“Serenade for Strings in C Major, op. 48” by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovksy (1840-1893) will be featured Monday, November 24th in the up-coming Chamber Concert Series. An insightful history is included below. grooveshark/playlist/Piotr+Ilyich+Tchaikovsky+Serenade+For+Strings/102329559 In some ways it is surprising that one of the most Romantic, emotional, and bombastic composers of all time turned to a genre named after the delicate song a man might sing under the window of his beloved. Serenades had once inspired the likes of Mozart (Eine kleine Nachtmusik, for instance), but what is Tchaikovsky without a full complement of unrestrained percussion and brass? As it turns out, Tchaikovksy, writing, as he said, “from inner compulsion...from the heart,” created a work as complex in orchestration as anything he ever wrote. By utilizing the instruments of only one family, but in a lush and full texture, Tchaikovsky managed to make the work sound both intimate and vast at the same time. He himself was entranced with his Serenade, writing to his patroness Nadezhda von Meck, “I am violently in love with this work and cannot wait for it to be played.” The first movement was designed as an homage to Mozart. While the movement remains true to Tchaikovsky’s aesthetic, the delicate, dance-like melodies and sonatina form do harken back to some of Mozart’s serenades. However, the dramatic chorale that both opens and closes the movement utilizes chords and divisi within the string sections and truly Romantic sound. Tchaikovsky modernized the traditional symphonic and string quartet structure by replacing the Minuet movement, one imitating a courtly eighteenth century dance, with a movement based on the relatively new dance sensation, the “waltz,” which Tchaikovsky used several times in many of his works to great effect, most popularly in the waltz of Sleeping Beauty, appropriated by the Disney film of the same name in the twentieth century with the words “Once Upon a Dream.” Perhaps serendipitously, both dances are based in triple meter, but more importantly in terms of mood, Tchaikovsky’s waltz harkens back to days of young love and new romance—qualities any serenader would choose to embrace! The third movement, “Elegia,” begins with another chorale, but as sweet and tender as the opening of the first movement is splendid and noble. For many, this movement is the center of the piece, and with its soaring melody set over first pizzicato, then staccato strings, it strongly resembles the simple serenade of the title, but eventually the music intensifies into something slightly darker and more intense. The finale is designated as a “Tema russo,” and utilizes Russian folk music in both the Andante opening (with a tune sung by Volga dragmen) and the boisterous dance-based Allegro con spirito. The Allegro eventually gives way to a reiteration of the chorale that opened the entire work, giving the piece a sense of circular motion, before returning to the dance theme and a sparkling conclusion.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 02:13:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015