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TCHAIKOVSKY
Serenade in C Major for String Orchestra, Op. 48 

PETER IL YITCH TCHAIKOVSKY
Born May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk;
died November 6, 1893, in St. Petersburg

Serenade in C Major for String Orchestra, Op. 48 

In October of 1880, Tchaikovsky wrote to Madame Nadeja von Meck, his wealthy patroness, benefactress and confidante-by-mail, "You can imagine, dear friend that recently my Muse has been benevolent, when I tell you that I have written two long works very rapidly: a Festival Overture and a Serenade in four movements for String Orchestra. The Overture [the bombastic "1812" Overture] will be very noisy. I wrote it without much warmth or enthusiasm; therefore, it has no great artistic value. The Serenade, on the other hand, I wrote from an inward impulse. I felt it, and I venture to hope that this work is not without artistic qualities."

The first performance of Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings was a private one which took place under the baton of Nikolai Rubinstein at the Moscow Conservatory in the spring of 1881. The work received its first official performance on October 30, 1881, in St. Petersburg, with Eduard Napravnik conducting. The Serenade for Strings apparently remained a particular favorite of Tchaikovsky's because, during the next several years, he included it in his programs for guest conducting engagements in Hamburg, Prague, Paris, and London. He also conducted it in Baltimore and Philadelphia in 1891 during his only visit to the United States.

The Serenade for Strings is unquestionably one of Tchaikovsky's sunniest scores. As befitting a serenade, it abounds with cheerfulness, grace, and charm. Reflected in it is the composer's reverence for Mozart and his love of classical simplicity, Russian folk song, and the glitter and elegance of the ballet.  Above all, the work demonstrates clearly the degree of richness and the variety of sounds that can be obtained from a string ensemble when the creativity of the scoring becomes one of the major aspects of the music.

The work consists of four movements. The first movement, Pezza informa di Sonatina, opens with a stately and imposing Andante non troppo introduction. The main section is a vigorous and energetic Allegro mo/to which, because it is cast in sonatina form rather than sonata form, does not include a development section. The movement ends with a return of the music of the introductory section.

The second movement is a delicate and lilting waltz marked Moderato (I'empo di Valse) which includes some wonderfully transparent interweavings of the individual instrumental parts. A hint of Tchaikovsky's notorious melancholy surfaces in the three-part third movement, a pensive elegy  marked Larghetto elegiaco. Of particular note is the concluding section, in which the entire string orchestra plays with mutes, thereby imbuing the music with a wistful, veiled quality.

Tchaikovsky's Slavic origins become more apparent in the finale, which he subtitles "Tema russo."  It is cast as an exuberant Allegro con spirito prefaced by an Andante introduction. The introduction is based upon a Volga boat-hauling song from the district of Malakirev, while the main section makes use of a dance-like street song from Kolomno, near Moscow. As the finale draws to a close, Tchaikovsky again recalls the imposing music of the introduction to the first movement, but the high-spirited Russian folk song soon returns to bring the serenade to a rousing and emphatic conclusion firmly rooted in the home key of C Major.

 

-Kenneth C. Viant

TCHAIKOVSKY
Serenade in C Major for String Orchestra, Op. 48 

PETER IL YITCH TCHAIKOVSKY
Born May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk;
died November 6, 1893, in St. Petersburg

Serenade in C Major for String Orchestra, Op. 48 

In October of 1880, Tchaikovsky wrote to Madame Nadeja von Meck, his wealthy patroness, benefactress and confidante-by-mail, "You can imagine, dear friend that recently my Muse has been benevolent, when I tell you that I have written two long works very rapidly: a Festival Overture and a Serenade in four movements for String Orchestra. The Overture [the bombastic "1812" Overture] will be very noisy. I wrote it without much warmth or enthusiasm; therefore, it has no great artistic value. The Serenade, on the other hand, I wrote from an inward impulse. I felt it, and I venture to hope that this work is not without artistic qualities."

The first performance of Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings was a private one which took place under the baton of Nikolai Rubinstein at the Moscow Conservatory in the spring of 1881. The work received its first official performance on October 30, 1881, in St. Petersburg, with Eduard Napravnik conducting. The Serenade for Strings apparently remained a particular favorite of Tchaikovsky's because, during the next several years, he included it in his programs for guest conducting engagements in Hamburg, Prague, Paris, and London. He also conducted it in Baltimore and Philadelphia in 1891 during his only visit to the United States.

The Serenade for Strings is unquestionably one of Tchaikovsky's sunniest scores. As befitting a serenade, it abounds with cheerfulness, grace, and charm. Reflected in it is the composer's reverence for Mozart and his love of classical simplicity, Russian folk song, and the glitter and elegance of the ballet.  Above all, the work demonstrates clearly the degree of richness and the variety of sounds that can be obtained from a string ensemble when the creativity of the scoring becomes one of the major aspects of the music.

The work consists of four movements. The first movement, Pezza informa di Sonatina, opens with a stately and imposing Andante non troppo introduction. The main section is a vigorous and energetic Allegro mo/to which, because it is cast in sonatina form rather than sonata form, does not include a development section. The movement ends with a return of the music of the introductory section.

The second movement is a delicate and lilting waltz marked Moderato (I'empo di Valse) which includes some wonderfully transparent interweavings of the individual instrumental parts. A hint of Tchaikovsky's notorious melancholy surfaces in the three-part third movement, a pensive elegy  marked Larghetto elegiaco. Of particular note is the concluding section, in which the entire string orchestra plays with mutes, thereby imbuing the music with a wistful, veiled quality.

Tchaikovsky's Slavic origins become more apparent in the finale, which he subtitles "Tema russo."  It is cast as an exuberant Allegro con spirito prefaced by an Andante introduction. The introduction is based upon a Volga boat-hauling song from the district of Malakirev, while the main section makes use of a dance-like street song from Kolomno, near Moscow. As the finale draws to a close, Tchaikovsky again recalls the imposing music of the introduction to the first movement, but the high-spirited Russian folk song soon returns to bring the serenade to a rousing and emphatic conclusion firmly rooted in the home key of C Major.

 

-Kenneth C. Viant