Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)
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The Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Op. 23, was composed in November 1874 - February 1875 at the instigation of the piano virtuoso Nikolai Rubinstein, director of the Moscow Conservatory. It was revised in the summer of 1879 and again in December 1888. It is the most famous of the three piano concertos written by Tchaikovsky[citation needed].
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[edit] History
Tchaikovsky dedicated the work to Nikolai Rubinstein, whom he also intended to be its first performer. However, when Tchaikovsky proudly showed the work to Rubinstein and another musical friend Nikolai Hubert at the Moscow Conservatory on Christmas Eve 1874, he was met with bitter disappointment. After they had given it a first play-through, Rubinstein hastily dismissed the concerto as "banal, clumsy and incompetently written", as well as "poorly composed and unplayable." He then asked Tchaikovsky to undertake a substantial reworking of it in accordance with his own wishes. The composer was deeply hurt, and refused to listen to Rubinstein's advice.
The first performance of the original version took place on October 25, 1875 in Boston, Massachusetts. The premiere was conducted by Benjamin Johnson Lang, with the solo piano part performed by Hans von Bülow, an admirer of Tchaikovsky's music. It was a resounding success, and Tchaikovsky later rededicated the work to von Bülow, who had described the work as "so original and noble" (although he later dropped the concerto from his repertoire).
The Russian premiere took place just one week later in Saint Petersburg, with the Russian pianist Gustav Kross and Czech conductor Eduard Nápravník. In Tchaikovsky's estimation, Kross reduced the work to "an atrocious cacophony" [1].
The piano soloist in the Moscow premiere, on 3 December 1875, was Sergei Taneyev. Despite his strong reservations about the quality of the work, Nikolai Rubinstein conducted the orchestra, and later played the solo part several times. At that time, Tchaikovsky considered rededicating the work to Taneyev, who had performed it splendidly, but ultimately the dedication went to von Bülow.
[edit] Instrumentation
The work is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B-flat, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in F, 3 trombones (2 tenor, 1 bass), timpani, solo piano, and strings.
[edit] Structure
The concerto follows the traditional form of three movements:
- Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito (B flat minor)
- Andantino simplice – Prestissimo (D flat major)
- Allegro con fuoco (B flat minor → B flat major)
The concerto is famous for the dramatic tension between soloist and orchestra. It is markedly symphonic in character and differs considerably from the more musically conservative and outwardly virtuoso type of concerto that was then widely popular in Russia. Nonetheless, the technical demand placed upon the pianist remains considerable. For example, there are several passages with rapid octave movement. Speed and awkward note arrangement create further difficulties. As well, a performer must keep up with the overall monumental nature of the work with a very powerful tone that often dominates over the orchestra.
The well-known theme of the introductory section to the first movement is based on a melody that Tchaikovsky heard performed by blind beggar-musicians at a market in Kamenka, near Kiev in Ukraine. This, the best-known passage in the entire concerto, is notable also on account of its formal independence of the movement as a whole. It is not in the concerto's nominal key of B flat minor, but instead it is in the relative major key of D-flat. Despite its very substantial nature, the theme is only heard twice, and never subsequently reappears in the concerto.
[edit] Other
- Also arranged for two pianos by Tchaikovsky, December 1874; revised December 1888.
- Tchaikovsky revised it three times, the last being in 1888, which is the version usually now played. One of the most prominent differences between the original and final versions is that in the opening section, the octave chords played by the pianist, over which the orchestra plays the famous theme, were originally written as arpeggios.
- Van Cliburn won the First International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958 with this piece, much to the astonishment of people worldwide, as he was an American competing in Moscow at the height of the Cold War.
- Vladimir Horowitz performed this piece as part of a World War II fund-raising concert in 1943, with his father-in-law, the conductor Arturo Toscanini, conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Two separate performances of Horowitz playing the concerto and Toscanini conducting were eventually released on records and CD's - the live 1943 rendition, and an earlier studio recording made in 1941.
- This piece was also further popularized among many Americans when it was used as the theme to Orson Welles' famous "Mercury Theatre" Radio Program. The Concerto came to be associated with Welles throughout his career and was often played when introducing him as a guest on both radio and television. The main theme was also made into a popular song entitled Tonight We Love, by bandleader Freddy Martin in 1941.
[edit] References
- ^ Alexander Poznansky, Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man, p. 166
- Tchaikovsky Page
- http://www.tchaikovsky-research.net/en/Works/Concertos/TH055/index.html
- Steinberg, M. The Concerto: A Listener's Guide, Oxford (1998)
[edit] External links
- Piano Concerto No. 1 was available at the International Music Score Library Project.
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