Cultural Influences on Russia's Musical Voice




Click on the picture to enlarge it.
Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was the "first composer of a new Russian type, fully professional, who firmly assimilated traditions of Western European symphonic mastery in a deeply original, personal, and national style." (Roland Wiley in New Grove, 2nd ed.)* Probably the most well-known of all Russian composers, Tchaikovsky's ballets, symphonies, and concertos are beloved worldwide. Two of his operas, Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades, are still part of the modern repertoire. The following excerpt is from the last scene of Act II of The Queen of Spades. [1 min. 50 sec.] The words "three cards" (tri karty) can be heard. These are the three winning cards at faro which are the obsession of Germann, the main character. Tchaikovsky is famous as a composer for his beautiful melodies, an example of which is the Andante Cantabile. [50 sec.] The next excerpt is from Souvenir de Florence, [39 sec.] which is on the program on the 23rd. The excerpt is from the final movement, the Allegro Vivace.
In 1891 Tchaikovsky was invited to America to participate in the grand opening of Carnegie Hall in New York City. He conducted his music there and in Baltimore, the home of the piano maker Walter Knabe & Co., who helped finance the composer's trip. For the concert in Baltimore Tchaikovsky substituted the Serenade for Strings for a more demanding piece, because he found the traveling orchestra, which was to play it, to be too small. The excerpt from the Serenade [50 sec.] is from the first movement, Andante non Troppo.
previous pagenext page
*The link to the article in Grovemusic online will only work from the Miami University internet domain, or if you can authenticate into our system through the proxy server.