Hamlet Overture, Op. 67

Between June and October of 1888, Tchaikovsky composed Hamlet, an overture-fantasia in F minor. It’s opus number is Op. 67, and it is based on the Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1599-1601). This overture-fantasia is written for symphony orchestra, and it is one movement long. It is Lento lugubre- Allegro vivace, it is 435 measures long, and a performance of this piece lasts between 15 and 20 minutes. This overture-fantasia is dedicated to Edvard Grieg.

In 1876, Modest had written to Tchaikovsky, offering suggestions for symphonic poems. One of those suggestions was Hamlet, and he mentioned how it could be organized into the three following sections: Elsinore and Hamlet before the ghost’s appearance, Polonius and Ophelia, and Hamlet after the ghost’s appearance, following with his death and Fortinbras. Tchaikovsky had thought of doing Hamlet, but thought it was very difficult. He didn’t start the composition until 1888, but he noted down thoughts and sketches before then. Tchaikovsky had also been suggested to write Hamlet by Lucien Guitry, a French actor. Grand Duchess Mariya Pavlovna was planning on having a charity concert, and she wanted Act III of the play to be staged with Guitry as the titular character and with an overture from Tchaikovsky. This eventually got Tchaikovsky to start the composition process. Even when the production was cancelled, Tchaikovsky kept going with the sketches. It has no written program so the music is not as obvious in indicating what parts of the play or which characters the music is representing at the moment. In the sketches, Tchaikovsky had to warn himself to not make the beginning sound too similar to Manfred. He worked on a rough draft in June and July of 1888 in Frolovskoye after sketching the Fifth Symphony. Then, he started orchestration in September, and he finished the composition process in October. Hamlet was first performed in St. Petersburg for a Russian Musical Society concert in November, and it was conducted by Tchaikovsky. The piece was then published by Pyotr Jurgenson in 1890. 

The piece does not follow a classical pattern. Rather, it attempts to demonstrate contrasting themes in various keys, which are all oddly articulated. The slow introduction starts off with violas and cellos. The dynamics, with the exception of the sforzando tutti entrances, is kept mostly in the mezzoforte area to lure the listener in. This slow introduction then leads into alternating fast and slow sections. What’s interesting about the fast sections is that with the strings playing an ascending passage in 32nd notes, this gives the false impression that the piece is now fast. The clarinets compliment this  impression with triplet sixteenth notes. It is not until much later that the tempo does actually get faster, and with this, the instrumentation and dynamics build up as well to lead into something dramatic. With a grand pause, we are back to the original tempo with muted horn initiating chords in the wind instruments while strings play arpeggios that move like waves. This is all pianissimo, like a quick breather from the action. It’s amazing that it starts off slow and then once again picks up in tempo and dynamics. It also goes from this polyphonic material to homorhythmic chords. 

After the fermata to end the previous themes and statements, the music continues with an allegro vivace. When I looked at the score for this section, I noticed something about the key signature that caught my interest. The tonality of the piece is in F minor, but the key signature does not demonstrate this until this section of the music. When the music gets to this section, the key signature finally confirms that the piece is indeed in the key pf F minor. The allegro vivace introduces the theme of sequential dotted rising intervals. The dynamics are at fortissimo, this is enforced with the homorhythmic chords These dotted, rising intervals then get interrupted by bassoon, with its rising sixteenth notes. The bassoon would then spread this to the other woodwinds and to the strings for a moment before dying down and heading back to the previous idea of the dotted rising intervals.

When the Andante section begins, we are introduced to another key change. This time, it’s in the key of B minor, and the oboe solo helps establish this new tonality. This section is mostly a woodwind choir (with the exception of flutes). The strings provide pizzicato notes. There are quite a bit of dynamic alterations, and each woodwind voice is doing their own thing. Measure 208 shows the return to the dotted rising intervals theme. This time, the bassoon does not interrupt the rising dotted intervals idea, and other instruments are more involved than last time. For example, the trombones and tubas had this call-and-response figure with each other with triplets. At m. 259, the oboe melody theme returns, but in Bb minor. One thing that stands out from this return is the strings being more active than they were last time.

The moderato con moto como sopra at m. 303 presents the theme of flowing, wide intervals, and this is in the key of Db major. The melody starts off in the woodwinds, and the melody is slurred and the intervals are wider than presented before. Even the rhythmic accompaniment from violas and cellos have wide intervals. The sound here is espressivo, with soft dynamics. Eventually, the roles switch with strings playing the melody and the woodwinds playing the rhythmic accompaniment.

The Allegro vivace at m. 359 starts off the militaristic march in the key of C. The dynamics start off pianissimo with just a few instruments playing, but it gradually gets louder as more instruments enter. The main rhythmic figures of this section were the triplet eighth notes and dotted eighth-sixteenth notes. To give it that militaristic feel, the brass plays chord changes at fff starting at measure 381, with flutes and upper strings playing triplet arpeggios as the rhythmic accompaniment. As the section progresses, it gets more polyphonic and chaotic with its rhythmic movement. It’s not until m. 400 when the ensemble sustains what seems to be a Db7 chord that gradually gets softer that the music now has a chance to stop and unwind. Measure 401 shows the return of the theme of the ascending 32nd notes from the strings and the woodwind compliment before finishing off with the slow introduction material. 

The idea of conflict is consistent within this piece. Even in the lyrical sections of the piece, there is always something underneath that creates tension. Also, most of the time, any section of the piece will always find itself fast-paced and chaotic as it approaches its end and is about to begin another idea or theme. My one problem with this piece (and it’s not a major problem) is that since it’s based on Hamlet, it should have some sort of program. I have not had the chance to read Hamlet yet, so on the surface, while I enjoyed the music, I feel like I am missing out on its true intentions. I am sure that others who are familiar with the story will be able to connect with this overture far better than I could and what each theme and section of this music is supposed to represent. If there was a program, I’m sure I could have a better understanding of what Tchaikovsky was trying to demonstrate. However, this is just a nitpick of mine and in no way takes away from my experience with this piece.

Omar A. Cordova

Bibliography

“Hamlet (Overture-Fantasia).” n.d. Hamlet (Overture-Fantasia) – Tchaikovsky Research. Accessed April 5, 2020. http://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Hamlet_(overture-fantasia).

“Hamlet (Overture-Fantasia), Op.67 (Tchaikovsky, Pyotr).” IMSLP. Accessed April 5, 2020. https://imslp.org/wiki/Hamlet_(overture-fantasia),_Op.67_(Tchaikovsky,_Pyotr).

“Tchaikovsky A Shakespeare W The Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra Of Venezuela.” Gustavo Dudamel. Accessed April 6, 2020. https://www.gustavodudamel.com/us-en/tchaikovsky-shakespeare.

Wiley, Roland John. “Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il′yich.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 28 Mar. 2020. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000051766.