TCHAIKOVSKY FESTIVAL

Sunday, November 10 3:00 PM

Dawson Auditorium, Adrian College

TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No. 1

Tchaikovsky was by nature a very sensitive and insecure person, prone to dramatic ups and downs in his professional and personal life. He reacted to any criticism dramatically, and was often depressed for weeks following a negative remark. At the time he composed his first piano concerto, he was already recognized as a creative and competent composer for orchestra and solo piano, but he felt the need to compose something grand and new. He was an admirer of Nikolay Rubenstein, a well-known conductor who was director of the Moscow Conservatory and brother of Tchaikovsky’s teacher Anton Rubenstein. Nikolay had conducted the premieres of four of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies, and Tchaikovsky created his first piano concerto for him. It was to be something towering and lyrical, making use of all the piano’s capabilities.

On Christmas Eve, 1874, he played through the first movement for Rubenstein, then the second, and then to the end with no comment from Rubenstein. When he finally spoke, Rubenstein was not complimentary. He declared the work “clumsy and unplayable, when not vulgar and chaotic”. Tchaikovsky was devastated, then outraged and made his feelings known. Rubenstein softened and promised to play the piece if Tchaikovsky would make some revisions which Rubenstein would specify. The composer said: “I shall not alter a single note. I shall publish the work exactly as it is.” And he did exactly that, dedicating it to Hans von Bulöw, a pianist and conductor who had praised his earlier work. Von Bulöw premiered the work in 1875 in Russia, then in Boston in the US. The US premier was highly successful, earning him a tickertape parade down Broadway. Back in Russia, Rubenstein, seeing how popular it had become, did become a fan of the concerto and actually praised it effusively.

Tchaikovsky actually follows the form of the classical concerto: sonata-like first movement, andante with variations in the second movement and a rondo finale. He begins with a grandiose introduction containing a major cadenza and ending with a thundering coda. The second movement contains a set of variations with piano and orchestra skillfully intwined, as well as interplay between the flute and soloist. The final movement makes use of a Ukrainian folk dance played by the piano and accompanied by a rhythmic orchestral response. There is a huge crescendo and exuberant coda and the virtuosity of the piano shines throughout.

Beryl McHenry

Dominic Cheli, piano

TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 6 "Pathetique"

The Symphony No.6 was composed in 1893, and premiered on October 28 of that year. It has been widely speculated that when he composed his Symphony No. 6, Tchaikovsky knew he was dying. In fact, he did die 9 days after that premiere, on November 5 of 1893, at the age of 53. Tchaikovsky was by nature a man of melancholy personality and his Symphony No. 6 reflects his emotional state at the time. But it was not necessarily a premonition that he was about to die, nor was it the work of a man contemplating suicide, as some have suggested. For most of that year Tchaikovsky was in good health and good spirits. He was enjoying success both at home and abroad. His creative talents were at their peak. He wrote to his nephew in February that he was composing “with such ardor that in less than four days I have completed the first movement, while the remainder is clearly outlined in my head.” When he completed it in August, he told his publisher “never in my life have I been so contented, so proud, so happy, in the knowledge that I have written a good piece.”

It is true that the symphony received a less-than-enthusiastic reception when it premiered, but friends said that he was in a bright mood a few days later. The exact cause of his death is speculative. The most likely seems to be that he contracted cholera after drinking tainted water. It is probably coincidence that he died so soon after conducting a symphony that is, after all, about death. The name “Pathétique” was not applied until after the premiere, and was suggested by his brother Modeste. Peter liked the name immediately and applied it when it was sent to the publisher. In fact, the original Russian word that has been translated as “pathetic” is in meaning closer to “passionate” or “emotional”.

In his own words, Tchaikovsky said “the ultimate essence of the symphony is Life, First part, all impulse, passion, confidence, thirst for activity…Second part love: third, disappointments, fourth, dying away.” It is about a struggle between one’s life force and the inevitable descent into physical and emotional demise. Just as the soul’s destination after death is uncertain, so does Tchaikovsky leave that question unanswered in the mysterious closing strains.

It is said that Tchaikovsky knew he was at the high point of his life work. His power as a composer was vindicated. He felt he had re-invented the symphony form, and history has confirmed that so many of the composers who came after him were freed to depart from the past also. He died knowing that this piece was “the best thing I ever composed or shall compose.”

Beryl McHenry