Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a great Russian composer of the Romantic era
His works included symphonies (such as the Pathetique Symphony), ballets (such as Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker), fantasies (such as Romeo and Juliet), operas (such as Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades), orchestral suites, and concertos. The 1812 Overture and Marche slave are popular favorites.
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Suite for piano solo
Tchaikovsky-The Nutcracker Suite for piano solo
Tchaikovsky-The Nutcracker Suite for piano solo arranged by Pletnev. a must-see!! please watch to the end! please please please oh and her name is Mee-Hyun Ahn 1st piece: March 2nd piece: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy 3rd piece: Trepak Dance 4th piece: In the Christmas Tree 5th piece: Chinese Dance (Tea) 6th piece: Pas De deux: Intrada (the best! must watch until here okay!!)
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9am Appointment
"I sit down to the piano regularly at nine-o'clock in the morning and Mesdames les Muses have learned to be on time for that rendezvous."
-- Pyotr Tchaikovsky, quoted in Schafer, British Composers in Interview (1963)
Tchaikovsky - 1st Piano Concerto - 1st movement
Played by Van Cliburn, in Moscow, 1962
Tchaikovsky: The Man and His Music
Tchaikovsky: The Man and His Music
Amazon Price: $14.93 (as of 11/28/2009)
Remembered for The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Eugene Onegin, the Pathetique Symphony, his first piano concerto, and the 1812 Overture, Tchaikovsky (1840-93) enjoyed solitude, family, and professional colleagues. He taught at the Russian Musical Society in Moscow, conducted his music at home and abroad, and composed quickly; after Nadezhda von Meck became his patron, he dedicated himself to composition. His homosexuality in an era that punished homosexuals was a constant burden, yet, fond of children, especially his nieces and nephews, he remained close to his family. Already the author of a four-volume biography of the great Russian, Brown here approaches Tchaikovsky's life through his music, interspersing strict biography with critical reviews of significant compositions and guidance to the content of the music, and quoting from Tchaikovsky's extensive correspondence to shed light on his personality. Especially written for music lovers who wish to gain much more insight into Tchaikovsky's music, this concise yet thorough volume will give great pleasure to serious classical music listeners.
Tchaikovsky - Romeo and Juliet
With the London Symphony Orchestra and Gergiev
Statue of Tchaikovsky, Wotinsk, Russia
Tchaikovsky CDs
Essential Tchaikovsky
Amazon Price: $10.99 (as of 11/28/2009)
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture/ Marche Slave
Amazon Price: $14.99 (as of 11/28/2009)
Pytor Illych Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker - Complete Ballet
Amazon Price: $10.97 (as of 11/28/2009)
Tchaikovsky - Marche Slave
Conductor: David Matthies
Program Notes on Famous Tchaikovsky Works
- Symphony No. 2, in C Minor. Op. 17 (Tchaikovsky)
- Tchaikovsky's Second Symphony, sometimes called the "Little Russian Symphony," was written in 1872, and was first performed in Moscow. It is considered the most national of all this composer's works, as it is based largely upon Russian themes.
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK - Symphony No. 4, in F Minor. Op. 36 (Tchaikovsky)
- The Fourth Symphony was written in 1878, and was regarded by Tchaikovsky as his finest work. It stands almost alone in that composer's music for its humorous characteristics, which are all the more strange when it is considered he was mentally depressed while writing it.
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK - Symphony No. 6, in E Minor (Pathetic). Op. 74 (Tchaikovsky)
- The Sixth Symphony, which the composer named the "Pathetic" after its first performance, was written in 1893. He left no program, for it. Indeed, he wrote to a friend that the program must remain a riddle to every one, and to the same friend: "I love it as I have never loved any other of my musical creations."
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK - Suite, "Casse Noisette" ("Nutcracker"). Op. 71 (Tchaikovsky)
- The "Casse Noisette" Suite is a fascinating trifle as compared with most of Tchaikovsky's works, though it is exceedingly graceful in its style and skilful in construction. It was originally written as a fairy ballet in fifteen numbers, and from them the composer arranged the suite. It is laid out in three parts, viz.: 1. "Overture Miniature." 2. "Danses Caractéristiques," comprising "Marche," "Danse de la Fée Dragée," "Trepac (Danse Russe)," "Danse Arabe," " Danse Chinoise" and "Danse des Mirlitons." 3. "Valse des Fleurs."
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK - "1812 Overture". Op. 49 (Tchaikovsky)
- According to one of Tchaikovsky's biographers, Nicholas Rubinstein in the spring of 1880 suggested to the composer that he should write a pièce d'occasion for the consecration of the Temple of Christ in Moscow. "In addition to the church festivity Rubinstein wished to organize a musical one which should embody the history of the building of this temple, that is to say, the events of the year 1812. Tchaikovsky's fantasia or overture was to be performed in the public square before the cathedral by a colossal orchestra, the big drums to be replaced by salvos of artillery."
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK
Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony
"I like listening to it just as I like looking at a fuschia drenched with rain."
-- James Agate (speaking of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony), Ego 8 (1947)
Tchaikovsky (article)
Tchaikovsky considered himself a professional composer. He felt his professionalism in combining skill and high standards in his musical works separated him from his colleagues in "The Five." He shared several of their ideals, including an emphasis on national character in music. His aim, however, was linking those ideals with a professional standard high enough to satsify European criteria. His professionalism also fueled his desire to reach a broad public, not just nationally but also internationally. This he would eventually do.
Aesthetically, Tchaikovsky remained open to all aspects of St Petersburg musical life. He was impressed by Serov and Balakirev as well as the classical values upheld by the conservatory. Both the progressive and conservative camps in Russian music at the time attempted to win him over. Tchaikovsky charted his compositional course between these two factions, retaining his individuality as a composer as well as his Russian identity. A clear summation of Tchaikovsky's approach can be found in Hermann Laroche's review of Sleeping Beauty:
The Russian way in music ... is the issue at hand.... The point is not in the local color, in the internal structure of the music, above all in the foundation of the element of melody. This basic element is undoubtedly Russian. It may be said, without lapsing into contradiction, that the local color Sleeping Beauty is French, but the style is Russian.... One may thank Pyotr Ilyich that his development has coincided with a time when the influences of the soil became stronger among us, when the Russian soul was inspired, when the word "Russian" ceases to be a synonym of "peasant-like," and when the peasant-like itself was recognized in its proper place, as but part of being Russian.
Source: Wapedia
Tchaikovsky - Ballet, Swan Lake
Ballet Dancers: Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev
Tchaikovsky on USSR Postage Stamp
Further Interesting Intenet Resources on Tchaikovsky
- Tchaikovsky Research
- A website devoted to the latest research into the life and works of Russia's most popular composer
Tchaikovsky - Symphony no. 6 ("Pathétique")
Mariss Jansons conducting Concertgebouw Orchestra
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique) (Cambridge Music Handbooks)
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique) (Cambridge Music Handbooks)
Amazon Price: $26.99 (as of 11/28/2009)
Tchaikovsky's final symphony has fascinated generations of music lovers since its first performance just over a century ago. Professor Jackson explores sensitively and without prejudice the question of the Pathétique's program and its relation to Tchaikovsky's homosexuality and death. The book covers the work's conception, genesis, and reception, and presents an in-depth analysis of its remarkable formal structure. The reception chapter investigates the Pathétique's impact on Tchaikovsky's younger contemporaries as well as its political interpretation in the twentieth century, especially its transformation into a cultural icon of the Third Reich.
Latest News on Tchaikovsky
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Tchaikovsky's Grave at the the Alexander Nevski Monastery
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- JoyfulPamela JoyfulPamela Nov 17, 2009 @ 6:10 am
- Tchaikovsky rocks! I'm adding this lens to one I am creating about the Nutcracker. Thanks, great job here!
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- Evelyn_Saenz Evelyn_Saenz Feb 14, 2008 @ 11:09 am
- I'm sending you some virtual Valentine's Day Adjectives and Heart Shaped Waffles for such a great Valentine's Day Lens.
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