Classical Music | Violin Music

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Méditation, from Souvenir d’un lieu cher   Play

Laura Park Violin
Milana Pavchinskaya Piano

Recorded on 05/02/2012, uploaded on 11/29/2012

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

The Méditation from Souvenir d’un lieu cher was written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1878. It was originally intended to be the slow movement of his famous Violin Concerto, but was discarded and replaced by a Canzonetta. Tchaikovsky quoted in a letter thatthe new Andante “fits better with the two neighboring movements of the concerto.” He continued, “The first one [i.e., the original slow movement] makes an independent violin piece, which I will put with the other two violin pieces which I plan. They will make a separate opus.” This is precisely what he did, recasting the Méditation for violin and piano and placing it as the first of a three-piece suite titled Souvenir d’un lieu cher (Remembrance of a Beloved Place). In 1880, the Méditation was published separately and has since become recognized as an independent piece.      Laura Park