By Preston Griffith
In February of 1875, Tchaikovsky composed his first work for solo violin and orchestra, Sérénade mélancolique, op. 26. The piece was dedicated to Leopold Auer, one of the greatest Russian Violinists and an extremely successful teacher, but he delayed the piece’s premier. Adolf Brodsky was the first to play the piece nearly two years later for the seventh symphony concert of the Russian Musical Society in Moscow, and it has become part of the repertoire for violinists since. Sérénade mélancolique is not played often today, but it is a very pleasant piece and has Tchaikovsky’s beautiful, well crafted melodies that are known to leave an impression on the listener.
At around 10 minutes in length, Sérénade mélancolique is a single movement work, and interestingly contains material from two of Tchaikovsky’s previous works from years prior. The first sounds are taken from Tchaikovsky’s Vakula/Cherevichki, a comic-fantastic opera in four acts. One can hear the clear melody of the flute at the beginning of Sérénade mélancolique playing material from the beginning of Act two Scene two of Cherevichki.
In this scene, the beautiful Oxana challenges Vakula to obtain the Empress’s shoes, or her Cherevichki, in order for her to marry him. At 0:15 in the video when Oxana sings the word Cherevichki, she is singing part of the melody that makes up Sérénade mélancolique.
The second work that Tchaikovsky borrows from is his famous First Piano Concerto. The French Chanson from the faster central section of the Piano Concerto’s Second Movement is transferred to the central section of the Sérénade mélancolique.
The French Chanson can be found at 3:59 of this video featuring Martha Argerich. The rhythm may be different, but one can hear the same melody in the first video of Itzhak Perlman at 4:26.
Tchaikovsky may have self borrowed from earlier works, but the result was a magnificent piece. Sérénade mélancolique begins with the clear sound of the flute and oboe along with the low rumble of cellos and basses and transitions from Db Major to Bb minor. The infinitely sad sound of the violin playing on its lowest G string creates a sense of foreboding, but whenever the music transitions back to Db Major there is feeling of hope again like the blooming of flowers in Spring. The form of Sérénade mélancolique is a Symmetrical Rondo Form, or ABACABA. The C section, or the climax of the piece and the quoted French Chanson from the Piano Concerto, has a powerful and majestic quality and the virtuosity of the violin soloist shines through. The clarinet and flute take over the melody afterwards with the solo violin accompanying. The violin takes back the theme at the very end and fades away with orchestral pizzicato. The dynamics could be seen as an arc shape from beginning to end, starting soft, climax in the middle, and softly fading away at the end.
Overall, Sérénade mélancolique, op. 26 is composed well and has sparse accompaniment to support the violinist’s rich melody. The piece is scored for solo violin and an orchestra made up of two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets (in B-flat), two bassoons and four horns (in F) and violins I, violins II, violas, cellos, and double basses. The texture is relatively thin with chords being held by strings or horns, or there is string pizzicato in order to stay underneath the sound of the violin soloist. There are occasional melodic interjections by the flute, oboe, or clarinet. This piece is another wonderful example of Tchaikovsky’s incredible ability and beautiful composition style.
Citations
Brown, David. 2007. Tchaikovsky: the Man and His Music. New York. Pegasus Books LLC.
Tchaikovsky Research contributors, “Sérénade mélancolique,” Tchaikovsky Research, http://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/index.php?title=S%C3%A9r%C3%A9nade_m%C3%A9lancolique&oldid=68638 (accessed February 10, 2020).
Tchaikovsky Seminar 