Tchaikovsky: Russia's Romantic

       Just as Russia began to emerge on the classical music scene, Romantic Nationalism started to spread throughout western art.  The timing may have been fortuitous-- it allowed the still little respected Russian composers to incorporate what they knew best: Russian folk music.  Many composers took this to the extreme, and essentially wrote Russian folk music for classical instruments.  For example, the group of composers known as The Five, or sometimes, The Mighty Handful, prided themselves on their uniquely Russian music.  We will cover them next post.  For now we turn our attention to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, an intermediary between the classical style and the Russian style, and one of the best loved composers in the world.

       Tchaikovsky may be best known for his many "pop" hits, like the 1812 Overture, the love theme from Romeo and Juliet, and various selections from The Nutcracker.  But Tchaikovsky was also a serious composer, and wrote a large amount of so called "absolute" music, including 4 orchestral suites, 3 piano concerti, a violin concerto, and 6 symphonies, among many other ballets, pieces of program music, and chamber music.  His music, though it has a wide emotional range, it can be characterized by broad, expansive melody, and a devotion to traditional forms, such as sonata-allegro form.  Tchaikovsky pushed these forms to the limit, as most of his symphonies are over 40 minutes long.  His music is also overtly emotional, even ultra-Romantic.  

      Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in a small town, to civil servant parents.  Tchaikovsky was very fortunate in this instance.  Though by no means rich, he was able to gain an education and receive musical training from an early age.  Both his parents were musically trained, and supported his interest, but when it came to finding a career, they sent him the Imperial School of Jurisprudence in St. Petersburg to become a civil servant.  The young Pyotr obliged, and eventually became a senior assistant at the Ministry of Justice.  He only held this post for three years, and in 1962, enrolled at the brand new St. Petersburg Conservatory, set up by Tsar Alexander II to nurture native talent.  The Conservatory sure did nurture Tchaikovsky, and he slowly began to gain notoriety as a composer by the time of his graduation in 1865.

       Throughout his compositional life, Tchaikovsky struck a balance between the rigor of the academic western style, and the sometimes playful, sometimes deeply emotional Russian style.  He was ambivalent about the The Five and their rejection of western traditions.  Still, he was on friendly terms with the members of the group, though he put considerable effort into distancing himself from the group.  This is not to say that Tchaikovsky cared less about Russia.  He wrote many works on Russian themes, including his Second Symphony, and a large opera after Pushkin's novel Eugene Onegin.

       Some of Tchaikovsky's music shows us the optimism rural Russia held during the latter half of the 19th century, when it seems as though the end of monarchy was near.  But to tell that story, the disappointment, betrayal, and sheer effort needed to live in such a society must also be included.  Tchaikovsky's music does this with its broad emotional range, covering both the happy and the sad, the victories and the challenges.  A lot of Russian art is political.  Tchaikovsky's is personal.  Instead of speaking to the plight of the people, the music relates to the individual.  Because all revolutions begin and end with the individual.

Here is the first movement form Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings.  The music is a great example of the composer's style, from the intensely emotional chords of the opening, to the lively Allegro.  The movement also showcases Tchaikovsky's attention to form.  The movement is a "Introduction and Allegro" and follows an overall A-B-A arch.