminster Choir)—LP - DVORAK—Slavonic Dance No. 1 - DVORAK—Symphony No. 4 in G Major—LP - MAHLER—Symphony No. 4 in G major (with Desi Halban, soprano)—LP - MAHLER—Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor - MENDELSSOHN—Concerto in E minor (with Nathan Milstein, violin)—LP - MENDELSSOHN—Scherzo (from Midsummer Night’s Dream) - MOZART—Cosi fan Tutti—Overture - MOZART—Symphony No. 41 in C major (“Jupiter”), K. 551—LP - SCHUBERT—Symphony No. 7 in C major—LP - SCHUMANN, R.—Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (“Rhenish”)—LP - SMETANA—The Moldau (“Vltava”)—LP - STRAUSS, J.—Emperor Waltz - - - _Under the Direction of Leopold Stokowski_ - - COPLAND—Billy the Kid (2 parts) - GRIFFES—“The White Peacock,” Op. 7, No. 1—LP 7" - IPPOLITOW—“In the Village” from Caucasian Sketches (W. Lincer and M. - Nazzi, soloists) - KHACHATURIAN—“Masquerade Suite”—LP - MESSIAN—“L’Ascension”—LP - SIBELIUS—“Maiden with the Roses”—LP - TSCHAIKOWSKY—Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32—LP - TSCHAIKOWSKY—Overture Fantasy—Romeo and Juliet—LP - VAUGHAN-WILLIAMS—Greensleeves - VAUGHAN-WILLIAMS—Symphony No. 6 in E minor—LP - WAGNER—Die Walküre—Wotan Farewell and Magic Fire Music (Act - III—Scene 3) - WAGNER—Siegfried’s Rhine Journey and Siegfried’s Funeral March—(“Die - Götterdämmerung”)—LP - - - _Under the Direction of Efrem Kurtz_ - - CHOPIN—Les Sylphides—LP - GLINKA—Mazurka—“Life of the Czar”—LP 7" - GRIEG—Concerto in A minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 16 (with Oscar - Levant, piano)—LP - HEROLD—Zampa—Overture - KABALEVSKY—“The Comedians,” Op. 26—LP - KHACHATURIAN—Gayne—Ballet Suite No. 1—LP - KHACHATURIAN—Gayne—Ballet Suite No. 2—LP - LECOQ—Mme. Angot Suite—LP - PROKOFIEFF—March, Op. 99—LP - RIMSKY-KORSAKOV—The Flight of the Bumble Bee—LP 7" - SHOSTAKOVICH—Polka No. 3, “The Age of Gold”—LP 7" - SHOSTAKOVICH—Symphony No. 9—LP - SHOSTAKOVICH—Valse from “Les Monts D’Or”—LP - VILLA-LOBOS—Uirapuru—LP - WIENIAWSKI—Concerto No. 2 in D minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 22 - (with Isaac Stern, violin)—LP - - - _Under the Direction of Charles Münch_ - - D’INDY—Symphony on a French Mountain Air for Orchestra and Piano—LP - MILHAUD—Suite Française—LP - MOZART—Concerto No. 21 for Piano and Orchestra in C major—LP - SAINT-SAENS—Symphony in C minor, No. 3 for Orchestra, Organ and - Piano, Op. 78—LP - - - _Under the Direction of Artur Rodzinski_ - - BIZET—Carmen—Entr’acte (Prelude to Act III) - BIZET—Symphony in C major—LP - BRAHMS—Symphony No. 1 in C minor—LP - BRAHMS—Symphony No. 2 in D major—LP - COPLAND—A Lincoln Portrait (with Kenneth Spencer, Narrator)—LP - ENESCO—Roumanian Rhapsody—A major, No. 1—LP - GERSHWIN—An American in Paris—LP - GOULD—“Spirituals” for Orchestra—LP - IBERT—“Escales” (Port of Call)—LP - LISZT—Mephisto Waltz—LP - MOUSSORGSKY—Gopack (The Fair at Sorotchinski)—LP - MOUSSORGSKY-RAVEL—Pictures at an Exhibition—LP - PROKOFIEFF—Symphony No. 5—LP - RACHMANINOFF—Concerto No. 2 in C minor for Piano and Orchestra (with - Gygory Sandor, piano) - RACHMANINOFF—Symphony No. 2 in E minor - SAINT-SAENS—Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4 in C minor (with - Robert Casadesus)—LP - SIBELIUS—Symphony No. 4 in A minor - TSCHAIKOWSKY—Nutcracker Suite—LP - TSCHAIKOWSKY—Suite “Mozartiana”—LP - TSCHAIKOWSKY—Symphony No. 6 in B minor (“Pathétique”)—LP - WAGNER—Lohengrin—Bridal Chamber Scene (Act III—Scene 2)—(with - Helen Traubel, soprano, and Kurt Baum, tenor)—LP - WAGNER—Lohengrin—Elsa’s Dream (Act I, Scene 2) (with Helen Traubel, - soprano) - WAGNER—Siegfried Idyll—LP - WAGNER—Tristan und Isolde—Excerpts (with Helen Traubel, soprano) - WAGNER—Die Walküre—Act III (Complete) (with Helen Traubel, soprano - and Herbert Janssen, baritone)—LP - WAGNER—Die Walküre—Duet (Act I, Scene 3) (with Helen Traubel, - soprano and Emery Darcy, tenor)—LP - WOLF-FERRARI—“Secret of Suzanne,” Overture - - - _Under the Direction of Igor Stravinsky_ - - STRAVINSKY—Firebird Suite—LP - STRAVINSKY—Fireworks (Feu d’Artifice)—LP - STRAVINSKY—Four Norwegian Moods - STRAVINSKY—Le Sacre du Printemps (The Consecration of the Spring)—LP - STRAVINSKY—Scènes de Ballet—LP - STRAVINSKY—Suite from “Petrouchka”—LP - STRAVINSKY—Symphony in Three Movements—LP - - - _Under the Direction of Sir Thomas Beecham_ - - MENDELSSOHN—Symphony No. 4, in A major (“Italian”) - SIBELIUS—Melisande (from “Pelleas and Melisande”) - SIBELIUS—Symphony No. 7 in C major—LP - TSCHAIKOWSKY—Capriccio Italien - - - _Under the Direction of John Barbirolli_ - - BACH-BARBIROLLI—Sheep May Safely Graze (from the “Birthday - Cantata”)—LP - BERLIOZ—Roman Carnival Overture - BRAHMS—Symphony No. 2, in D major - BRAHMS—Academic Festival Overture—LP - BRUCH—Concerto No. 1, in G minor (with Nathan Milstein, violin)—LP - DEBUSSY—First Rhapsody for Clarinet (with Benny Goodman, clarinet) - DEBUSSY—Petite Suite: Ballet - MOZART—Concerto in B-flat major (with Robert Casadesus, piano) - MOZART—Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183 - RAVEL—La Valse - RIMSKY-KORSAKOV—Capriccio Espagnol - SIBELIUS—Symphony No. 1, in E minor - SIBELIUS—Symphony No. 2, in D major - SMETANA—The Bartered Bride—Overture - TSCHAIKOWSKY—Theme and Variations (from Suite No. 3 in G)—LP - - - _Under the Direction of Andre Kostelanetz_ - - GERSHWIN—Concerto in F (with Oscar Levant)—LP - - - _Under the Direction of Dimitri Mitropoulos_ - - KHACHATURIAN—Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (with Oscar Levant, - piano)—LP - - - VICTOR RECORDS - - - _Under the Direction of Arturo Toscanini_ - - BEETHOVEN—Symphony No. 7 in A major - BRAHMS—Variations on a Theme by Haydn - DUKAS—The Sorcerer’s Apprentice - GLUCK—Orfeo ed Euridice—Dance of the Spirits - HAYDN—Symphony No. 4 in D major (The Clock) - MENDELSSOHN—Midsummer Night’s Dream—Scherzo - MOZART—Symphony in D major (K. 385) - ROSSINI—Barber of Seville—Overture - ROSSINI—Semiramide—Overture - ROSSINI—Italians in Algiers—Overture - VERDI—Traviata—Preludes to Acts I and II - WAGNER—Excerpts—Lohengrin—Die Götterdämmerung—Siegfried Idyll - - - _Under the Direction of John Barbirolli_ - - DEBUSSY—Iberia (Images, Set 3, No. 2) - PURCELL—Suite for Strings with four Horns, two Flutes, English Horn - RESPIGHI—Fountains of Rome - RESPIGHI—Old Dances and Airs (Special recording for members of the - Philharmonic-Symphony League of New York) - SCHUBERT—Symphony No. 4 in C minor (Tragic) - SCHUMANN—Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor (with Yehudi - Menuhin, violin) - TSCHAIKOWSKY—Francesca da Rimini—Fantasia - - - _Under the Direction of Willem Mengelberg_ - - J. C. BACH—Arr. Stein—Sinfonia in B-flat major - J. S. BACH—Arr. Mahler—Air for G String (from Suite for Orchestra) - BEETHOVEN—Egmont Overture - HANDEL—Alcina Suite - MENDELSSOHN—War March of the Priests (from Athalia) - MEYERBEER—Prophète—Coronation March - SAINT-SAENS—Rouet d’Omphale (Omphale’s Spinning Wheel) - SCHELLING—Victory Ball - WAGNER—Flying Dutchman—Overture - WAGNER—Siegfried—Forest Murmurs (Waldweben) - - - - - * * * * * - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - -* Italics indicated as _italics_. -* Small caps changed to All caps. -* Illustrations moved to nearest paragraph break -* Copyright notice is from the printed exemplar. Copyright was not - renewed, the book is in the public domain. - -* p.8: “Solennelle” instead of “Solenelle” (typo) -* p.7, 11, 13, 40 & 46: “Nadeshka” or “Nadezhka von Meck”, listed - elsewhere as “Nadezhda von Meck”. -* “Desirée” (Artôt), usually “Désirée” (2x) -* p.33: “Pathétique” instead of “Pathetique” (typo) -* p.33: “espressivo” instead of “espressive” (typo) -* p.53: “Cosi fan Tutti” kept, but should be “Cosi fan Tutte” -* p.54-56: “Saint-Saens” kept, but should be “Saint-Saëns” (3x) - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tchaikowsky and His Orchestral Music, by -Louis Biancolli - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TCHAIKOWSKY, HIS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC *** - -***** This file should be named 50230-0.txt or 50230-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/2/3/50230/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Kris de Bruijn, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Tchaikowsky and His Orchestral Music - The New York Philarmonic Symphony Society Presents... - -Author: Louis Biancolli - -Release Date: October 16, 2015 [EBook #50230] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TCHAIKOWSKY, HIS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Kris de Bruijn, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/0_cover.jpg" width="500" height="655" alt="Cover page" /> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/1_tchaikowsky.jpg" width="500" height="653" alt="Portrait" /> -<p class="center caption"><span class="smcap">Peter Ilyitch Tschaikowsky</span></p> -<p class="center caption"><i>A drawing of the composer late in life.</i></p> -</div> - -<p class="mt4 mb4"></p> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<h1><i>Tschaikowsky</i><br /> -<small>AND HIS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC</small><br /></h1> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="center mb2">By LOUIS BIANCOLLI</p> - - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/2_logo.jpg" width="300" height="228" alt="Harp and Cello logo" /> -</div> - -<p class="mt2 mb2"></p> -<p class="center">NEW YORK</p> -<p class="center"><i>Grosset & Dunlap</i></p> -<p class="center">PUBLISHERS</p> - -<p class="center">Copyright 1944, 1950</p> -<p class="center">The Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York</p> - -<p class="center mt2 mb2">Printed in the United States of America</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2><i>Foreword</i></h2> - -<p>Included in this little book are analyses and backgrounds -of most of Tschaikowsky’s standard concert music. -A short sketch of Tschaikowsky’s life precedes the section -devoted to the orchestral music. Yet, the personal outlook -and moods of Russia’s great composer are so inextricably -bound up with his music, that actually the whole booklet -is an account of his strangely tormented life. In the story -of Tschaikowsky, life and art weave into one closely knit -fabric. It is hoped that this simple narrative will aid music -lovers to glimpse the great pathos and struggle behind the -music of this sad and lonely man.</p> - -<!--<hr class="chap" /> --> -<!-- --> -<!--<h1><i>Tschaikowsky</i><br />--> -<!--AND HIS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC</h1>--> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<h2><i>Tschaikowsky</i><br /> -<small>AND HIS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC</small></h2> - -<p>Few great names in music spell as much magic to the -average concert-goer as that of Peter Ilyitch Tschaikowsky. -In almost every musical form will be found a work of his -ranking high in popularity. And quite deservedly so. -Tschaikowsky’s music brims with a warm humanity and -stirring drama. The themes and feelings are easy to grasp. -The personal, intimate note is so strong in this music that -we find it natural, while listening to the <i>Pathetic</i> symphony -or the <i>Nutcracker</i> ballet suite, for example, to share -Tschaikowsky’s joys and sorrows. His music seems to take -us into his confidence and show us the secret places of his -heart. Although Tschaikowsky’s range of moods is wide—from -the whimsical play of light fantasy to stormy outcries -of anguish—essentially he was a melancholy man, in his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> -music as in his life. Perhaps it is the genuineness of his -music in conveying great pathos and suffering that has -drawn millions to his symphonies and concertos. A frank -sincerity and warmheartedness well from his music. The -best of his melodies linger hauntingly in the mind and -heart. So long as sincere feeling expressed in sincere artistic -form can move the hearts of men, Tschaikowsky’s music -will continue to hold a high place in the concert hall and -opera house.</p> - -<p>Only Beethoven and Mozart can rival Tschaikowsky in -the number of compositions in various musical forms that -stand out as repertory favorites. Tschaikowsky’s violin concerto -is as much a “request” item as Beethoven’s. The -<i>Pathetic</i> symphony ranks with the three or four enduring -favorites of the repertory. Tschaikowsky’s <i>Nutcracker</i> -ballet is probably the most popular suite of its kind in -music. The opera, <i>Eugene Onegin</i>, a masterpiece worthy -to stand beside some of the best Italian and German -operas, is widely loved even outside Russia. Tschaikowsky’s -Piano Concerto, or, at any rate, the big opening theme, is -doubtless known to more people than all other piano concertos -put together. The overture-fantasies, <i>Romeo and -Juliet</i> and <i>Francesca da Rimini</i>, rank with the most popular -in that form, and the <i>Overture 1812</i> is an international -hit with music-lovers of all ages and stages. Tschaikowsky’s -song, <i>None But the Lonely Heart</i>, is better known to many -music-lovers than most of the songs of Brahms and Schubert, -and the great String Quartet contains a melody -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> -familiar to every follower of popular song trends. For, of -all the classical composers, Tschaikowsky has been a -veritable gold-mine as a lucrative source of themes for -popular arrangement.</p> - -<p>Yet, this sad and sensitive musical genius who knew so -well how to reach the human soul surprisingly began his -career as a clerk in the St. Petersburg Ministry of Justice. -Like other great Russian composers, Tschaikowsky arrived -at music by a circuitous route, almost by accident. -Moussorgsky, one recalls, was long an officer in the Czar’s -Army before he switched to music. And Borodin always -regarded music as a secondary pursuit to his medical practice -and his laboratory experiments in chemistry. Tschaikowsky -was first a lawyer. But soon he found court action -and the preparation of briefs tiresome and unsavory toil, -so at twenty-one he returned to his first love, which was -music.</p> - -<p>Born on May 7, 1840, Tschaikowsky had begun to study -piano at the age of seven. When he was ten, his father, a -director of a foundry at Votinsk with next to no interest in -music, took the family to St. Petersburg. There young Peter -continued his musical studies, never, though, with any -thought of preparing for a career in music. Yet, later, even -while studying law, he went on playing the piano and -taking part in the performances of a choral society. Although -he amused friends by improvising on the piano, -few detected any signs of creative genius. At twenty-one -Tschaikowsky made his crucial break. He abandoned law, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> -began earnestly to master musical theory, and resolved -to risk poverty and starvation by devoting himself to music -professionally. Today we can only applaud his decision. -The repertory would be the poorer without his music. Besides, -it is not likely that the law lost a great practitioner -when Tschaikowsky bade it farewell.</p> - -<p>His first important step was to enroll in the Russian -Musical Society, later to become the St. Petersburg Conservatory. -There Anton Rubinstein, the renowned pianist -and composer, then teaching composition and orchestration, -exerted a lasting influence on him. At that time -Anton’s brother Nicholas was founding the Moscow Conservatory. -Impressed by Tschaikowsky’s brilliant showing -at the St. Petersburg school, he engaged him as instructor in -harmony for the new Moscow organization. Tschaikowsky -held the post for eleven years. The pay was scant, but there -were weightier compensations. Nicholas Rubinstein gave -the young man a room in his Moscow house, encouraged -him to compose, introduced him around, and gave him -sound advice on sundry matters. Best of all, he produced -many of Tschaikowsky’s early compositions. Tschaikowsky, -loyal and devoted in all his ties, never forgot his friend. -After Rubinstein’s death, he dedicated his Trio, <i>In Memory -of a Great Artist</i>, to the great man who had given him his -real start in music and a creative life.</p> - -<p>During his second year in the Moscow Conservatory -Tschaikowsky fell madly in love with the French soprano -Désirée Artôt, then touring Russia. While the indecisive -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> -Russian wasted time weighing the advantages and disadvantages -of marriage, a Spanish baritone named Padilla -came along, made violent love to Mlle. Artôt, and hurried -her off to the altar before she could catch her breath and -notify her Russian suitor. We nevertheless owe the fickle -French lady a debt of gratitude. Without the emotional -disturbance Tschaikowsky might not have been moved to -write the <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> overture-fantasy. His first -serious rebuff in love had at any rate paid dividends in art.</p> - -<p>From then on Tschaikowsky wrote at a feverish pace. -Whenever his duties at the Conservatory could spare him, -he retired to his study and wrote symphonies, overtures, -operas, chamber music, songs, and religious choruses. -Sometimes a gnawing doubt in his own talents assailed -him. To his friends he wrote voluminous letters complaining -of the strong sense of inferiority bedevilling his work. -There were attacks of bleak gloom and diffidence lasting -weeks. Trips to the country or to Italy and Switzerland -were often needed to restore his damaged nervous system -and jarred self-confidence to normalcy. Unfavorable reviews -stung him like wasps. And while Moscow often -evidenced great enthusiasm for his music, St. Petersburg -was harder to please. The press there was often virulent -with abuse.</p> - -<p>Then Tschaikowsky pinned great hopes on his operas -<i>Eugene Onegin</i> and <i>Pique Dame</i> (“The Queen of -Spades”). Both proved fiascos at their premières, though -the public and press later revised their opinions drastically. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> -Moreover, reports reached him of the cold reception -accorded his <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> in Paris and the catcalls -greeting his music in Vienna. And there was a music critic -named Eduard Hanslick in Vienna who kept Tschaikowsky -awake nights wondering what new critical blast was awaiting -his latest Viennese première.</p> - -<p>Ironically, America and England were the only two -countries instantly attracted to Tschaikowsky’s music. -There his prestige rose with each new symphony or overture. -Cambridge University conferred an honorary doctor’s -degree on him in 1893. Europe was soon to be won over, -however. Despite an often hostile press, the music publics -of France, Germany, and Austria began clamoring for -more and more of his music, and conductors were forced to -acquiesce. But to the end he remained a sorrowing and -morose man, hypersensitive, even morbidly so, but almost -always the soul of kindliness and punctilio. When, on the -invitation of Walter Damrosch, Tschaikowsky came to -America in 1891, he was widely acclaimed by public and -press. While here he gave six concerts in all, four in New -York, one in Baltimore and one in Philadelphia. In New -York he was guest of honor on the programs of the New -York Symphony Society celebrating the opening of the -Music Hall, now Carnegie Hall. The festival lasted from -May 5 to May 9, and Tschaikowsky was widely feted socially -and professionally. He conducted several of his own -works in the hall constructed largely from funds provided -by the steel magnate, Andrew Carnegie.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> - -<p>The year 1877 is an important one in the chronicle of -Tschaikowsky’s life. He made his one disastrous experiment -in marriage with a romantic-minded young conservatory -student named Antonina Miliukov. The girl had -aroused his pity and alarm by her passionate avowals of -love and equally passionate threats of suicide. The story is -discussed below in my account of the Fourth Symphony, -which grew partly out of that distressing episode. Suffice -it here to note that the experience was so shattering to -Tschaikowsky that he attempted to end his life by standing -up to his neck at night in the freezing waters of the Neva -River. Antonina eventually died in an insane asylum. -Tschaikowsky formed another alliance that year, one far -more profitable and far less nerve-wracking than his short -tie with Mlle. Miliukov. This was his famous friendship -with <ins title="Transcriber’s Note: first name spelled here as “Nadeshka” or “Nadezhka”, elsewhere as “Nadezhda”.">Nadezhka</ins> von Meck, a wealthy and cultivated widow. -Out of profound admiration for his music and a probable -romantic hope to become Mrs. Tschaikowsky, Mme. -von Meck settled an annuity amounting to $3,000 on the -destitute and ailing composer. The gift continued for -thirteen years. Many letters about life, music, and people -were exchanged between Tschaikowsky and his Lady -Bountiful. The two never met, however. Tschaikowsky’s -Fourth Symphony is dedicated to this remarkable -woman, who was the most famous Fairy Godmother in -music.</p> - -<p>Although Tschaikowsky himself thought of the <i>Pathetic</i> -symphony as his crowning masterpiece, the première on -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> -October 28, 1893, in St. Petersburg proved a disappointment. -Tschaikowsky took it bitterly. Two weeks later, -however, the tables were turned. Everybody acclaimed it -warmly. But Tschaikowsky was not there to bow his acknowledgment. -He had fallen victim to the cholera epidemic -then raging in St. Petersburg. Though warned by -the authorities, Tschaikowsky drank some unboiled water -on November 2. Four days later he was dead. No symphony -was more appropriately named than this melancholy -masterpiece, the <i>Pathetic</i> symphony, the brooding phrases -of which sound truly like the “swan song” of a tired and -abysmally disillusioned man of genius.</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Marches, Overtures, Fantasias, Etc.</span></h3> - -<h4><i>Marche Slave</i>, <span class="smcap">Opus 31</span></h4> - -<p>The <i>Marche Slave</i> stands foremost among Tschaikowsky’s -marches, of which he wrote numerous, including -several incorporated in his operas and suites. Most of them -were composed for special purposes or occasions. There is -the <i>Marche <ins title="Transcriber’s Note: source reads “Solenelle”"> -Solennelle</ins></i>, written “for the Law Students,” -which figured on the housewarming program at the opening -of Carnegie Hall in May, 1891, besides a <i>Marche -Militaire</i>, which he wrote for the band of the Czar’s -98th Infantry Regiment. In 1883 the city of Moscow -requisitioned a <i>Coronation March</i> from him. Earlier, -Tschaikowsky had written a march in honor of the famous -General Skobelev. But he held it in such low esteem that -he allowed it to circulate as the work of a non-existent -composer named Sinopov.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/4_tchaikowsky-young.jpg" width="490" height="662" alt="Young Tschaikowsky" /> -<p class="center caption">The composer at the age of twenty-three, during his early -years at the Moscow Conservatory.</p> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/5_desiree-artot.jpg" width="499" height="689" alt="Désirée Artôt" /> -<p class="center caption">Désirée Artôt, the French soprano who, in jilting Tschaikowsky, -helped to inspire his Romeo and Juliet overture-fantasy.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> - -<p>The <i>Marche Slave</i> was written in 1876 for a benefit concert -to raise funds for soldiers wounded in the Turko-Serbian -war, which presently merged into a greater war -between Turkey and Russia. It is based largely on the old -Russian anthem, “God Save the Emperor,” and some -South Slavonic and Serbian tunes. The main theme has -been traced to the Serbian folk song, <i>Sunce varko ne -fijas jednako</i> (“Come, my dearest, why so sad this morning?”). -Divided into three sections, the march features -fragments of the old Czarist hymn in the middle portion. -How the hymn itself came to be written is told by its -author, Alexis Feodorovich Lvov:</p> - -<p>“In 1833, I accompanied the Emperor Nicholas during -his travels in Prussia and Austria. When we had returned -to Russia I was informed by Count von Benkendorf that -the sovereign regretted that we Russians had no national -anthem of our own, and that, as he was tired of the English -tune which had filled the gap for many years, he -wished me to see whether I could not compose a Russian -hymn.</p> - -<p>“The problem appeared to me to be an extremely difficult -and serious one. When I recalled the imposing British -national anthem, ‘God Save the King,’ the very original -French one and the really touching Austrian hymn, I felt -and appreciated the necessity of writing something big, -strong and moving; something national that should resound -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> -through a church as well as through the ranks of an army; -something that could be taken up by a huge multitude and -be within the reach of every man, from the dunce to the -scholar. The idea absorbed me, but I was worried by the -conditions thus imposed on the work with which I had -been commissioned.</p> - -<p>“One evening as I was returning home very late, I -thought out and wrote down in a few minutes the tune -of the hymn. The next day I called on Shoukovsky to ask -him to write the words; but he was no musician and had -much trouble to adapt them to the phrases of the first section -of the melody.</p> - -<p>“At last I was able to announce the completion of the -hymn to Count von Benkendorf. The Emperor wished to -hear it, and came on November 23 to the chapel of the -Imperial Choir, accompanied by the Empress and the -Grand Duke Michael. I had collected the whole body of -choristers and re-enforced them by two orchestras. The -sovereign asked for the hymn to be repeated several times, -expressed a wish to hear it sung without accompaniment, -and then had it played first of all by each orchestra separately -and then finally by all the executants together. His -Majesty turned to me and said in French: ‘Why, it’s -superb!’ and then and there gave orders to Count von -Benkendorf to inform the Minister of War that the hymn -was to be adopted for the army. The order to this effect -was issued December 4, 1883. The first public performance -of the hymn was on December 11, 1883, at the Grand -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> -Theater in Moscow. The Emperor seemed to want to submit -my work to the judgment of the Moscow public. On -December 25 the hymn resounded through the rooms of -the Winter Palace on the occasion of the blessing of the -colors.</p> - -<p>“As proof of his satisfaction the Emperor graciously presented -me with a gold snuff-box studded with diamonds, -and in addition gave orders that the words ‘God Save the -Tsar’ should be placed on the armorial bearings of the -Lvov family.”</p> - -<h4><i>Overture 1812</i>, <span class="smcap">Opus 49</span></h4> - -<p>Although clearly a <i>pièce d’occasion</i> prompted by the -commemoration of a crucial page in Russian history, the -<i>Overture 1812</i> is a minor mystery in the Tschaikowsky -catalogue. Supposedly Nicholas Rubinstein commissioned -Tschaikowsky in 1880 to write a festival overture for the -Moscow Exhibition. At least the composer admits as much -in letters to Nadezhka von Meck and the conductor -Napravnik.</p> - -<p>But his friend Kashkin insisted the piece was requested -for the ceremonies consecrating the Moscow Cathedral -of the Saviour, intended to symbolize Russia’s part in the -Napoleonic struggle. The overture, accordingly, pictured -the great events beginning with the Battle of Borodino -(September 7, 1812) and ending with Napoleon’s flight -from Moscow, after the city was set aflame. To make it -more effective, the work was to be performed in the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> -public square before the cathedral. An electric connection -on the conductor’s desk would set off salvos of real artillery, -and all Moscow would thrill with thoughts of -its heroic past. In any case Tschaikowsky finished the -overture at Kamenka in 1880, and though the cathedral -was dedicated in the summer of 1881, there is no record of -the planned street scene having come off.</p> - -<p>Instead, we find Tschaikowsky offering the overture to -Eduard Napravnik, then directing the Imperial Musical -Society of St. Petersburg: “Last winter, at Nicholas -Rubinstein’s request, I composed a Festival Overture for -the concerts of the exhibition, entitled ‘1812.’” Tschaikowsky -then makes a statement that possibly suggests an -earlier rebuff: “Could you possibly manage to have this -played? It is not of great value, and I shall not be at all -surprised or hurt if you consider the style of the music -unsuitable to a symphony concert.” Apparently Napravnik -turned down the overture, and its première was postponed -to August 20, 1882, when it figured on an all-Tschaikowsky -concert in the Art and Industrial Exhibition at -Moscow.</p> - -<p>Tschaikowsky’s attitude to the work is further expressed -in the letter to his patroness-saint Mme. von Meck. There -he speaks of the overture as “very noisy” and having “no -great artistic value” because it was written “without much -warmth of enthusiasm.” And in a diary entry of the time -he refers to it as having “only local and patriotic significance.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> - -<p>The “patriotic significance,” of course, is what gives -the overture its <i>raison d’être</i> as a motion picture of historical -events. Tschaikowsky’s brushstrokes are bold and -obvious. The French and Russians are clearly depicted -through the use of the Czarist National Anthem and the -<i>Marseillaise</i>. Fragments of Cossack and Novgorod folk -songs enter the scheme, and the battle and fire scenes are -as plain as pictures. As the overture develops, one envisions -the clash of arms at Borodino, with the Russians -stiffly disputing every step and the <i>Marseillaise</i> finally rising -dominant. The Russians are hurled back; the French -are in Moscow. Finally the city is ablaze and the dismal -rout begins, as cathedral bells mingle with the roll of -drums and the hymn, <i>God Preserve Thy People</i>, surges out -in a paean of victory.</p> - -<h4><i>Capriccio Italien</i>, <span class="smcap">Opus 45</span></h4> - -<p>Described by Edwin Evans as a “bundle of Italian folk-tunes,” -the <i>Capriccio Italien</i> draws partly on published -collections of such melodies and partly on popular airs -heard by Tschaikowsky in 1880 while touring Italy. “I am -working on a sketch of an ‘Italian Fantasia’ based on folksongs,” -he notifies his patroness-confidante, <ins title="Transcriber’s Note: first name spelled here as “Nadeshka” or “Nadezhka”, elsewhere also “Nadezhda”.">Nadeshka</ins> von -Meck, from Rome on February 17, 1880. “Thanks to the -charming themes, some of which I have heard in the -streets, the work will be effective.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/6_score.jpg" width="786" height="500" alt="Score manuscript" /> -<p class="center caption">A facsimile of a piece of Tschaikowsky’s music, signed by the composer.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> - -<p>Tschaikowsky’s room at the Hotel Constanzi overlooked -the barracks of the Royal Cuirassiers. Apparently the -bugle-call sounded nightly in the barracks yards contributed -another theme “heard in the streets,” for it may -be heard in the trumpet passage of the introduction. The -<i>Italian Fantasia</i> was fully sketched out in Rome and the -orchestration begun. With the title now changed to -<i>Capriccio Italien</i>, the work was completed that summer on -Tschaikowsky’s return to Russia. Nicholas Rubinstein directed -the première at Moscow on December 18, 1880. -Six years later Walter Damrosch introduced it to America -at a concert in the Metropolitan Opera House, the precise -date being November 6, 1886.</p> - -<p>After the introductory section, the strings chant a lyric -theme of slightly melancholy hue, which the orchestra -then develops. Later the oboes announce, in thirds, a -simple folk melody of less sombre character. This, too, is -elaborately worked out, before the tempo changes and -violins and flutes bring in another tune. This promptly -subsides as a brisk march section sets in, followed by a -return of the opening theme. There is a transition to a -lively tarantella, then another bright theme in triple -rhythm, and finally the Presto section, with a second -tarantella motif leading to a brilliant close.</p> - -<p>“It is a piece of music which relies entirely on its orchestration -for its effects,” writes Evans in the Master -Musicians Series. “Its musical value is comparatively slight, -but the coloring is so vivid and so fascinating, and the -movement throughout so animated, that one does not -realize this when listening to the work. It is only afterwards -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> -that one experiences certain pangs of regret that -such a rich garment should bedeck so thin a figure.”</p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Suite for Strings</span>, <i>Souvenir de Florence</i>, <span class="smcap">Opus 70</span></h4> - -<p>Compared with his output in other forms, Tschaikowsky’s -chamber music is small, consisting of an early -quartet, of which only the first movement survives, three -complete string quartets, a trio, and the <i>Souvenir de -Florence</i>, written for violins, violas, and ’cellos in pairs.</p> - -<p>As the title implies, the work grew out of a visit to Italy -early in 1890, though as a clew to the mood and manner of -the music, <i>Souvenir de Florence</i> is a better title for the -first two movements than for the others. The remaining -<i>Allegretto moderato</i> and <i>Allegro vivace</i> bear an Italian -“memory” only insofar as much other music by Tschaikowsky -and other composers may share the same quality. -Even a marked Slavic character is evident in places, which -is only natural. As is well known, Tschaikowsky’s overture-fantasy -<i>Romeo and Juliet</i> is often dubbed “Romeo and -Juliet of the Steppes.”</p> - -<p>A first mention of the <i>Souvenir</i> occurs in a letter to Ippolitoff-Ivanoff -dated May 5, 1890, written shortly after -Tschaikowsky’s return from abroad. It is quoted by his -brother Modeste: “My visit brought forth good fruit. I -composed an opera, ‘Pique Dame,’ which seems a success -to me.... My plans for the future are to finish the orchestration -of the opera, sketch out a string sextet [the -<i>Souvenir</i>], go to my sister at Kamenka for the end of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> -summer, and spend the whole autumn with you at Tiflis.”</p> - -<p>On the following June 30 he communicated news of the -sextet to his patroness-saint Mme. von Meck, hoping she -would be “pleased to hear” about it. “I know your love of -chamber music,” he writes, “and I hope the work will -please you. I wrote it with the greatest enthusiasm and -without the least exertion.”</p> - -<p>In November Tschaikowsky went to St. Petersburg for -a rehearsal of <i>Pique Dame</i>. While there he arranged for a -private hearing of the sextet by friends. The performance -left him cold and he resolved to rewrite the Scherzo and -Finale. By the following May the work was thoroughly -remodelled. It was not till June, 1892, while in Paris, that -he actually completed the revision to his satisfaction.</p> - -<p>The four movements comprise an <i>Allegro con spirito</i> (D -minor, 4-4), an <i>Adagio cantabile e con moto</i> (D major, -3-4), an <i>Allegretto moderato</i> (A minor, 2-4), and an -<i>Allegro vivace</i> (D minor-D major, 2-4). The form is largely -that of the classical string quartet, though characteristically -bold and novel devices of color and structure -abound. Often the strings are ingeniously treated to suggest -wind instruments, and one senses Tschaikowsky’s -frequent striving for orchestral effects.</p> - -<p>Research has failed to unearth the “opprobrious -epithets” Tschaikowsky is alleged to have heaped upon -this slight but appealing work.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Overture-Fantasy</span>, <i>Romeo and Juliet</i></h4> - -<p>Shortly before the overture-fantasy on Shakespeare’s -tragedy took shape in Tschaikowsky’s mind, he had been -jilted by the French soprano Désirée Artôt, then enjoying -a prodigious vogue as opera singer in St. Petersburg. The -twenty-eight-year-old composer and Mlle. Artôt had become -engaged in 1868, but the lady promptly left him and -married the Spanish baritone Padilla y Ramos. The theory -is that Tschaikowsky’s composition grew out of the resulting -emotional upset, or at least that his frame of mind -conduced to tragic expression on a romantic theme.</p> - -<p>The Artôt episode acted as stimulus, but the concrete -suggestion for using Shakespeare’s tragedy in a symphonic -work came from Balakireff during a walk with Tschaikowsky -and their friend Kashkin “on a lovely day in May.” -Balakireff, head of the group of five young Russian composers -(Tschaikowsky was not one of them) bent on -achieving a pure national idiom, went so far as to outline -the scheme to Tschaikowsky, unfolding the possibilities of -dramatic and musical co-ordination so vividly that the -young composer took eagerly to the project. Balakireff -even furnished the keys and hints for themes and development.</p> - -<p>However, four months went by before Tschaikowsky -plunged into the actual composition of the overture-fantasy. -Balakireff kept in close touch with him and -virtually supervised the process. His dogmatism and narrowness -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> -often bored and irritated the young composer. -Balakireff accepted this and rejected that, was pitilessly -graphic in his comments, and yet somehow egged on the -hypersensitive Tschaikowsky to completion of a taxing -assignment. Finally, in January of the following year, -Balakireff and Rimsky-Korsakoff came to visit him and he -could write: “My overture pleased them very much and it -also pleases me.” Still, the Moscow public responded -coolly, and Tschaikowsky felt obliged to revise much of -the score that summer. Further rewriting was done for -the definitive edition brought out in 1881.</p> - -<p>The thematic scheme is easy to follow. Friar Laurence -takes his bow in a solemn andante introduction for clarinets -and bassoons in F-sharp minor. The feud of the -Montagues and Capulets rages in a B minor allegro. Romeo -and Juliet enter via muted violins and English horn in a -famous theme in D-flat major suggesting Tschaikowsky’s -song <i>Wer nur die Sehnsucht kennt</i> (“None But the -Lonely Heart”). The strife-torn Montagues and Capulets -return for another bout. Chords of muted violins and violas -hinting at mystery and secrecy bring back the love music. -The themes of Romeo and Juliet, the embattled families, -and Friar Laurence are heard in succession, followed by -a fierce orchestral crash, and the storm subsides to a roll -of kettledrums.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> - -<h4><i>Francesca da Rimini</i>, <span class="smcap">Fantasia for Orchestra -(After Dante), Opus 32</span></h4> - -<p>Written in 1876, Tschaikowsky’s symphonic treatment -of the celebrated love story of Paolo and Francesca grew -out of an original project for an opera on the same subject. -He abandoned the idea of an opera when the libretto submitted -to him proved impossible. Later Tschaikowsky -again read through the fifth canto of Dante’s <i>Inferno</i>, in -which the tragedy is related. Stirred by the verses and also -by Gustave Doré’s illustrations, he resolved to write an -orchestral fantasy on the subject.</p> - -<p>Prefacing the score are the following lines from Dante’s -great poem:</p> - -<p>“Dante arrives in the second circle of hell. He sees that -here the incontinent are punished, and their punishment is -to be continually tormented by the crudest winds under -a dark and gloomy air. Among these tortured ones he -recognizes Francesca da Rimini, who tells her story.</p> - -<p>“‘ ... There is no greater pain than to recall a happy -time in wretchedness; and this thy teacher knows. But if -thou hast such desire to learn the first root of our love, -I will do like one who weeps and tells.</p> - -<p>“‘One day, for pastime, we read of Lancelot, how love -constrained him. We were alone, and without all suspicion. -Several times reading urged our eyes to meet, and changed -the color of our faces. But one moment alone it was that -overcame us. When we read of how the fond smile was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> -kissed by such a lover, he, who shall never be divided from -me, kissed my mouth all trembling. The book, and he who -wrote it, was a Galeotto. That day we read in it no farther.’</p> - -<p>“While the one spirit thus spake, the other wept so that -I fainted with pity, as if I had been dying; and fell, as a -dead body falls.”</p> - -<p>Tschaikowsky used to insist that the following titles be -given in the program-book at performances of his fantasia:</p> - -<table class="ml2"> - <tr> - <td class="right">I.</td> - <td>Introduction: The gateway to the Inferno</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="ti1">(“Leave all hope behind, all ye who enter here”)</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Tortures and agonies of the condemned.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="right">II.</td> - <td>Francesca tells the story of her tragic love for Paolo.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="right">III.</td> - <td>The turmoil of Hades. Conclusion.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>The composition starts with a descriptive setting, in -which a sinister, gruesome picture is painted of the second -circle of Dante’s <i>Inferno</i>. The awesome scene, with its -haunting, driving winds, desolate moans, and dread terror, -is repeated at the end. In the middle occurs a section -featuring a clarinet in a plaintive and tender melody heard -against string pizzicati. This instantly evokes the image of -Francesca telling her tragic tale, which mounts in fervor -and reaches its shattering crisis, before the wailing winds -of Dante’s netherworld close in again.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> - -<h3>BALLET SUITES</h3> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Suite from the Ballet</span>, <i>Swan Lake</i> -(<i>Le Lac des Cygnes</i>)</h4> - -<p>All told, Tschaikowsky wrote three ballets, plus a scattering -of incidental dances for operas, beginning with the -surviving “Voyevode” fragments. The composition of <i>Swan -Lake</i>, first of the trio—the others being <i>The Sleeping -Beauty</i> and <i>The Nutcracker</i>—originated in a twofold impulse, -the need for ready cash and a fondness for French -ballet music, especially the works of Delibes and the -<i>Giselle</i> of Adolphe Adam, which Tschaikowsky regarded -as archetype.</p> - -<p>He evidently thought little of his initial effort, for shortly -after the Moscow production of <i>Swan Lake</i> he recorded -in his diary: “Lately I have heard Delibes’ very clever -music. ‘Swan Lake’ is poor stuff compared to it. Nothing -during the last few years has charmed me so greatly as this -ballet of Delibes and ‘Carmen’.” Per contra, the same -entry bemoans the “deterioration” of German music, the -immediate offender being the “cold, obscure and pretentious” -C minor symphony of Brahms!</p> - -<p>Tschaikowsky was probably sincere when he described -his own ballet as “poor stuff” compared with Delibes’. That -was in 1877. Performances of <i>Swan Lake</i> at the Bolshoi -Theater had been flat, shabby, and badly costumed. A -conductor inexperienced with elaborate ballet scores had -directed. Modeste Tschaikowsky, in the biography of his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> -brother, testifies to this. Numbers were omitted as “undanceable,” -and pieces from other ballets substituted. At -length only a third of the original remained, and not the -best. The ballet dropped out of the Moscow repertory, and -it was not until 1894 that the enterprising Marius Petipa -wrote to Moscow for the full score and produced <i>Swan -Lake</i> with brilliant success at the Maryinsky Theater in -St. Petersburg, on January 15, 1895. It has since remained -a repertory staple, both the current Ballets Russes and the -Ballet Theatre having staged it successfully. Pavlova, -Karsavina, and Markova, among others, have interpreted -the heroine Odette, and Prince Siegfried has been embodied -by Nijinsky, Lifar, Mordkin, and Dolin. <i>Swan -Lake</i> was one of the first ballets witnessed in his youth by -Serge Diaghileff, founder of the famous Ballets Russes.</p> - -<p>Tschaikowsky first refers to <i>Swan Lake</i> in a letter to -Rimsky-Korsakoff, dated September 10, 1875: “I accepted -the work partly because I need the money and because I -have long cherished a desire to try my hand at this type of -music.” V. P. Begitche, stage manager of the Bolshoi, -offered 800 roubles (less than $500) and in turn granted -Tschaikowsky’s request for a story from the Age of Chivalry, -making the sketch himself. Tschaikowsky set to work -in August, 1875, and had the first two acts planned out in -a fortnight, but the score was not completed till the following -March and for some reason held up for performance -until February, 1877.</p> - -<p>The story, possibly of Rhenish origin, tells how Prince -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> -Siegfried woos and wins Odette, the Swan Queen. At a -celebration the prince is told he must soon choose a bride. -A flight of swans overhead distracts him and a hunt is -proposed. Siegfried and the hunters are at the lake-side. -It is evening. Odette appears surrounded by a bevy of -swan-maidens. She begs the hunters to spare the swans. -They are maidens under the spell of the enchanter Rotbart. -Swans by day, they return briefly to human form at midnight. -The prince and Odette fall in love. Siegfried swears -she will be his wife. Odette cautions him about Rotbart’s -evil power. Breach of promise will mean her death. Rotbart -brings his own daughter to the court ball, disguised as -Odette. Siegfried makes the false choice of bride, and the -pledge is broken. Discovering Rotbart’s ruse, he hastens -to Odette, who at first rebuffs him. Siegfried blames Rotbart -and Odette relents. At length Rotbart whips up a storm -which floods the forest. When Siegfried vows he will die -with Odette, Rotbart’s spell is shattered and all ends -happily.</p> - -<p>Tschaikowsky’s close friend and collaborator Kashkin is -authority for the statement that an adagio section in <i>Swan -Lake</i> was a love-duet in the opera <i>Undine</i> before it found -new lodgings. Conversely, a Danse Russe in the group of -piano pieces, Op. 40, was written for <i>Swan Lake</i>, thus -balancing matters. Like <i>The Sleeping Beauty</i> and <i>The -Nutcracker</i>, <i>Swan Lake</i> is famed for its waltz. The score -brims with typical Tschaikowskyan melody, and probably -for the first time in ballet music a scheme of leitmotifs is -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> -used, two of the principal subjects being the tremulous -theme of the swans in flight and the hauntingly wistful -theme of Odette herself, assigned to the oboe against soft -strings and harp arpeggios. The music adjusts itself snugly -to the technic of pure classical ballet and solos and ensembles -are contrasted adroitly.</p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Suite from the Ballet</span>, <i>The Sleeping Beauty</i>, -<span class="smcap">Opus 66</span></h4> - -<p>Based on Perrault’s famous fairy tale, Tschaikowsky’s -<i>Sleeping Beauty</i> ballet dates from the summer of 1889. -Its music is generally regarded as superior to that of the -<i>Swan Lake</i> ballet and inferior to that of the <i>Nutcracker</i> -suite. Few ballet scores are so suitable in mood and style -for the action they accompany. The music is truly melodious -in Tschaikowsky’s lighter vein. The fantasy is conveyed -in bright, glittering colors, and, as Mrs. Newmarch pointed -out, the music “never descends to the commonplace level -of the ordinary ballet music.” There are thirty numbers -in all, many of them, especially the waltz, endearing in -their lilting and haunting grace. The work was first produced -in St. Petersburg on January 2, 1890. In the early -twenties, Diaghileff, the great ballet producer, revived -the work in London and elsewhere with immense artistic -<i>éclat</i>. Fragments of the ballet have been gathered in the -Monte Carlo Ballet Russe’s production of <i>Aurora’s Wedding</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Suite from the Ballet</span>, <i>The Nutcracker</i>, <span class="smcap">Opus 71-a</span></h4> - -<p>The usual fit of depression assailed Tschaikowsky while -composing the music for his <i>Nutcracker</i> ballet, based on -E. T. A. Hoffmann’s story <i>Nussknacker und Mausekönig</i> -(“Nutcracker and Mouse King”). Commissioned by the -St. Petersburg Opera early in 1891, the work was slow in -taking shape. At length, on June 25, Tschaikowsky completed -the sketches for the projected ballet. What had -taken him weeks should have been finished in five days, he -lamented. “No, the old man is breaking up,” he wrote. “Not -only does his hair drop out, or turn as white as snow; not -only does he lose his teeth, which refuse their service; -not only do his eyes weaken and tire easily; not only do his -feet walk badly, or drag themselves along, but, bit by bit, -he loses the capacity to do anything at all. The ballet is -infinitely worse than ‘The Sleeping Beauty’—so much is -certain.”</p> - -<p>Apparently the first night audience agreed with him, -for at the première in the Imperial Opera House, the response -was chilling. Yet an earlier concert performance -of the music had drawn plaudits from both public and -press. The ballet’s failure, however, was easy to explain. -The producer, Marius Petipa, fell ill, and the work of -staging the new ballet was entrusted to a man of inadequate -skill and experience. Then, the audience found it -hard to thrill to the spectacle of children dashing coyly -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> -about in the first act. And balletomanes, accustomed to -beauty and glamor in their favorite ballerinas, found the -girl dancing the part of the Sugarplum Fairy anything but -appetizing to look at.</p> - -<p>Act I of the ballet is concerned with a Christmas Tree -party. The scene is overrun with children and mechanical -dolls. Little Marie is drawn to a German Nutcracker, -which is made to resemble an old man with huge jaws. -During a game, some boys accidentally break the Nutcracker. -Marie is saddened by the tragedy. That night -she lies awake in bed, sleepless with grief over the broken -utensil. Finally, she jumps out of bed and goes to take -one more look at the beloved Nutcracker. Suddenly -strange sounds reach her ears. Mice! The Tree now seems -to come to life and grow massive. Toys begin to stir into -action, followed by cakes and candies. Even the Nutcracker -creaks into life. Presently a battle arises between -the mice and the toys. The Nutcracker challenges the -Mouse King to a duel. Just as the Nutcracker is about to -be felled, Marie hurls a shoe and kills the royal rodent. -And of course, the Nutcracker promptly is transformed -into a handsome prince. Arm in arm, they leave for his -magic kingdom.</p> - -<p>The scene now changes to a mountain of jam for the -second act. This is the land ruled by the Sugarplum Fairy, -who is awaiting the arrival of Marie and her princely -escort. The court cheers jubilantly when the happy pair -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> -appears on the scene. What follows is the series of dances -usually heard in the concert hall. The sequence runs as -follows:</p> - -<p><i>Miniature Overture</i> (<i>Allegro giusto</i>, B-flat, 4-4), featuring -two sharply differentiated themes, scored largely for -the higher instruments.</p> - -<p><i>March</i> (<i>Tempo di marcia vivo</i>, G major, 4-4), in which -the main theme is chanted by clarinets, horns and -trumpets, as the children make their measured entrance.</p> - -<p><i>Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy</i> (<i>Andante con moto</i>, E -minor, 2-4). Here the celesta gives out the entrancing -melody, with pizzicato strings accompanying.</p> - -<p><i>Russian Dance: Trepak</i> (<i>Tempo di trepak, molto vivace</i>, -G major, 2-4), which grows out of a brisk rhythmic figure -heard at the beginning.</p> - -<p><i>Arabian Dance</i> (<i>Allegretto</i>, G minor, 3-8). Intended to -convey the idea of “Coffee.” A melody in Oriental mood -is announced by the clarinet, later picked up by the violins.</p> - -<p><i>Chinese Dance</i> (<i>Allegretto moderato</i>, B-flat major, 4-4). -Intended to convey the idea of “Tea.” The melody is given -to the flute against a pizzicato figure sustained by bassoons -and double basses.</p> - -<p><i>Dance of the Mirlitons</i> (<i>Moderato assai</i>, D major, 2-4). -For the main theme three flutes join forces. Then comes a -different melody given out by the trumpets in F-sharp -minor before the chief subject is back.</p> - -<p><i>Waltz of the Flowers</i> (<i>Tempo di valse</i>, D major, 3-4). -Woodwinds and horns, aided by a harp-cadenza, offer -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> -some introductory phrases. Then the horns give out the -fetching main melody. Soon the clarinets take it up. Flute, -oboe, and strings bring in other themes, and the waltz -comes to a brilliant close.</p> - -<h3>CONCERTOS</h3> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, -in D major, Opus 35</span></h4> - -<p>Before occupying its permanent niche in the repertory, -Tschaikowsky’s violin concerto had to run a fierce gantlet -of fault-finding. Friend and foe alike took pokes at it. The -wonder is that it survived at all. Even Mme. von Meck, -Tschaikowsky’s patroness-saint, picked serious flaws in the -work, and the lady was known for her unwavering faith in -Tschaikowsky’s genius.</p> - -<p>As a matter of fact, Tschaikowsky, often an unsparing -critic of his own music, started the trend by finding objection -with the Andante and rewriting it whole. That was -in April, 1878. He was spending the spring at Clarens, -Switzerland. Joseph Kotek, a Russian violinist and composer, -was staying with him. Tschaikowsky and Kotek -went over the work several times, and evidently saw eye-to-eye -on its merits.</p> - -<p>Then came the first outside rebuff. Mme. von Meck -was frankly dissatisfied and showed why in detail. Tschaikowsky -meekly wrote back pleading guilty on some counts -but advancing the hope that in time his Lady Bountiful -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> -might come to like the concerto. He stood pat on the first -movement, which Mme. von Meck particularly assailed.</p> - -<p>“Your frank judgment on my violin concerto pleased me -very much,” he writes. “It would have been very disagreeable -to me if you, from any fear of wounding the petty -pride of a composer, had kept back your opinion. However, -I must defend a little the first movement of the -concerto.</p> - -<p>“Of course, it houses, as does every piece that serves -virtuoso purposes, much that appeals chiefly to the mind; -nevertheless, the themes are not painfully evolved: the -plan of this movement sprang suddenly in my head and -quickly ran into its mould. I shall not give up the hope -that in time the piece will give you greater pleasure.”</p> - -<p>Next came a more serious setback from Leopold Auer, -the widely respected Petersburg virtuoso. Auer was then -professor of violin at the Imperial Conservatory and the -Czar’s court violinist. Tschaikowsky, hoping to induce -Auer to launch the concerto on its career, originally dedicated -the work to him. But Auer glanced through the score -and promptly decided against it. It was “impossible to -play.”</p> - -<p>Tschaikowsky later made a quaintly worded entry in -his diary to the effect that Auer’s pronouncement cast -“this unfortunate child of my imagination for many years -to come into the limbo of hopelessly forgotten things.” -Justly or unjustly, he even suspected Auer of having prevailed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> -on the violinist Emile Sauret to abstain from playing -it in St. Petersburg.</p> - -<p>The ice finally broke when Adolf Brodsky, after two -years of admitted laziness and indecision, took it up and -succeeded in performing it with the Vienna Philharmonic -on December 4, 1881. Yet, even Brodsky, despite his -wholehearted espousal of the work, complained to Tschaikowsky -that he had “crammed too many difficulties into -it.” Previously, in Paris, Brodsky had experimented with -the concerto by playing it to Laroche, who, whether -because of Brodsky’s rendering or the concerto’s inherent -character, confessed “he could gain no true idea of the -work.”</p> - -<p>Even the première went against the new concerto. In -the first place Brodsky had to do some strong propagandizing -to get Hans Richter to include the work on a -Philharmonic program. Then, only one rehearsal was -granted. The orchestral parts, according to Brodsky, -“swarmed with errors.” At the rehearsal nobody liked the -new work. Besides, Richter wanted to make cuts, but -Brodsky promptly scotched the idea. Finally, during the -performance, the musicians, still far from having mastered -the music, accompanied everything pianissimo, “not to go -smash.”</p> - -<p>Of course, Brodsky outlines the chain of contretemps -in a letter to Tschaikowsky partly to assuage the composer’s -pained feelings on receiving news of the Vienna -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> -fiasco. For the première ended with a broadside of hisses, -completely obliterating the polite applause coming from -some friendly quarters. As the <i>coup de grâce</i> Eduard -Hanslick, Europe’s uncrowned ruler of musical destinies, -wrote a scathing notice, which Philip Hale rendered as -follows:</p> - -<p>“For a while the concerto has proportion, is musical, -and is not without genius, but soon savagery gains the -upper hand and lords it to the end of the first movement.</p> - -<p>“The violin is no longer played. It is yanked about. It -is torn asunder. It is beaten black and blue. I do not know -whether it is possible for any one to conquer these hair-raising -difficulties, but I do know that Mr. Brodsky martyrized -his hearers as well as himself.</p> - -<p>“The Adagio, with its tender national melody, almost -conciliates, almost wins us. But it breaks off abruptly to -make way for a finale that puts us in the midst of the -brutal and wretched jollity of a Russian kermess. We see -wild and vulgar faces, we hear curses, we smell bad -brandy.</p> - -<p>“Friedrich Vischer once asserted in reference to lascivious -paintings that there are pictures which ‘stink in the -eye.’ Tschaikowsky’s violin concerto brings to us for the -first time the horrid idea that there may be music that -stinks in the ear.”</p> - -<p>The pestiferous odors of the Hanslick blast further embittered -Tschaikowsky’s already gloomy disposition, and it -is not surprising to learn that the review haunted him till -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> -the day he died. But Brodsky’s unflagging devotion to the -concerto, together with his practical missionary zeal in -acquainting the European public with it, finally started -the concerto on its path of glory.</p> - -<p>“Nor was that the end of time’s revenges,” wrote Pitts -Sanborn. “Hanslick was to write glowingly of the ‘<ins title="Transcriber’s Note: source reads “Pathetique”">Pathétique</ins>’ -symphony, and in due course Leopold Auer not -only played the unplayable concerto himself, but made a -specialty of teaching it to his pupils, who have carried its -gospel the world over. But while the belated triumphs -were accruing Tschaikowsky died.”</p> - -<p>The dedication is to Brodsky, who certainly earned it.</p> - -<p>The first movement (<i>Allegro moderato</i>, D major, 4-4), -opens with a melody for strings and woodwind. Then the -solo violin is heard in a cadenza-like sequence followed -by the first theme (<i>Moderato assai</i>). A second theme, -<i>Molto <ins title="Transcriber’s Note: source reads “espressive”">espressivo</ins></i>, is next discoursed by the violin in A -major. Instead of the usual development there is an intricate -cadenza without accompaniment. A long and brilliant -coda concludes the movement.</p> - -<p>The second movement (<i>Canzonetta: Andante</i>, 3-4) -starts with the muted solo violin chanting, after a brief -preface, a nostalgic theme in G minor. The flute and -clarinet then offer the first phrase of this theme, and later -the solo violin unreels a Chopinesque second subject, in -E-flat major, <i>con anima</i>. The clarinet offers an obbligato -of arpeggios when the first theme returns. The rousing -finale is an <i>Allegro vivacissimo</i> in D major, 2-4.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Rondo-like last movement, typically Russian in -theme and rhythm, develops from two folk-like melodies. -Listeners will be reminded of the well-known Russian -dance, the Trepak, in this movement. The music builds up -at a brisk pace to a crashing climax.</p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, in B-flat Minor, -No. 1, Opus 23</span></h4> - -<p>Like the violin concerto, Tschaikowsky’s great piano -concerto in B-flat minor went through a gruelling ordeal -of abusive rebuffs and setbacks before becoming established -as one of the world’s most beloved symphonic -scores. In the case of the violin work, it was Leopold -Auer who first flouted it as unplayable, and then made -it a popular repertory standby. Nicholas Rubinstein is -the name linked with the early stages of the piano concerto. -After excoriating the concerto in its first state, -Rubinstein grew to like it, humbly apologized for his -blunder, and made practical amends by playing it in public -with huge success.</p> - -<p>Early in its composition we find Tschaikowsky writing -to his brother Anatol: “I am so completely absorbed in -the composition of a piano concerto. I am anxious that -Rubinstein should play it at his concert. The work proceeds -very slowly and does not turn out well. However, I -stick to my intentions and hammer piano passages out of -my brain; the result is nervous irritability.” Begun in -November, 1874, the concerto was completed the following -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> -month. Rubinstein was then invited to hear the work. -Rubinstein and one or two musical colleagues gathered -in one of the classrooms of the Moscow Conservatory. Unluckily, -the great man was in a sombre mood that day. -Tschaikowsky sat down and played the first movement. -No comment from Rubinstein. Then he played the -Andantino. Still no comment. Finally, Tschaikowsky ran -through the last movement. He turned around expectantly. -Rubinstein said nothing. Uneasily, Tschaikowsky asked -him pointblank: “What do you think of it?” And the storm -broke. It was vulgar, cheap, pianistic, completely valueless, -retorted Rubinstein, who then stepped up to the piano -and began to burlesque the music.</p> - -<p>“I left the room without saying a word and went upstairs,” -writes the distraught Tschaikowsky. “I could not -have spoken for anger and agitation. Presently Rubinstein -came to me and, seeing how upset I was, called me into -another room. There he repeated that my concerto was -impossible, pointed out many places where it needed to be -completely revised, and said that if I would suit the concerto -to his requirements, he would bring it out at his -concert.</p> - -<p>“‘I shall not alter a single note,’ he replied. ‘I shall publish -the work precisely as it stands.’ This intention I -actually carried out.” Tschaikowsky did make some alterations -in the score, however.</p> - -<p>Tschaikowsky changed his mind about dedicating the -score to Rubinstein, conferring the honor on Hans Von -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> -Bülow, instead. Von Bülow played the world première in -Boston on October 25, 1875, and in a letter to the Russian -composer conveyed his enthusiasm for the work: “The -ideas are so original, so noble, so powerful; the details are -so interesting, and though there are many of them they -do not impair the clearness and the unity of the work. -The form is so mature, ripe, distinguished for style, for -intention and labor are everywhere concealed. I should -weary you if I were to enumerate all the characteristics -of your work—characteristics which compel me to congratulate -equally the composer as well as all those who -shall enjoy the work actively or passively respectively.” -Later Tschaikowsky, reading reports of how Americans -were acclaiming his concerto, wrote: “Think what healthy -appetites these Americans must have! Each time Bülow -was obliged to repeat the whole finale of my concerto! -Nothing like this happens in our own country.”</p> - -<p>The concerto opens with a striking theme, <i>Allegro non -troppo e molto maestoso</i>, in D-flat major, 3-4, familiar to -music-lovers of all tastes the world over. The strings take -it up after some brief preluding, and it is then repeated, -with rhythmic modification, by the solo piano. There is a -piano cadenza, and the theme comes back by way of the -strings, minus double-basses, against an ascending obbligato -from the piano. For reasons best known to himself, -Tschaikowsky never allows this imposing theme to return -to the scene.</p> - -<p>The “blind beggar tune” is the name often applied to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> -the piano theme serving as chief subject of the main -section of the first movement (<i>Allegro con spirito</i>, B-flat -minor). Tschaikowsky heard it sung on a street in -Kamenko and he wrote to his patroness-friend, Mme. von -Meck: “It is curious that in Russia every blind beggar -sings exactly the same tune with the same refrain. I have -used part of this refrain in my piano concerto.” Horns and -woodwind discourse the second subject (<i>Poco meno mosso</i>, -A-flat major) before the solo instrument turns to it.</p> - -<p>The song-like first theme of the second movement -(<i>Andantino semplice</i>, D-flat major, 6-8) is given out first -by the flute, with the oboe and clarinets bringing in -the second subject against a bassoon accompaniment. The -<i>Prestissimo</i> middle section in F major, has the spirit of a -scherzo. A waltz enters the scheme by way of violas and -’cellos. Tschaikowsky’s brother, Modeste, insisted the -theme of this waltz derived from a French song the -brothers Tschaikowsky used to sing and whistle in their -boyhood days.</p> - -<p>The Rondo-like finale develops from three themes, the -first of which, a lively dance in Cossack style, is given out -by the piano. A further folk-like quality is observable in -the second theme, and the violins later chant the third -of the finale’s themes. In the brisk Coda the Cossack-like -first theme is given the dominant role.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> - -<h3>SYMPHONIES</h3> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Symphony in F minor, No. 4, Opus 36</span></h4> - -<p>At first sight, this symphony arouses no “cherchez la -femme” mystery. Seemingly, the lady is not far to seek. -In fact, Tschaikowsky throws off the search in his dedication. -The lady is Madame Nadia Filaretovna von Meck. -She was his loyal confidante and benefactress. The least -Tschaikowsky could do was to dedicate a symphony to -her. Comfort and encouragement in the form of checks -and adulatory letters from Mme. von Meck saw the sorrowing -Slav through many bleak periods.</p> - -<p>The association has been called “the most amazing romance -in musical history.” That the “romance” was purely -platonic does not make it any the less “amazing.” Whatever -Mme. von Meck’s secret hopes and longings, Tschaikowsky -shrank from carrying the liaison beyond epistolary scope. -Mme. von Meck resigned herself to an advisory role of -patroness-friend, and played it nobly. The world reveres -her for it. “<i>Our</i> symphony,” Tschaikowsky wrote to her, -communicating his intention to dedicate the Fourth to -her. “I believe you will find in it echoes of your deepest -thoughts and feelings.”</p> - -<p>What Tschaikowsky meant, of course, was “<i>my</i> deepest -thoughts and feelings.” The plural possessive, “<i>ours</i>,” is -gallant rather than collaborative. Even so, he could with -more truth than courtesy have written to another woman, -Antonina Ivanovna Miliukov, in similar style. Antonina -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> -was Tschaikowsky’s wife in a domestic farce lasting two -weeks. The whole episode—spanning a wild sequence of -engagement, marriage, flight in the night, attempted -suicide, separation—nestles snugly in the period of the -symphony’s origin. Antonina would have understood the -words “<i>our</i> symphony.” Only fate and brother Anatol saved -it from becoming Tschaikowsky’s obituary. Not that it was -Antonina’s fault. Far from it. But no psychological analysis -of the Fourth can be complete without her.</p> - -<p>The girl was a conservatory pupil. Tschaikowsky’s music -acted like magic on her. Through it she came to a slavish -worship of the composer. Next followed written avowals -of love sizzling with passion. At first Tschaikowsky was -amused, then alarmed, finally haunted. The girl was persistent. -Her pleas grew piteous. To make matters worse, -Tschaikowsky was immersed in his romantic opera <i>Eugene -Onegin</i> at the time. He had just composed music for -Tatiana’s impassioned love-letter to Onegin. Antonina’s -plight was too much like the spurned Tatiana’s to be lost -on Tschaikowsky’s sensitive nature. Onegin’s cold disdain -had virtually wrecked the girl’s life. Antonina might even -kill herself. Tschaikowsky saw himself as another and -more heartless Onegin. The situation probably stroked his -vanity, too.</p> - -<p>He made a naïve offer of friendship. It only stirred up -more trouble. He finally granted a meeting. Antonina had -won. The girl was deaf to his self-depiction as a morose, -ill-tempered neurotic who would assuredly drive her mad. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> -Antonina knew better. No, there was only one way out—marriage. -Tschaikowsky became engaged. He repented at -leisure. Attempts to break the engagement proved futile. -Antonina was bent on becoming Mrs. Tschaikowsky. They -were married. A few days later Tschaikowsky fled for his -sanity. They were reconciled. There followed two hellish -weeks of tragi-farcical life together in Moscow. One night, -in a wild daze, Tschaikowsky fled again. He wandered -about wildly and reached the Moscow River. He had made -up his mind. He stood neck-deep in the water, hoping to -freeze to death. He was rescued in time.</p> - -<p>Though for long he “bordered on insanity,” somehow he -came through the crisis with most of his mind. His brother -Anatol took him to Switzerland. Slowly Tschaikowsky got -back to normal. He never saw Antonina Ivanovna again. -The clinical aspects of the case have been thoroughly aired -in recent years. The publication of long-withheld letters -throw fresh light on Tschaikowsky’s temperament. Antonina -and he were mentally and physically incompatible. -Despite the fearful suicidal state into which his marriage -plunged him, Tschaikowsky never made a harsh reference -to his wife. Antonina, for her part, graciously cleared him -in her memoirs. “Peter was in no way to blame,” she -wrote.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/7_house.jpg" width="789" height="459" alt="Tschaikowsky’s house at Votinsk" /> -<p class="center caption">The house at Votinsk, in western Russia, where Tschaikowsky was born and where -he spent the early years of his life before his family moved to St. Petersburg.</p> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/8_von-meck.jpg" width="494" height="687" alt="Nadeshka von Meck" /> -<p class="center caption">Mme. Nadeshka von Meck, Tschaikowsky’s life-long benefactress, -whom he corresponded with but never met</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> - -<p>During this period, which extends from May to September, -1877, Tschaikowsky worked on his Fourth Symphony. -Just how much of his private woes were transmuted -into symphonic speech cannot be determined, even from -Tschaikowsky’s own written confidences. Possibly, the -symphony was an avenue of escape from his mounting -anxieties. Anyway, his completion of the sketch coincides -with his engagement to Antonina in May. The orchestration -of the first movement took up a month, from August -11 to September 12—the breathing spell between his two -flights from Antonina. Then followed the nerve-racking -fortnight in Moscow. The other three movements were -completed in the Swiss Alps, where, thanks to his brother, -he regained his full sanity and working tempo. A passage -in a letter to Mme. von Meck, during the Antonina regime, -suggests an explanation of Tschaikowsky’s abstract talk of -Fate in connection with his Fourth: “We cannot escape -our fate, and there was something fatalistic about my -meeting with this girl.” In January, 1878, when the whole -dismal affair was safely locked away in the past, he wrote -to Mme. von Meck that he could only recall his marriage -as a bad dream:</p> - -<p>“Something remote, a weird nightmare in which a man -bearing my name, my likeness, and my consciousness acted -as one acts in dreams: in a meaningless, disconnected, -paradoxical way. That was not my sane self, in possession -of logical and reasonable will-powers. Everything I then -did bore the character of an unhealthy conflict between -will and intelligence, which is nothing less than insanity.”</p> - -<p>Tschaikowsky wrote to the composer Taneieff that there -was not a single bar in his Fourth Symphony which he -had not truly felt and which was not an echo of his “most -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> -intimate self.” He frankly avowed the symphony’s “programmatic” -character, but declared it was “impossible to -give the program in words.” Yet, to Mme. von Meck, who -insisted on knowing the full spiritual and emotional content -of the symphony, he wrote out a detailed analysis -which has long been familiar to concert audiences. In -reading it the listener usually does one of three things: -takes it literally; regards it as irrelevant to the music as -such; relates it to Tschaikowsky’s private life. There is -the fourth choice of combining all three. In that choice -lies the synthesis of mind, emotion, and external stimuli -which is regarded as the very stuff of art.</p> - -<p>“Our symphony has a program,” he writes. “That is -to say, it is possible to express its contents in words, and -I will tell you—and you alone—the meaning of the entire -work and its separate movements. Naturally I can only do -so as regards its general features.</p> - -<p>“The Introduction is the kernel, the quintessence, the -chief thought of the whole symphony. This is Fate, the -fatal power which hinders one in the pursuit of happiness -from gaining the goal, which jealously provides that peace -and comfort do not prevail, that the sky is not free from -clouds—a might that swings, like the sword of Damocles, -constantly over the head, that poisons continually the soul. -This might is overpowering and invincible. There is nothing -to do but to submit and vainly to complain.</p> - -<p>“The feeling of despondency and despair grows ever -stronger and more passionate. It is better to turn from -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> -the realities and to lull oneself in dreams. O joy! What -a fine sweet dream! A radiant being, promising happiness, -floats before me and beckons me. The importunate first -dream of the Allegro is now heard afar off, and now the -soul is wholly enwrapped with dreams. There is no thought -of gloom and cheerlessness. Happiness! Happiness! Happiness! -No, they are only dreams, and Fate dispels them. -The whole of life is only a constant alternation between -dismal reality and flattering dreams of happiness. There -is no port: you will be tossed hither and thither by the -waves until the sea swallows you. Such is the program, -in substance, of the first movement.</p> - -<p>“The second movement shows another phase of sadness. -Here is that melancholy feeling which enwraps one when -he sits at night alone in the house exhausted by work; the -book which he had taken to read has slipped from his -hand; a swarm of reminiscences has arisen. How sad it is -that so much has already <i>been</i> and <i>gone</i>! And yet it is a -pleasure to think of the early years. One mourns the past -and has neither the courage nor the will to begin a new -life. One is rather tired of life. One wishes to recruit his -strength and to look back, to revive many things in the -memory. One thinks on the gladsome hours when the -young blood boiled and bubbled and there was satisfaction -in life. One thinks also on the sad moments, on irrevocable -losses. And all this is now so far away, so far away. And it -is also sad and yet so sweet to muse over the past.</p> - -<p>“There is no determined feeling, no exact expression -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> -in the third movement. Here are capricious arabesques, -vague figures which slip into the imagination when one -has taken wine and is slightly intoxicated. The mood -is now gay, now mournful. One thinks about nothing; -one gives the fancy loose rein, and there is pleasure in -drawings of marvellous lines. Suddenly rush into the -imagination the picture of a drunken peasant and a gutter-song. -Military music is heard passing by in the distance. -These are disconnected pictures which come and go in -the brain of the sleeper. They have nothing to do with -reality; they are unintelligible, bizarre, out-at-elbows.</p> - -<p>“Fourth movement. If you had no pleasure in yourself, -look about you. Go to the people. See how they can enjoy -life and give themselves up entirely to festivity. The -picture of a folk-holiday. Hardly have we had time to -forget ourselves in the happiness of others when indefatigable -Fate reminds us once more of its presence. The -other children of men are not concerned with us. They do -not spare us a glance nor stop to observe that we are -lonely and sad. How merry and glad they all are. All their -feelings are so inconsequent, so simple. And you still say -that all the world is immersed in sorrow? There still <i>is</i> -happiness, simple, native happiness. Rejoice in the happiness -of others—and you can still live.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Symphony in E minor, No. 5, Opus 64</span></h4> - -<p>If surroundings alone determined the mood of a piece -of music, Tschaikowsky’s Fifth Symphony, composed one -summer in a country villa near Klin, would be a sunlit idyl. -Of course it is nothing of the sort, for though Tschaikowsky -responded keenly to outdoor beauty, he was a prey to -gloomy thoughts and visions that constantly found their -way into his music. His own inner world crowded out the -other. Frolovskoe, where he wrote his symphony in 1888, -was a charming spot, fringed by a forest. Between spurts -of composing he took long walks in the woods and puttered -around the villa garden.</p> - -<p>On his return from Italy two years later he found that -the forest had been cut down. “All those dear shady spots -that were there last year are now a bare wilderness,” he -grieved to his brother Modeste. Ironically, Tschaikowsky -also composed his <i>Hamlet</i> overture in the sylvan retreat -at Frolovskoe, though from his own and others’ descriptions, -the place was an ideal setting for an <i>As You Like It</i> -symphonic fantasy, say.</p> - -<p>The first intimation that Tschaikowsky was considering -a new symphony appears in a letter to his brother Modeste -dated May 27, 1888. A dread that he had written himself -out as composer had been steadily gaining a grip on -Tschaikowsky’s mind. He had complained about his imagination -being “dried up.” He felt no urge to write. -Finally he resolved to shake off the mood and convince the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> -world and himself there were still a few good tunes in -him.</p> - -<p>“I am hoping to collect, little by little, material for -a symphony,” he writes to his brother on May 27. The -following month we find him inquiring of his lady bountiful, -Nadezhka von Meck: “Have I told you that I intended -to write a symphony? The beginning has been difficult; -but now inspiration seems to have come. However, we -shall see.” In the same letter he makes no bones about -his intention to prove that he is not “played out as a -composer.”</p> - -<p>On August 6 he reported progress on the new work. -“I have orchestrated half the symphony,” he writes. “My -age, although I am not very old, begins to tell on me. -I become very tired, and I can no longer play the piano -or read at night as I used to do.” Ill health troubled him -during the summer months, but by August 26 he was able -to announce the completion of the symphony. At first he -was dissatisfied with it. Even the favorable verdict of a -group of musical friends, among them Taneieff, did no -good. Early performances of the symphony only strengthened -Tschaikowsky’s misgivings. The work was premièred -in St. Petersburg on November 17, 1888, with Tschaikowsky -conducting. A second performance followed on -November 24, at a concert of the Musical Society, with -the composer again conducting. Then came a performance -in Prague. The public was enthusiastic. The critics, on -the other hand, almost unanimously attacked it as unworthy -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> -of Tschaikowsky’s powers. In a letter to Mme. von -Meck in December he expressed frank disgust with the -symphony:</p> - -<p>“Having played my symphony twice in Petersburg and -once in Prague, I have come to the conclusion that it is a -failure. There is something repellent in it, some over-exaggerated -color, some insincerity of fabrication which -the public instinctively recognizes. It was clear to me that -the applause and ovations referred not to this but to other -works of mine, and that the symphony itself will never -please the public. All this causes a deep dissatisfaction -with myself.</p> - -<p>“It is possible that I have, as people say, written myself -out, and that nothing remains but for me to repeat and -imitate myself. Yesterday evening I glanced over the -Fourth Symphony, <i>our</i> symphony. How superior to this -one, how much better it is! Yes, this is a very, very sad -fact.” A composer who was still to write the <i>Hamlet</i> overture-fantasy, -the <i>Sleeping Beauty</i> and <i>Nutcracker</i> ballets, -the opera <i>Pique Dame</i>, and the <i>Pathetic</i> symphony, was -anything but “written out,” as Tschaikowsky feared!</p> - -<p>After the symphony triumphed in both Moscow and -Hamburg, Tschaikowsky speedily changed his mind and -wrote to his publisher Davidoff: “I like it far better now, -after having held a bad opinion of it for some time.” He -speaks of the Hamburg performance as “magnificent,” -but expresses his old complaint about the Russian press, -that it “continues to ignore me,” and bemoans the fact -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> -that “with the exception of those nearest and dearest to -me, no one will ever hear of my successes.” Modeste Tschaikowsky -attributed the work’s early failure in St. Petersburg -(that is, with the critics) to his brother’s poor -conducting.</p> - -<p>The assumed programmatic content of the Fifth Symphony -has aroused much speculation. Most analysts are -convinced Tschaikowsky had a definite, autobiographical -plan in mind. Yet he left no descriptive analysis such as -we have of the Fourth Symphony. There he had set out -to depict the “inexorableness of fate.” One Russian writer -discerned “some dark spiritual experience” in the Fifth. -“Only at the close,” he observed, “the clouds lift, the sky -clears, and we see the blue stretching pure and clear beyond.” -Ernest Newman spoke of the sinister motto theme -first announced in the opening movement as “the leaden, -deliberate tread of fate.” Many have agreed with Newman -in classing the Fifth with the Fourth as another “fate” -symphony.</p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Symphony in B minor, No. 6, Opus 74</span> (<i>Pathetic</i>)</h4> - -<p>First drafts of a sixth symphony—not the <i>Pathetic</i>—were -made by Tschaikowsky on his return trip from -America in the late spring of 1891. Dissatisfied with the -way the new score was shaping up, he tore it up and congratulated -himself on his “admirable and irrevocable determination” -to do so. It is not till February, 1893, that -first mention is made of a fresh start on a sixth symphony. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> -“I am now wholly occupied with the new work,” he writes -excitedly to his brother Anatol. “It is hard for me to tear -myself from it. I believe it comes into being as the best -of my works. I must finish it as soon as possible, for I have -to wind up a lot of affairs....” Subsequent events were to -give the last sentence of this letter a sinister note of -prophesy. Like Mozart writing the <i>Requiem Mass</i> on his -deathbed, Tschaikowsky seemed to be defying some unfriendly -fate to stop him in the midst of his great symphony.</p> - -<p>There was to be a program to this symphony, a mysterious, -profoundly personal program. But Tschaikowsky -would never tell the world what it was. “Let them guess -who can,” he challenged. Amid the beautiful natural -scenery of Klin, near Moscow, Tschaikowsky worked at his -symphony. Curiously enough, his mood was bright and -cheerful for a change. Early in October he left for Moscow -to attend a funeral. There he met his friend Kashkin and -together they talked jovially of life and death. Tschaikowsky -was in excellent spirits and Kashkin assured him -that he would outlive them all. Tschaikowsky laughed, -and talked excitedly about his new symphony, how he was -satisfied with the first three movements, how the finale -still needed tinkering.</p> - -<p>At length he was in St. Petersburg again. The day of -the première of his symphony was approaching. Rehearsals -were begun and Tschaikowsky soon found reason to grow -morose and pessimistic again. He had counted on the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> -musicians reacting warmly to this new music of his, but -he began to notice cool faces, indifferent glances, and—horror -of horrors—yawns. This was too much for the hypersensitive -Tschaikowsky. He felt his hands suddenly -become lifeless, his mind lose its alertness. His confidence -ebbed from him. To spare the men any further boredom -he cut short the rehearsal. Still, he knew he had written -his greatest symphony. At the première of October 28th, -the audience received the new symphony coolly, and it -was not till shortly after Tschaikowsky’s death that it -began to make a mighty, overpowering impression on -listeners wherever it was played.</p> - -<p>But the symphony had been baptized without a name. -Tschaikowsky felt the term “No. 6” was too bald and -lonely a title for it. “Programme Symphony” was also ruled -out, for the good reason that he refused to divulge the -“program.” His brother Modeste suggested “Tragic,” but -Tschaikowsky rejected that too. When Modeste left him, -he went on casting about for a title. In a flash it came to -him. He rushed back to his brother. “Peter,” he exclaimed; -“I have it! Why not call it the ‘Pathetic’ symphony.” Tschaikowsky -pounced on the proposal eagerly: “Splendid, -Modi, bravo—<i>Pathetic</i>!” he shouted. In his brother’s presence -Tschaikowsky wrote on the score the name by which -the symphony has since been known. Most programs, however, -give the title in its French form, <i>Symphonie Pathétique</i>.</p> - -<p>Shortly after the conversation with his brother, Tschaikowsky -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> -attended a performance of Ostrowsky’s play, <i>A -Warm Heart</i>. Later he went backstage to pay his respects -to the leading actor, Warlamoff. The talk somehow turned -to spiritualism, and again Tschaikowsky showed a lighthearted -mood. When Warlamoff laughingly ridiculed -“these abominations which remind one of death,” Tschaikowsky -agreed jovially. “There is plenty of time before -we have to reckon with this snub-nosed horror. It will not -come to snatch us off just yet! <i>I feel that I shall live a long -time!</i>” Five days later, Peter Ilyitch Tschaikowsky, generally -regarded as Russia’s greatest composer, was dead, -one of the many victims of the fearful cholera epidemic -then raging in St. Petersburg.</p> - -<p>If Tschaikowsky followed a definite emotional or philosophical -program in the <i>Pathetic</i> symphony, the key to it -died with him. Had he lived, the chances are he would -have divulged it, since he was not by nature a secretive, -unconfiding man. However, many have probed the symphony’s -content and concluded it harbored a message of -impending death. Yet Kashkin, Tschaikowsky’s close -friend, interpreted the fierce energy of the third movement -and the abysmal sorrow of the Finale “in the broader light -of a national or historical significance.” He refused to narrow -down the scope of the symphony to a merely personal -experience.</p> - -<p>“If the last movement is intended to be prophetic, it -is surely of things vaster and issues more fatal than are -contained in a purely personal apprehension of death,” he -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> -said. “It speaks, rather, of <i>une lamentation large et souffrance -inconnue</i>—a large lamentation and unknown suffering. -It seems to set the seal of finality on all human hopes. -Even if we eliminate the merely subjective interest, this -autumnal inspiration of Tschaikowsky’s, in which we hear -the <i>whirling of the perished leaves of hope</i>, still remains -the most profoundly stirring of his works.”</p> - -<p>I think we may safely agree with Kashkin’s judgment, -at the same time reserving the right to read into this -monumental dirge, for such it unmistakably is, our own -individual sense of its profoundly moving theme of tragic -resignation. That Tschaikowsky left it as a testament of -disillusion and futility is likely. Yet no one can miss the -fine vein of tenderness and the flashes of defiance recurring -through it. Few artists have bequeathed the world -such a candid, soul-searing self-portrait.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> - -<h2>COMPLETE LIST OF RECORDINGS</h2> -<p class="center">BY THE</p> -<p class="center mb2">PHILHARMONIC-SYMPHONY SOCIETY OF NEW YORK</p> - -<h3>COLUMBIA RECORDS</h3> - -<p class="center">LP—Also available on Long Playing Microgroove Recordings -as well as on the conventional Columbia Masterworks.</p> - -<h4><i>Under the Direction of Bruno Walter</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">Barber</span>—Symphony No. 1, Op. 9</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Beethoven</span>—Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra in C major (with J. Corigliano, L. Rose and W. Hendl)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Beethoven</span>—Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major (“Emperor”) (with Rudolf Serkin, piano)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Beethoven</span>—Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra (with Joseph Szigeti)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Beethoven</span>—Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Beethoven</span>—Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (“Eroica”)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Beethoven</span>—Symphony No. 5 in C minor—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Beethoven</span>—Symphony No. 8 in F major—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Beethoven</span>—Symphony No. 9 in D minor (“Choral”) (with Elena Nikolaidi, contralto, and Raoul Jobin, tenor)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Brahms</span>—Song of Destiny (with Westminster Choir)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Dvorak</span>—Slavonic Dance No. 1</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Dvorak</span>—Symphony No. 4 in G Major—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Mahler</span>—Symphony No. 4 in G major (with Desi Halban, soprano)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Mahler</span>—Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Mendelssohn</span>—Concerto in E minor (with Nathan Milstein, violin)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Mendelssohn</span>—Scherzo (from Midsummer Night’s Dream)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Mozart</span>—Cosi fan <ins title="Transcriber’s Note: should be “Tutte”">Tutti</ins>—Overture</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Mozart</span>—Symphony No. 41 in C major (“Jupiter”), K. 551—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Schubert</span>—Symphony No. 7 in C major—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Schumann, R.</span>—Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (“Rhenish”)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Smetana</span>—The Moldau (“Vltava”)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Strauss, J.</span>—Emperor Waltz</p> -</blockquote> - -<h4><i>Under the Direction of Leopold Stokowski</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">Copland</span>—Billy the Kid (2 parts)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Griffes</span>—“The White Peacock,” Op. 7, No. 1—LP 7"</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Ippolitow</span>—“In the Village” from Caucasian Sketches (W. Lincer and M. Nazzi, soloists)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Khachaturian</span>—“Masquerade Suite”—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Messian</span>—“L’Ascension”—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Sibelius</span>—“Maiden with the Roses”—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Tschaikowsky</span>—Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Tschaikowsky</span>—Overture Fantasy—Romeo and Juliet—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Vaughan-Williams</span>—Greensleeves</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Vaughan-Williams</span>—Symphony No. 6 in E minor—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Wagner</span>—Die Walküre—Wotan Farewell and Magic Fire Music (Act III—Scene 3)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Wagner</span>—Siegfried’s Rhine Journey and Siegfried’s Funeral March—(“Die Götterdämmerung”)—LP</p> -</blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> - -<h4><i>Under the Direction of Efrem Kurtz</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">Chopin</span>—Les Sylphides—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Glinka</span>—Mazurka—“Life of the Czar”—LP 7"</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Grieg</span>—Concerto in A minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 16 (with Oscar Levant, piano)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Herold</span>—Zampa—Overture</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Kabalevsky</span>—“The Comedians,” Op. 26—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Khachaturian</span>—Gayne—Ballet Suite No. 1—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Khachaturian</span>—Gayne—Ballet Suite No. 2—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Lecoq</span>—Mme. Angot Suite—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Prokofieff</span>—March, Op. 99—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Rimsky-Korsakov</span>—The Flight of the Bumble Bee—LP 7"</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Shostakovich</span>—Polka No. 3, “The Age of Gold”—LP 7"</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Shostakovich</span>—Symphony No. 9—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Shostakovich</span>—Valse from “Les Monts D’Or”—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Villa-Lobos</span>—Uirapuru—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Wieniawski</span>—Concerto No. 2 in D minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 22 (with Isaac Stern, violin)—LP</p> -</blockquote> - -<h4><i>Under the Direction of Charles Münch</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">D’Indy</span>—Symphony on a French Mountain Air for Orchestra and Piano—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Milhaud</span>—Suite Française—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Mozart</span>—Concerto No. 21 for Piano and Orchestra in C major—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Saint-<ins title="Transcriber’s Note: should be “Saëns”">Saens</ins></span>—Symphony in C minor, No. 3 for Orchestra, Organ and Piano, Op. 78—LP</p> -</blockquote> - -<h4><i>Under the Direction of Artur Rodzinski</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">Bizet</span>—Carmen—Entr’acte (Prelude to Act III)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Bizet</span>—Symphony in C major—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Brahms</span>—Symphony No. 1 in C minor—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Brahms</span>—Symphony No. 2 in D major—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Copland</span>—A Lincoln Portrait (with Kenneth Spencer, Narrator)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Enesco</span>—Roumanian Rhapsody—A major, No. 1—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Gershwin</span>—An American in Paris—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Gould</span>—“Spirituals” for Orchestra—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Ibert</span>—“Escales” (Port of Call)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Liszt</span>—Mephisto Waltz—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Moussorgsky</span>—Gopack (The Fair at Sorotchinski)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Moussorgsky-Ravel</span>—Pictures at an Exhibition—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Prokofieff</span>—Symphony No. 5—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Rachmaninoff</span>—Concerto No. 2 in C minor for Piano and Orchestra (with Gygory Sandor, piano)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Rachmaninoff</span>—Symphony No. 2 in E minor</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Saint-<ins title="Transcriber’s Note: should be “Saëns”">Saens</ins></span>—Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4 in C minor (with Robert Casadesus)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Sibelius</span>—Symphony No. 4 in A minor</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Tschaikowsky</span>—Nutcracker Suite—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Tschaikowsky</span>—Suite “Mozartiana”—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Tschaikowsky</span>—Symphony No. 6 in B minor (“Pathétique”)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Wagner</span>—Lohengrin—Bridal Chamber Scene (Act III—Scene 2)—(with Helen Traubel, soprano, and Kurt Baum, tenor)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Wagner</span>—Lohengrin—Elsa’s Dream (Act I, Scene 2) (with Helen Traubel, soprano)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Wagner</span>—Siegfried Idyll—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Wagner</span>—Tristan und Isolde—Excerpts (with Helen Traubel, soprano)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Wagner</span>—Die Walküre—Act III (Complete) (with Helen Traubel, soprano and Herbert Janssen, baritone)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Wagner</span>—Die Walküre—Duet (Act I, Scene 3) (with Helen Traubel, soprano and Emery Darcy, tenor)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Wolf-Ferrari</span>—“Secret of Suzanne,” Overture</p> -</blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> - -<h4><i>Under the Direction of Igor Stravinsky</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">Stravinsky</span>—Firebird Suite—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Stravinsky</span>—Fireworks (Feu d’Artifice)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Stravinsky</span>—Four Norwegian Moods</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Stravinsky</span>—Le Sacre du Printemps (The Consecration of the Spring)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Stravinsky</span>—Scènes de Ballet—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Stravinsky</span>—Suite from “Petrouchka”—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Stravinsky</span>—Symphony in Three Movements—LP</p> -</blockquote> - -<h4><i>Under the Direction of Sir Thomas Beecham</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">Mendelssohn</span>—Symphony No. 4, in A major (“Italian”)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Sibelius</span>—Melisande (from “Pelleas and Melisande”)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Sibelius</span>—Symphony No. 7 in C major—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Tschaikowsky</span>—Capriccio Italien</p> -</blockquote> - -<h4><i>Under the Direction of John Barbirolli</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">Bach-Barbirolli</span>—Sheep May Safely Graze (from the “Birthday Cantata”)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Berlioz</span>—Roman Carnival Overture</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Brahms</span>—Symphony No. 2, in D major</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Brahms</span>—Academic Festival Overture—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Bruch</span>—Concerto No. 1, in G minor (with Nathan Milstein, violin)—LP</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Debussy</span>—First Rhapsody for Clarinet (with Benny Goodman, clarinet)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Debussy</span>—Petite Suite: Ballet</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Mozart</span>—Concerto in B-flat major (with Robert Casadesus, piano)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Mozart</span>—Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Ravel</span>—La Valse</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Rimsky-Korsakov</span>—Capriccio Espagnol</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Sibelius</span>—Symphony No. 1, in E minor</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Sibelius</span>—Symphony No. 2, in D major</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Smetana</span>—The Bartered Bride—Overture</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Tschaikowsky</span>—Theme and Variations (from Suite No. 3 in G)—LP</p> -</blockquote> - -<h4><i>Under the Direction of Andre Kostelanetz</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">Gershwin</span>—Concerto in F (with Oscar Levant)—LP</p> -</blockquote> - -<h4><i>Under the Direction of Dimitri Mitropoulos</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">Khachaturian</span>—Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (with Oscar Levant, piano)—LP</p> -</blockquote> - -<h3>VICTOR RECORDS</h3> - -<h4><i>Under the Direction of Arturo Toscanini</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">Beethoven</span>—Symphony No. 7 in A major</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Brahms</span>—Variations on a Theme by Haydn</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Dukas</span>—The Sorcerer’s Apprentice</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Gluck</span>—Orfeo ed Euridice—Dance of the Spirits</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Haydn</span>—Symphony No. 4 in D major (The Clock)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Mendelssohn</span>—Midsummer Night’s Dream—Scherzo</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Mozart</span>—Symphony in D major (K. 385)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Rossini</span>—Barber of Seville—Overture</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Rossini</span>—Semiramide—Overture</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Rossini</span>—Italians in Algiers—Overture</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Verdi</span>—Traviata—Preludes to Acts I and II</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Wagner</span>—Excerpts—Lohengrin—Die Götterdämmerung—Siegfried Idyll</p> -</blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> - -<h4><i>Under the Direction of John Barbirolli</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">Debussy</span>—Iberia (Images, Set 3, No. 2)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Purcell</span>—Suite for Strings with four Horns, two Flutes, English Horn</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Respighi</span>—Fountains of Rome</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Respighi</span>—Old Dances and Airs (Special recording for members of the Philharmonic-Symphony League of New York)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Schubert</span>—Symphony No. 4 in C minor (Tragic)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Schumann</span>—Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor (with Yehudi Menuhin, violin)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Tschaikowsky</span>—Francesca da Rimini—Fantasia</p> -</blockquote> - -<h4><i>Under the Direction of Willem Mengelberg</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">J. C. Bach</span>—Arr. Stein—Sinfonia in B-flat major</p> -<p><span class="smcap">J. S. Bach</span>—Arr. Mahler—Air for G String (from Suite for Orchestra)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Beethoven</span>—Egmont Overture</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Handel</span>—Alcina Suite</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Mendelssohn</span>—War March of the Priests (from Athalia)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Meyerbeer</span>—Prophète—Coronation March</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Saint-<ins title="Transcriber’s Note: should be “Saëns”">Saens</ins></span>—Rouet d’Omphale (Omphale’s Spinning Wheel)</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Schelling</span>—Victory Ball</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Wagner</span>—Flying Dutchman—Overture</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Wagner</span>—Siegfried—Forest Murmurs (Waldweben)</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="transnote"> -<h2>Transcriber’s Notes</h2> -<ul> -<li>Illustrations shifted to the nearest paragraph break.</li> -<li>Copyright notice is from the printed exemplar. (U.S. copyright was not -renewed: this ebook is in the public domain.)</li> -</ul> -<p>Following remarks have been marked in the text as well:</p> -<ul> -<li>Page 8, “Solenelle” changed to “Solennelle”</li> -<li>Page 13, first name spelled here as “Nadeshka” or “Nadezhka”, elsewhere as “Nadezhda”.</li> -<li>“Desirée” (Artôt), usually “Désirée” (2x)</li> -<li>Page 33, “Pathetique” changed to “Pathétique”</li> -<li>Page 33, “espressive” changed to “espressivo”</li> -<li>Page 55, “Cosi fan Tutti” kept, but should be “Cosi fan Tutte”</li> -<li>Page 56-58, “<span class="smcap">Saint-Saens</span>” kept, but should be “<span class="smcap">Saint-Saëns</span>” (3 times)</li> -</ul> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tchaikowsky and His Orchestral Music, by -Louis Biancolli - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TCHAIKOWSKY, HIS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC *** - -***** This file should be named 50230-h.htm or 50230-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/2/3/50230/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Kris de Bruijn, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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