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musical scene. However, like
Antonin Dvorak, Tchaikovsky struggled to balance
the expectations of Viennese compositional orthodoxy
with his own sense of nationalism.
He was educated at the St. Petersburg Conservatory,
where he received formal training in Western
musical techniques, and this is what distinguishes him
from other homegrown Russian composers, like those
of the Mighty Five, which you will hear about shortly.
This quartet is an example of
the balance he tried to strike between his training
and his cultural identity. It begins
with an arresting statement that is chromatic,
dissonant, and dark. It is a highly individual kind of expression
that has been compared to the opening of Wagner's Tristan
and Isolde in its chromaticism and
tonal or harmonic instability. But, the mainstay
of the movement which is marked "Moderato assai," or
very moderate, gives way to a Mozartean sensibility
where proportion and balance reign
as well as the clarity of its major tonality.
The final movement also demonstrates his formal skills
in its use of an extended fugue, a technique that
Haydn and Beethoven used
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often in their last movements. Even in the presence
of these Viennese references, the most captivating
material in this work resides in the
inner movements, where Tchaikovsky's Russian side
comes to the fore. In the second movement, one hears the free alternation
of two and three beats per measure
in the outer sections, which lends the music
a Russian folk feel. And in the slow
third movement, one hears the kind of Russian
melancholy and pathos that is
associated with Tchaikovsky's
most dramatic orchestral works. What could be
more compelling? Arnold
will now give his thoughts.
When I was a teenager, I fell completely in love with Tchaikovsky's music.
As a budding violinist, I first came to know and love his violin concerto,
followed by his piano concerto, his symphonies,
the Romeo and Juliet Overture and on and on.
At one point I felt I had to
confess my love of Tchaikovsky to an older musician of my acquaintance.
I'll never forget his response. "You'll get
over it." That was easily sixty years ago
and I'd like to inform the gentleman if he’s still around
that, I haven't gotten over it yet. If anything,
I revere Tchaikovsky's music more than ever.
Listening to work of his is like going to the theatre.
And not just any theatre! Tchaikovsky's works
are often full of the nail-biting drama and
of heart-stopping emotion. And this is certainly true
of Tchaikovsky's Second String Ouartet, Opus 22
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that opens with a suspenseful and achingly
dissonant introduction to the first movement. The stage is set
and the characters in this drama have made
their entrance. A florid, cadenza-like violin solo then
ushers in a string quartet that is far darker
than its more popular predecessor. Of the first movement, Tchaikovsky
said, "If I've written anything in my life that flowed spontaneously from
the very depths of my soul, then it was the first movement
of this quartet." The second movement
is a gentle scherzo in an irregular but irresistible rhythm
characteristic of much Russian folk music. I can
easily imagine Tchaikovsky adapting these
lilting rhythms for the ballet. The third movement
begins with a lament
and a series of falling notes in pairs that are worthy
of anything Robert Schumann wrote for sheer poignancy. Tchaikovsky
maintains this highly emotional
and spellbinding atmosphere throughout-- clutching at those falling pairs
of notes to the very end to the movement. This seems to me
the very heart and center of the quartet
as Tchaikovsky's melancholy tale is slowly
revealed. The fourth movement chases away all serious thoughts
with a joyous upbeat mood throughout, and including a fugue
based on the opening theme of the quartet before ending
with a rousing coda. Tchaikovsky
wrote about this quartet to his brother, Modest,
"I regard it as my best work;
no other piece has poured forth from me so simply and easily.
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Opus 22 string quartet,
I've never been aware of how effortless
or difficult the work was to compose; only
that I’d just been to the theatre, and it it was an
unforgettable experience.
[MUSIC]
Arnold SteinhardtPerformance Faculty
Dr. Mia ChungInstructor of Interpretive Analysis
