by Preston Griffith

Tchaikovsky(Right) and his pupil, the violinist Iosif Kotek(Left).

Tchaikovsky’s Valse Scherzo, Op. 34, composed in 1877, was his second work composed for solo violin and orchestra.  The piece is one movement, Allegro Tempo di Valse, and is about six to nine minutes in length.  The Valse Scherzo is dedicated to Tchaikovsky’s former pupil at the Moscow Conservatory, Iosif Kotek.

In 1877, Tchaikovsky had known Iosif Kotek for around six years according to a letter to his brother Modest Tchaikovsky, and he felt “a passion rages with me with unimaginable force” for Kotek at the time.  He made a confession of his love for Kotek, but the love was not returned.  The two talked about many things, including the piece Valse-Scherzo, Op. 34, which Kotek had ordered for a concert coming soon that year.

Tchaikovsky was also in the midst of composing his Symphony No. 4 and the opera Eugene Onegin in 1877, so he was very busy.  Still, he managed to complete the Valse-Scherzo, and Iosif Kotek helped orchestrate the piece from his manuscript.  The piece was also arranged for piano and violin. Kotek gave a private performance of the piece before the premier by Stanisław Barcewicz at the third Russian concert in Paris, 1878.

Right from the beginning, the piece has a bombastic effect in which the virtuoso violinist shows their skills.  In C major, performance practice allows for the violinist to begin with a mixolydian ascending scale up the low G string reaching up to an A and play short eighth notes written with all down bows.  The complicated techniques required to play the piece are recurring. The techniques span almost the entire range of the violin with the violinist’s fingers flying up and down the fingerboard. Complicated double stops are written for the soloist to play two or more notes at once, such as thirds and octaves that are very hard to keep in tune. As for bow technique, lots of spiccato, ricochet, and even upbow staccato are there to give the short, pecking kind of sound heard on the violin.

The Valse Scherzo sounds wild and powerful and one is not sure of it’s waltz nature except for the orchestral accompaniment (or piano accompaniment) playing the classic “boom chic chic” rhythm. The central section of the piece is more lyrical and showcases the sweet almost mystical effect the violin is able to produce with a soaring melody high on the E string.  The piece has a large range of dynamics written, but is mostly played with a loud dynamic. Based on recorded performances, these dynamics are more of a color change than a change in volume. This is accomplished by playing the same notes higher up on a lower string to give a warmer tone color, or by varying the intensity of articulation or vibrato. No other instruments have a solo part in this piece.

Tchaikovsky’s Valse Scherzo, Op. 34 is another treat to listen to, and not common to hear given it’s technical difficulty.  Iosif Kotek must have been an accomplished violinist to play such a work, and indeed asks Tchaikovsky in a letter at one point about studying with the famous Joseph Joachim in Berlin. Enjoy the two performances below of Augustin Hadelich playing the piano arrangement, and Itzhak Perlman playing the orchestral version linked below.

Citations

Brown, David. 2007. Tchaikovsky: the Man and His Music. New York. Pegasus Books LLC.

Tchaikovsky Research contributors, “Iosif Kotek,” Tchaikovsky Research, , http://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/index.php?title=Iosif_Kotek&oldid=74404 (accessed February 20, 2020).

Tchaikovsky Research contributors, “Valse-Scherzo, Op. 34,” Tchaikovsky Research, , http://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/index.php?title=Valse-Scherzo,_Op._34&oldid=68642 (accessed February 20, 2020).

By Preston Griffith

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).

Andrea Davis

Tchaikovsky’s three string quartets (the composition of a B flat first movement beginning in 1865, the third quartet reaching completion in 1876) were all successful, and it would seem that Tchaikovsky had an aptitude for the genre. His solo piano works, also successful among his audiences and colleagues, were smaller pieces meant for salon settings. Despite their popularity, Tchaikovsky spoke about his piano compositions with dissatisfaction. Although he may not have developed a personal style that could compete with pianists like Chopin or Liszt, Tchaikovsky’s piano repertoire is still attractive and engaging.
Souvenir de Hapsal is a cycle of three piano pieces that Tchaikovsky composed during a holiday to Hapsal (which is now present-day Haapsalu in Estonia.) During the summer of 1867, Tchaikovsky traveled to the resort town with his brothers, Modest and Anatoly, along with some members of the Davydov family. Over the course of the summer, Vera Davydov—sister to Tchaikovsky’s brother in law—developed romantic feelings for Tchaikovsky. Even though he did not return her feelings, Tchaikovsky dedicated Souvenir de Hapsal to Davydov. Souvenir de Hapsal loosely translates to “memories of Hapsal,” and the three short pieces that make up the cycle are, perhaps, little snapshots of Tchaikovsky’s holiday.
The first piece in the set is titled Ruines d’un chateau (castle ruins), and appears to be the lesser known of the three pieces. For the scherzo, Tchaikovsky reworked and used material from an Allegro he composed during his time at the St. Petersburg Conservatory (a practice he seemed to favor.) Chant sans paroles (song without words) completes the set. All three pieces follow a ternary A-B-A form. Each one is distinctive; they work as a set or as solo pieces. Ruines d’un chateau will be the focus for the remainder of this post.
As mentioned above, Ruines d’un chateau is in ternary form, and the different sections are highly contrasting. The A section, marked adagio mysterioso, makes use of an E minor melodic scale and is characterized by a I – V ostinato in the left hand. Two bars of open fifths serve as a small introduction before the melody begins. Each phrase in this section consists of 6 bars that end with a perfect authentic cadence. Each phrase is literally repeated before the melody develops into something slightly different—the use of chords and then the addition of tenor voicing rounds out the changes to the melody. Though there is no indication that Tchaikovsky based his melody on a folk tune, it has a very distinctive folk tune feel. The movement of the melody combined with the resolution of the cadences gives each phrase a quality of self containment, almost like the completion of a stanza or verse of a song. The A section ends by reiterating two bars of our phrase, but the motive ends on a D# and the resolution experienced in the preceding phrases is not to be found.
The allegro molto B section begins with a new tempo and time signature, and an abrupt shift to the key of C major. This new melody has the characteristic of a fanfare. The use of polyrhythms obscure the meter, and unusual harmonic progressions create a bit of ambiguity. Unlike the clear and closed cadences from section A, here the movement between phrases happens quickly and resolution is slightly elusive. The last six measures of the B section add even more harmonic confusion with the use of of a “C7” chord (spelled C-E-G-A flat-B flat), followed by a not-quite F# chord (spelled F#-A#-C-E), then finally concluding with a C major chord with an added F# (C-E-F#-G). The passage sounds virtuosic, but it is hard to establish a tonal center or real cadence.
The return of the A section brings with it the stability of the E minor I – V ostinato and the now familiar folk tune melody. This time, however, the left hand joins the melody of the right hand creating something of a round. Due to the overlapping melodies, phrases no longer end with perfect authentic cadences. Instead, the I – V ostinato produces a forward motion that continues through to the very end of the piece.
Ruines d’un chateau may not be a masterpiece, but it is not without it’s charms. The beautiful melody and harmonies from the A section, which stand in contrast to the exciting and dramatic passages of the B section, have definite appeal. Tchaikovsky successfully paints a picture of a castle—one can picture both the ruins of the present and the splendor of the past. The technique required for a performance should not be beyond the reach of competent pianists, and any of the pieces from Souvenir de Hapsal would be a valuable addition to one’s repertoire.

You can hear Igor Zhukov’s performance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN6-F0_vt5A

Bibliography

Tchaikovsky Research contributors, “Souvenir de Hapsal,” Tchaikovsky Resarch, http://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/index.php?title=Souvenir_de_Hapsal&oldid=68637 (accessed February 13, 2020).

Wiley, Roland John. “Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il′yich.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 12 Feb. 2020. https://0-www-oxfordmusiconline-com.lib.utep.edu/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000051766.

Tchaikovsky composed the Romance in F minor, Op. 5 in November 1868. It was first performed in December of that same year by pianist Nikolay Rubinstein at Moscow University, then later premiered by him at St. Petersburg in 1869. The piece is 106 measures long, it is one movement long (andante cantabile), and it is in ABAB form. It is one of his early works for solo piano, and it was dedicated to Mademoiselle Desiree Artot, a Belgian soprano who was with the Italian Opera Company in Moscow. Tchaikovsky and Artot were in a relationship and briefly engaged at the time. Not a lot of information was found on how it was generally received. The only feedback found was provided by Wiley:

“The Romance op.5, dedicated to Artôt, may refer to Artôt and Tchaikovsky in its principal themes, an operatic cantabile which echoes the lyric of Chopin’s nocturnes blatantly juxtaposed with a Russian dance. Laroche observed that the two did not go well together, an unwitting affirmation of the composer’s possible subtext, that the two persons did not go well together either.”

The A section is from measures 1-35, and it has 4 subsections (A-B-A’-C). It starts off at a piano dynamic, and it is andante cantabile. The first measure is actually a lead-in with arpeggios in the bass clef that leads to F minor chords in the treble clef, and all this is done with the LH (left hand). The melody actually gets introduced in the pick-up to measure 2, and its articulation style is dolce. What is interesting is that the melody is already introducing chromatic non-chord tones, which takes the tonal focus away from F minor. The melody is constantly moving, it has ornamentation, and it is very singable. The LH would play octaves in beats 1 and 3 and chords in beats 2 and 4. The chord progression at the beginning is as follows: i-V65/iv-iv-ii half-dim65-V864-753. In. m5, we have a PAC, but this is followed by a cadential extension that repeats to the downbeat of m.7. It is in this measure that the music starts modulating to the key of Ab major using the Fm chord as the pivot chord. In the b subsection, the melody becomes more harmonious. The RH (right hand) now plays chords while the LH continues what it did in the A subsection. The harmony becomes more colorful this time. It goes from I to IM7 to V97. At first, it seemed odd that the tonic chord would go to a major seventh form and the dominant chord would have a 9th, However, the score shows the seventh and ninth chord degrees were active in the music and were not just passing tones. This added some brilliance to this section of the music. This repeats until m. 15 when the Ab chord goes to a C dominant seventh chord instead. Also, the melody is rising and starts showing a little bit of independence from just playing chords, and there are a few chromatic non-chord tones. The crescendo helps signify a change to something different in the music. We get to the a’ subsection at m. 16. It mostly repeats what was shown in the A subsection, but it’s condensed to 4 measures. There is a PAC at m. 19, and the LH plays a descending arpeggio into the next subsection. The c subsection starts in m. 20 with a crescendo and a poco piu mosso. The LH alternates from playing arpeggios and chords to playing stepwise harmony. There is more dynamic variety in this subsection than seen before in the piece so far, with crescendos, decrescendos, and different dynamic settings. The music relaxes from m. 28-35 as it goes to piano, and the rhythmic activity decreases. At m. 32, the RH has an ostinato figure that sets up the new section and tonality as the G natural changes to Gb. The music also accelerates and crescendos as this occurs.

The B section is from measures 36-63. It is now at a mezzoforte dynamic, and it is allegro energico. This could be the Russian Dance part of the music that was mentioned earlier. It has switched to the key of Db major, a closely-related key to F minor. In the a subsection, the harmony just switches back and forth between the tonic chord in first inversion and the dominant seventh chord in third inversion. The RH alternates back and forth between being rhythmic and just doing chords. The LH has an ostinato figure, and it only changes at m. 40 by adding octaves. Seeing as this subsection just alternates chords, there is no actual cadence and no sense of finality. A harmonic elision actually takes place at the start of the b subsection as the harmony goes from Ab7 to a F major chord. In the b subsection, the dynamic goes from mezzoforte to fortissimo. The music becomes homorhythmic for both hands, and the rhythm gets more active, helping establish that fun dance groove. The music has more harmonic motion. At m. 47 and 51, the music expands its range with the RH ascending while the LH descends. In m. 52, the music breaks out of the homorhythm with the LH ascending in stepwise motion and the RH repeating the G half-diminished seventh chord, but in different octaves. In the c subsection that starts at m. 54, the homorhythm returns for four measures. There is not as much harmonic motion as in the b subsection. The RH is a little more open with its chords and is also high in range. In. m.56-57, the RH plays ascending chords while the LH plays descending octaves. At m. 58, there is an ascending arpeggio of the G half-diminished seventh chord. The music slows down with the molto meno mosso, and the RH plays through the chord, but in stepwise motion. At m.60, the process repeats. This time, it’s with a C dominant seventh chord, and there is a diminuendo to foreshadow the return to the A section. The fermatas and the piano dynamic at m. 63 confirm the return to the F minor tonality and a return to the A section.

The A’ section is from measures 64-90. It is back to the piano dynamic, and it is also back to tempo primo. It is back in the key of F minor. It started off in a similar fashion to that of the first A section. The LH was more active as a countermelody while the RH played the same melodic line from before with some added harmony. In the b subsection, the modulation into the key of Ab major returns. The harmonic progression was basically the same as before. What was different was how the LH was rhythmically active with 16th notes, and this was played with the marcato style of articulation. The RH was almost the same as before, with some added eighth rests not present before. The last measure of this subsection has the same function as in the first A section, serving as a transition into the next part of the music while modulating back into the key of F minor. The a’ subsection seems like a mix of the a’ subsection from the A section and the a subsection from earlier. It’s four measures long, and the melodic activity from the a subsection returns. Meanwhile, the LH plays the harmonic activity from the beginning. The c subsection is almost the same from the one in the A section. M. 90 is a transposed version of m. 89, and a mosso diminuendo takes place during these two measures.

The B’ section is from measures 91 to the end. Unlike the first B section, this B’ section stays at the piano dynamic, and it is allegro. Also, the key signature stays in the key of F minor, but the tonality has modulated to the key of Db major as seen by the accidental Gbs. M. 91-92 could be seen as an introduction since there is no activity in the RH until the third measure (m.93). At m. 93, we have the same four measures as the beginning of the B section. Afterward, it advances to the b subsection. Here, the harmony in the RH has been taken down an octave. Even in m. 99-100, the RH doesn’t ascend that much in range as it did in the first B section. This gives the music more of a somber tone than before. In m. 100-101, the music has a ritardando as it goes from a Gb chord to a Gm7 chord, which is seen as the pivot chord to modulate back into the key of F minor. This is confirmed in m. 103 when the LH sustains a cadential C64 chord while the RH moves in stepwise motion through that chord. The music then returns to F minor at m. 105, but what is interesting is the G5 that suspends before resolving down to the F. This gives the music a bit of tension and not wanting to release before finally doing so to end the piece.

Even though this is one of Tchaikovsky’s early works, it is a fine piece of music. Contrary to what was mentioned earlier regarding its juxtaposition of Chopin’s influence and the Russian dance, it did not sound bland or forced. The tune did a great job of transitioning and mixing the two styles. Even with a simple start, Tchaikovsky made sure to integrate his ideas with chromaticism. As the tune progresses, the interesting harmonies, the clever modulations, how Tchaikovsky plays with how the hands play in different sections, and the way dynamics are played out will keep a listener guessing where the music might go next, even if the music has a bit of repetition. Though no information on how the music was received critically at its time of premiere was found, hopefully Artot appreciated Tchaikovsky’s dedication to her through this piece. This is a piano piece that should be performed more frequently.

Omar A. Cordova

Bibliography

• “Romance.” Romance – Tchaikovsky Research. Accessed February 12, 2020.  http://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Romance. 
• Wiley, Roland John. “Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il′yich.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 9 Feb. 2020. https://0-www-oxfordmusiconline-com.lib.utep.edu/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000051766.