Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy-Overture after Shakespeare Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) Written: 1869 (revised in 1870 and 1880) Movements: One Style: Romantic Duration: Nineteen minutes

Mily Balakirev was the leader of a group of amateur known as the “Mighty

Five” or simply as the “Heap.” Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky wasn’t a member of that group, but that didn’t prevent Balakirev from critiquing one his pieces: “It is not properly gestated, and seems to have been written in a very slapdash manner. The seams show, as does all your clumsy stitching.” Balakirev then took it upon himself to mentor Tchaikovsky, encouraging him to write an orchestral piece based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. He suggested the form and even provided a few melodic themes. Balakirev wasn’t happy with Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet:

The first theme is not at all to my taste. . . it conveys neither beauty nor strength, and

doesn't even depict the character of Friar Laurence in the way required. . . . The first D-

flat theme is very beautiful, though a bit overripe, but the second D-flat tune is simply

delightful. I play it often. . . . There's just one thing I'll say against this theme; there's

little in it of inner, spiritual love, and only a passionate physical languor. . .

Tchaikovsky did revise the work, supplying a different opening theme to represent the friar. It met with great success and stands as Tchaikovsky’s first masterpiece. Ten years later,

Tchaikovsky revised the work again. That is the version that audiences know and love.

Romeo and Juliet begins with a solemn introduction: Friar Laurence intoning his forebodings. The body of the work begins with an angry and pointed theme representing the tension between the Montagues and the Capulets. The second theme is the love theme of

Romeo. It leads to a gently-rocking theme representing Juliet. After a short development, Tchaikovsky brings back all three themes. This time, the warring first theme engulfs the love themes. The piece ends with a tender statement of the love theme and then tragic, final orchestral chords.

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Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 75 Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) Written: 1891–93 Movements: One Style: Romantic Duration: Nineteen minutes

Shortly after he compiled a suite from his Nutcracker , Tchaikovsky scribbled down a plan for what he hoped would be his next (sixth) symphony: "The ultimate essence of the plan of the symphony is LIFE.” He never finished the work. “It’s composed simply for the sake of composing. There is nothing particularly interesting or symphonic in it,” he wrote to his nephew. “I decided to throw it away and forget about it. This is an irreversible decision, and it is wonderful that I made it.”

Tchaikovsky didn’t forget about it. In the spring of 1893 he decided to recast parts of it for a new . He completed the first movement in July and reported, “I realized that this concerto is of depressing and threatening length. Consequently I decided to leave only part one which in itself will constitute an entire concerto. The work will only improve the more since the last two parts were nothing much.” Tchaikovsky showed it to his publisher admitting that it hadn’t “turned out too badly as .” However, Sergei Taneyev (Tchaikovsky’s former composition student) complained that it wasn’t virtuosic enough. Nevertheless, Tchaikovsky finished orchestrating the one-movement concerto in October 1893. That same month a different Sixth Symphony by Tchaikovsky premiered. (The one you’ll hear tonight.) If

Tchaikovsky had intended to do anything more with the remainder of his discarded symphony—like doing anything with those “last two parts”—it was too late. He died just a couple of weeks later.

Like the first movements of his other two piano concertos, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto

No. 3 has three main themes. It begins almost hesitatingly, but with the piano entrance drama begins to build. The second theme is gentle and lyrical and the third lively and energetic. The central section has some thrilling and impassioned climaxes. An extended bravura solo leads into a magnificent orchestral outburst, a restatement of the main themes, and a spirited conclusion.

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Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, "Pathetique" Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) Written: 1893 Movements: Four Style: Romantic Duration: 46 minutes

When Tchaikovsky didn’t really give up on the music that he wrote for a symphony by turning it into the one-movement Piano Concerto No. 3 that you heard tonight, he didn’t give up on the idea of the symphony either. In another letter to his nephew he wrote,

I had the idea of writing a program symphony . . . The theme of it is full of subjective

feeling, so much so that as I was mentally composing it . . . I frequently shed tears. There

will be numerous innovations from the formal point of view: the finale, for instance, is

to be not a noisy allegro, but a long adagio. The Symphony No. 6 begins with an introductory motive played very quietly and slowly by the bassoon. Shortly after, the body of the work begins with the same motive played faster by the strings. The character of this first theme is full of impulsive passion. The famous second theme is a real contrast. It is slow and hushed. These two themes form the exposition of the first movement that, in spite of its unique sentiment, still follows the standard form with a development and recapitulation.

The second and third movements, however, do not follow the normal scheme of a symphony. The second movement is a lilting sort of waltz instead of a slow somber thing. It has a strange limp to it: Its rhythm is in five, not the typical three. The third movement is an entirely unexpected march! Both themes of the finale are based upon descending melodic motives, giving it a brooding and sorrowful character. The symphony ends with the same gloominess with which it begins.

After he finished writing the symphony, Tchaikovsky confessed, “I consider this symphony the best thing I have ever done. In any case, it is the most deeply felt. And I love it as

I have never loved any of my compositions.” He died nine days after its premiere, a victim of cholera.

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