Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 06/10/2011, uploaded on 07/10/2011

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Composed during Tchaikovsky’s final year, the 18 Morceaux, op. 72 are a collection of the composer’s most intimate piano miniatures, some perhaps born of the melodic shards leftover from the creation of the powerful Pathétique Symphony which he was also working on at the time. A varied collection, the eighteen pieces of opus 72 encompass a range of styles and emotions, and even contains homages to two other famous composers of piano music—Robert Schumann and Frederic Chopin.

The fifth piece, Méditation, is a tender and charming piece in D major. Its beautiful and lyrical melody sits atop a simple chordal accompaniment. However, on its second appearance a yearning chromatic line, set in a duple rhythm that conflicts with the melody’s compound meter, appears in the inner voices. Slowly, the duple-rhythm motif becomes more and more prominent, eventually usurping for itself the role of melody, and drives the piece towards its climax. With a dramatic ebb and flow, Tchaikovsky reaches a summit of operatic intensity accompanied by sweeping arpeggios and brilliant scales. Returning to its former contentment, the piece evaporates away in its closing bars with a series of trills ascending along the tonic triad as gently rolled chords punctuate its end.      Joseph DuBose

Recorded during Round 1 of the Tchaikovsky Internationial Competition, Moscow 2011