This Week in Classical Music: May 4, 2020.Tchaikovsky and more. This is one of these weeks when we don’t even know where to start: half a dozen composes, two pianists and three conductors all born within the next 7 days.We’ll have to start with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: May 7th marks the 180th anniversary of his birthday.If you sense some reluctance on our part, you may be right.Don’t get us wrong: we consider Tchaikovsky a major talent, the most important Russian composer of the second half of the 19th century who influenced many, among them Igor Stravinsky.His Piano concerto in B-flat minor (no. 1), the Violin concerto; his last three symphonies, from no. 4 to no. 6; operas like “Eugene Onegin” and “The Queen of Spades” and some other pieces are of the highest quality.And he cuts a sympathetic figure: a homosexual in a conservative Russian society who attempted to marry to please his family – with disastrous results; a wanderer, who spend many years in Europe; a social recluse, who had an unusual relationship with his major benefactor, Nadezhda von Meck, whom he never met; his many personal traumas; his death of cholera at the age of only 53 which many think was a suicide – all this endears us to Tchaikovsky.So what of our hesitancy?It has nothing to do with a lot of mediocre music Tchaikovsky had written (like his 2nd and 3rd Piano concertos, or many operas, or much of the ballet music) – not a single composer, Mozart including, had written music on the highest level all the time - we value composers for their best piece, not judge them on their worst.No, the problem – and if there is one, it’s probably with our perception, not with Tchaikovsky – is with his unusual position vis-à-vis the development of European music.As much as his music is integral to it, he stands apart.Tchaikovsky died in 1893 and was writing till the very end; by then the whole symphonic tradition, originating with Wagner and then brought up by Bruckner and Mahler had been developed (Bruckner’s Symphony no. 4 was premiered in 1881; Mahler’s Symphony no. 1 – in 1889).A very different but highly innovative composer, Claude Debussy was already active for some years (his Suite Bergamasque was composed in 1890).Tchaikovsky seems to be out of step; despite his influence on Rachmaninov and many Russian and Soviet symphonists, it feels like the path he broke doesn’t lead anywhere.Whether it’s true or not, in the end it probably doesn’t matter.Here, to celebrate Tchaikovsky’s 180th, is a brilliant 2nd movement from Tchaikovsky’s last, Sixth Symphony.It was written in a 5/4 tempo: try to “conduct” it yourself while following a recording – it’s really difficult.In this particular case, the real conductor is Sir Georg Solti, leading the very nimble Chicago Symphony orchestra.
Where there is Tchaikovsky, there is Johannes Brahms.They were born on the same day, Brahms in 1833, sever years before Tchaikovsky.And other composers that were also born this week are, in a historical order: Giovanni Paisiello, an Italian and the most popular opera composer of the late 18th century (May 9, 1740); Carl Stamitz (May 8, 1745), the German composer of the Mannheim School fame; Stanislaw Moniuszko, the creator of the Polish national opera (May 5, 1819); Louis Moreau Gottschalk, an American of half-Jewish, half French-Creole descent (May 8, 1829), very popular in his days; and, finally, Milton Babbitt, one of the most interesting American modernist composers of the last century.As for the pianists and conductors, those will have to wait till next year.
Tchaikovsky 180
This Week in Classical Music: May 4, 2020. Tchaikovsky and more. This is one of these weeks when we don’t even know where to start: half a dozen composes, two pianists and three
conductors all born within the next 7 days. We’ll have to start with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: May 7th marks the 180th anniversary of his birthday. If you sense some reluctance on our part, you may be right. Don’t get us wrong: we consider Tchaikovsky a major talent, the most important Russian composer of the second half of the 19th century who influenced many, among them Igor Stravinsky. His Piano concerto in B-flat minor (no. 1), the Violin concerto; his last three symphonies, from no. 4 to no. 6; operas like “Eugene Onegin” and “The Queen of Spades” and some other pieces are of the highest quality. And he cuts a sympathetic figure: a homosexual in a conservative Russian society who attempted to marry to please his family – with disastrous results; a wanderer, who spend many years in Europe; a social recluse, who had an unusual relationship with his major benefactor, Nadezhda von Meck, whom he never met; his many personal traumas; his death of cholera at the age of only 53 which many think was a suicide – all this endears us to Tchaikovsky. So what of our hesitancy? It has nothing to do with a lot of mediocre music Tchaikovsky had written (like his 2nd and 3rd Piano concertos, or many operas, or much of the ballet music) – not a single composer, Mozart including, had written music on the highest level all the time - we value composers for their best piece, not judge them on their worst. No, the problem – and if there is one, it’s probably with our perception, not with Tchaikovsky – is with his unusual position vis-à-vis the development of European music. As much as his music is integral to it, he stands apart. Tchaikovsky died in 1893 and was writing till the very end; by then the whole symphonic tradition, originating with Wagner and then brought up by Bruckner and Mahler had been developed (Bruckner’s Symphony no. 4 was premiered in 1881; Mahler’s Symphony no. 1 – in 1889). A very different but highly innovative composer, Claude Debussy was already active for some years (his Suite Bergamasque was composed in 1890). Tchaikovsky seems to be out of step; despite his influence on Rachmaninov and many Russian and Soviet symphonists, it feels like the path he broke doesn’t lead anywhere. Whether it’s true or not, in the end it probably doesn’t matter. Here, to celebrate Tchaikovsky’s 180th, is a brilliant 2nd movement from Tchaikovsky’s last, Sixth Symphony. It was written in a 5/4 tempo: try to “conduct” it yourself while following a recording – it’s really difficult. In this particular case, the real conductor is Sir Georg Solti, leading the very nimble Chicago Symphony orchestra.
Where there is Tchaikovsky, there is Johannes Brahms. They were born on the same day, Brahms in 1833, sever years before Tchaikovsky. And other composers that were also born this week are, in a historical order: Giovanni Paisiello, an Italian and the most popular opera composer of the late 18th century (May 9, 1740); Carl Stamitz (May 8, 1745), the German composer of the Mannheim School fame; Stanislaw Moniuszko, the creator of the Polish national opera (May 5, 1819); Louis Moreau Gottschalk, an American of half-Jewish, half French-Creole descent (May 8, 1829), very popular in his days; and, finally, Milton Babbitt, one of the most interesting American modernist composers of the last century. As for the pianists and conductors, those will have to wait till next year.