Little Russian Folksong in G Major

Symphony No. 2 (Tchaikovsky)

---

The first is a bridal song, "Izza gor" From beyond the mountains.

Variations on a Russian Theme in A major (Various)

Glinka uses the principle from folk song of allowing the musical structure to unfold around a thematic constant—or actually two constants, since he uses two folk songs. This way, Glinka preserves the original character of the dance, complementing it with creative variations in the orchestral treatment.

Ideally, the themes in a Western piece interact, contrast and change. This activity fuels the composition's growth as an organic creation. Tension continues building as this thematic dialogue becomes increasingly complex. This dialogue or interchange eventually propels the piece to a climactic point of resolution. Kamarinskaya does not follow this pattern. The ostinato melody of the second song will not allow any motivic development without distorting the character of the piece.

Anatol Lyadov

Because of this lack of thematic growth, the music remains static, not moving forward. Nor was this a unique problem with Kamarinskaya. Russian music, especially Russian folk music, stubbornly refused to follow the Western principles Tchaikovsky had learned in St. For Tchaikovsky, Kamarinskaya offered a viable example of the creative possibilities of folk songs in a symphonic structure, using a variety of harmonic and contrapuntal combinations.

It also offered a blueprint on how such a structure could be made to work, barring the potential for inertia or over-repetition. Because of his compositional training, Tchaikovsky could build the finale of the Little Russian more solidly and over a greater time scale than either Glinka or Mussorgsky could have done. Tchaikovsky played the finale at a gathering at Rimsky-Korsakov 's house in Saint Petersburg on January 7, To his brother Modest, he wrote, "[T]he whole company almost tore me to pieces with rapture—and Madame Rimskaya-Korsakova begged me in tears to let her arrange it for piano duet".

Impressed by what he heard, Stasov asked Tchaikovsky what he would consider writing next. Stasov would soon influence the composer in writing the symphonic poem The Tempest and later, with Balakirev, the Manfred Symphony. The premiere of the complete symphony took place in Moscow under Nikolai Rubinstein on February 7, Tchaikovsky wrote Stasov the next day that it "enjoyed a great success, so great that Rubinstein wants to perform it again A third Moscow performance, again by public demand, took place on May Critical reaction was just as enthusiastic.

Stasov wrote of the finale "in terms of color, facture and humor Petersburg especially for the concert, wrote in the Moscow Register on February 1, "Not in a long time have I come across a work with such a powerful thematic development of ideas and with contrasts that are so well motivated and artistically thought out.

Petersburg premiere on March 7. One person not happy with the Little Russian was its composer. In the same letter describing the premiere, Tchaikovsky wrote to Stasov, "To tell you the truth, I'm not completely satisfied with the first three movements, but 'The Crane' ['Zhuravel'] itself [the finale which employs this Russian folk tune] hasn't come out so badly. Bessel released a piano duet arrangement prepared by Tchaikovsky after Rimskaya-Korsakova had to withdraw due to illness but was late to produce a full score.

In , Tchaikovsky asked for the return of the manuscript score. Upon its arrival, he started revising it. On January 2, , he sent Bessel a progress report: I have composed the first movement afresh, leaving only the introduction and coda in their previous form.

I have rescored the second movement. I've altered the third movement, shortening and rescoring it. I've shortened the finale and rescored it. By January 16, he wrote Sergei Taneyev , "This movement [the first] has come out compressed, short, and is not difficult. If the epithet 'impossible' applies to anything, it is this first movement in its original form. How difficult, noisy, disjointed and muddle-headed this is! The revised version is usually the one performed and recorded today, but its true effectiveness has been questioned.

At only 35 minutes running time somewhat shorter than many symphonies of the period , it is also approximately five minutes shorter than its predecessor. Eight years after Tchaikovsky's death, Sergei Taneyev compared the two versions and favored the original. Nikolay Kashkin 's opinion was the same. Taneyev's opinion carried considerable weight.

Navigation menu

When I see you I will play both versions and you will probably agree with me about the superiority of the first. More recently, Hans Keller has advocated at least the occasional performance of the version. David Brown has added, "To be fair to the second version, it is certainly attractive, and structurally as clear as anything that Tchaikovsky could wish for.

There is an undeniable heaviness in the original, but its imposing scale, and its richness of content and detail make it a far more impressive piece that ought to be restored to the place, which is still permanently usurped by its slighter and far less enterprising successor. See Discussion section for a reference to the only recording of the original version of the work, made by Geoffrey Simon and the London Symphony Orchestra. What endeared the Little Russian to The Five or kuchka , as the group was also called was not that Tchaikovsky used Ukrainian folk songs but, especially in the outer movements, how he allowed the unique characteristics of Russian folk song to dictate symphonic form.

This was one of the goals toward which the kuchka strived. Tchaikovsky, with his Conservatory grounding, could sustain such development longer and more cohesively than his colleagues in the kuchka , but writing in this vein also had its pitfalls. Using similar intervals and phrases to the folk songs with repetitiveness typical of Russian folk music could easily create a static effect rather than one geared to movement and purpose.

The melody tends, in fact, to become something near a set of variations on itself, to proceed by modulation rather than by development and contrast; and this clearly makes it recalcitrant to symphonic treatment. However, in , Tchaikovsky did not see this lack of structural advancement as a problem since in all his most important symphonic movements to date his practice had been to close the first subject exactly where it had begun.

Frequently bought together :

The version of the first movement is massive in scale, intricate in structure and complex texturally. From Romeo and Juliet he used the idea of integrating the introduction, based on another Ukrainian folk song, with the main body of the movement by using material from it in the allegro. The first subject itself is both spacious and filled with a restless momentum resulting from constant tensions between melody and bass. These tensions are often highlighted by the accompanying figures, which are syncopated. The second subject, like the first, is tonally restless, often chromatic and containing an almost constant contrapuntal interplay.

While the exposition of these themes was limited in expressiveness, it was also rich in inventive detail and skillfully composed—what Dr. David Brown called "as monolithic a slab of symphonic music as Tchaikovsky had yet composed. The finale is both the high point of the symphony and its composer's clearest demonstration of writing in line with the tradition of Glinka as embraced by the Five. He introduces the folk song "The Crane" in a grandiose introduction similar to how Mussorgsky would write "The Great Gate of Kiev" for Pictures at an Exhibition two years later although many recordings seem to rush through this imposing section, making the contrast between this and its impish second statement somewhat less stark.

But the grandiosity is just a momentary mask. The mask drops with the first notes of the Allegro vivo. The music becomes both highly animated and mischievous in tone as Tchaikovsky allows "The Crane" to virtually monopolize the next two minutes, set against a succession of varying backdrops. Children's Songs 10 for piano, 4 and 2 hands, Op. Dance of the Amazon, Op. Drioma Sits Dreaming, Russian folksong. Enchanted Lake, for orchestra, Op. Etude for piano in A flat major, Op.

Etude for piano in A major, Op. Etude for piano in C sharp minor, Op. Etude for piano in E major, Op.

Etude for piano in F major, Op. Fairy Tale, for piano, Op. From the Apocalypse, symphonic picture for orchestra, Op. Fugue on La-Do-Fa, for piano, Op. Fugues 2 for piano, Op. Fuguette on the Theme B-la-f, for piano. The Herdsman, for piano. Idylle for piano in D flat major, Op. Impromptu for piano, Op. In the Meadows, Russian folksong. Intermezzi 2 for piano, Op. Introduction to Franz Liszt's Oratorio "St.

Kikimora for orchestra, Op. Kukolki Marionettes , for piano in E flat major, Op. Little Waltz, in G major Op. Mazurka for piano in F major, Op. Mazurka for piano in F minor, Op. Mazurka for piano, Op. Mazurka rustique, for piano, Op.

Mazurkas 2 , for piano, Op. Morceaux de Ballet 3 , for piano, Op. Musical Snuffbox, for piano or orchestra , Op. The Mussorgsko-Dargomyzhsko-Cuian Scale, for piano. My Little River, Russian folksong. Na luzhayke In the Glade , for piano, Op. Of Olden Times, ballad for piano, Op. Pieces 2 for piano, Op. Pieces 3 for piano, Op. Pieces 4 for piano, Op. Pieces 6 for piano, Op. Polonaise for orchestra in C major, Op. Polonaise for orchestra in D major, Op.

Prelude for piano in B major, Op.

Prelude for piano in B minor, Op. Prelude for piano in D flat major, Op. Prelude for piano in D minor, Op. Prelude for piano in E major, Op. Prelude for piano in F major, Op. Prelude for piano in G major, Op. Prelude for piano No. Prelude for piano, Op.

Prelude on a Russian theme, for piano in A flat major, Op. Preludes 3 for piano, Op.

• Whispered Secrets Whispered Prayers
• Ape to Apollo: Aesthetics and the Idea of Race in the 18th Century: Aesthetics and the Idea of Race in the Eighteenth Century
• Observing Vessel: Observations, thoughts and general incoherent ramblings of a nutter.
• The Hearts Lullaby (Harvest Bay Series Book 2)
• El Abanico - E-flat Clarinet
• Why I Love My Daddy
• Ritual of Ascendance