Orchestral Suite No.1 in D minor Op.43 (1878–9)
‘A Suite in the style of Lachner’, who published seven (1861–81), composed in Russia and Italy. Inscribed cryptically to *** – Tchaikovsky’s patroness in absentia Nadezhda von Meck – it dates from the period of The Maid of Orleans and the premieres of Eugene Onegin and the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom. Nikolai Rubinstein directed the first performance in Moscow, 8/20 December 1879. ‘On Saturday, the Suite was played with great success,’ reported Tchaikovsky’s publisher, Pyotr Jurgenson. ‘The [fugal] first movement did not arouse any particular enthusiasm on the part of the audience. The second [B flat major – written last, in August 1879] was liked. The Andante pleased very much, and the March [A major – which Tchaikovsky had wanted to discard on grounds of ‘doubtful merit’] drew applause which wouldn’t stop until it was repeated. The Scherzo [B flat major] was very well received. But by the time the Gavotte was played, interest flagged and the one thought in the mind of the audience was to leave as soon as possible. Rubinstein complained of the tremendous difficulties presented to the orchestra.’
‘Rooted primarily in the decorative world of the ballet divertissement [incidental scores, too, The Snow Maiden for instance] not concerned with major expressive issues’ (David Brown), the D minor Suite is finer than many commentators would lead us to believe, particularly in the hands of a committed champion like Gauk (or, later, Svetlanov). Typically, its orchestration, including triangle and glockenspiel, transforms simple ideas and cadences into an atmospheric carnival of costumes and ‘lighting’ angles.
Orchestral Suite No.2 in C Op.53 ‘Suite caractéristique’ (1883)
Dedicated to Tchaikovsky’s sister-in-law, Praskovya (who lived until 1956), this was first heard under Erdmannsdörfer in Moscow, 4/16 February 1884. Tchaikovsky himself directed the Petersburg premiere, 5/17 March 1887. To von Meck he generalised the genre: ‘for some time [the suite form has] been particularly attractive to me because of the freedom it affords the composer not to be inhibited by any
traditions, by conventional met hods and established rules’ (16/28 April 1884). Of the four examples he put together, the first three glow in vibrant images, eternal phrases (did Tchaikovsky ever write a bad tune?), and intricately detailed orchestral glamour/surprise.
Orbiting the note E (pivotally linking the keys of the five moments), No.2, as Tchaikovsky himself realised, impresses chiefly for its third and fourth movements, both originally longer: ‘I am almost certain that the Scherzo (with the accordions [four of the diatonic button variety: an extraordinary folk timbre]) and the Andante (Child’s Dreams) will please’ (to his younger brother Modest, 26 September/8 October 1883). Writing of the E major Scherzo, a thrilling chase, cinematically prescient, Brown suggests it ‘crosses into the musical territory of the Russian supernatural’. Of the A minor Andante, that it ‘contains both the most conventional and the most original music in the whole suite […] Even within the enchanted music of Sleeping Beauty, which it clearly presages, there is rarely quite the same disquieting sense of shapes indefinable and forces unknown.’ The ‘Little Russian’ finale, ‘Wild Dance in the style of Dargomizhsky’, pays homage to Dargomizshky’s Kazatchok fantasia (which Tchaikovsky had arranged for piano around 1868.
Orchestral Suite No.3 in G Op.55
Besides his symphonies and symphonic poems Tchaikovsky wrote four orchestral suites. They show, more than the works mentioned above, the extent to which the dance rhythm is the basis for his orchestral music. In all the four movements of the Third Suite (1884) this basis is always refined, but never obscured by a strong need for charm and elegance. Although the four movements have titles intended to clarify their own character, the mood on the surface in one movement is an undercurrent in another. The ‘Elegy’ is full of major-key moments and the ‘Valse romantique’ is, like a Schubertian waltz, always two coins of the same medal. In the Scherzo the dance rhythm always competes with the desire for refinement. No wonder Stravinsky admired Tchaikovsky’s art of orchestration. The finale was not meant as ballet music, but Tchaikovsky’s intention to let the music glitter and scintillate makes the listener wonder why this music is not more often heard.
Emanuel Overbeeke
Suite No.4 in G Op.61 ‘Mozartiana’ (1887)
‘Mozart I love as a musical Christ […] Mozart was a being so angelical and childlike in his purity, his music is so full of unattainably divine beauty, that if there is someone you can mention in the same breath as Christ, then it is he. […] Mozart is the highest, the culminating point which beauty has reached in the sphere of music […] In Mozart I love everything because we love everything in a person whom we truly love’ (Diary, 20 September/2 October 1886). The ‘Mozartiana’ suite adapts four short Mozart originals (according to Tchaikovsky ‘minutely enhanced and harmonically modified’), using a comparatively modest orchestra but including cymbals, glockenspiel and harp. ‘For around an hour each day I’m occupied with orchestrating piano pieces by Mozart, which by the end of the summer I should have turned into a suite of novel character (the old given contemporary treatment)’ (24 June/6 July 1887). Tchaikovsky directed the first performance in Moscow, at a Russian Musical Society concert on 14/26 November 1887.
I. Gigue: Gigue K574 (Leipzig, 16 May 1789), G major. II. Menuetto: Minuet K355 (Vienna, ?1786–87), D major. Trio section by Maximilian Stadler (1748–1833). III. Pregheira: Ave verum corpus K618 (Baden, 1746 June 1791), from Liszt’s organ transcription (Evocation à la Chapelle Sixtine, c. 1862), B flat major. IV. Thème et variations: Unser dummer Pöbel meint, after Gluck (1714–87) K455 (Vienna, 25 August 1784), G major.
Ates Orga, 2010
CD 10
01. Orchestral Suite No. 1 in D minor, Op.43 – I. Introduzione e Fuga
02. Orchestral Suite No. 1 in D minor, Op.43 – II. Divertimento
03. Orchestral Suite No. 1 in D minor, Op.43 – III. Intermezzo
04. Orchestral Suite No. 1 in D minor, Op.43 – IV. Marche Miniature
05. Orchestral Suite No. 1 in D minor, Op.43 – V. Scherzo
06. Orchestral Suite No. 1 in D minor, Op.43 – VI. Gavotte
07. Orchestral Suite No. 2 in C major, ‘Suite Caractéristique’, Op.53 – I. Jeu de sons
08. Orchestral Suite No. 2 in C major, ‘Suite Caractéristique’, Op.53 – II. Valse
09. Orchestral Suite No. 2 in C major, ‘Suite Caractéristique’, Op.53 – III. Scherzo burlesque
10. Orchestral Suite No. 2 in C major, ‘Suite Caractéristique’, Op.53 – IV. Rêves d’enfant
11. Orchestral Suite No. 2 in C major, ‘Suite Caractéristique’, Op.53 – V. Danse baroque
CD 11
01. Orchestral Suite No. 3 in G major, Op.55 – I. Élégie. Andante molto cantabile
02. Orchestral Suite No. 3 in G major, Op.55 – II. Valse mélancolique. Allegro moderato
03. Orchestral Suite No. 3 in G major, Op.55 – III. Scherzo. Molto vivace
04. Orchestral Suite No. 3 in G major, Op.55 – IV. Tema con Variazioni. Andante con moto
05. Orchestral Suite No. 4 in G major, ‘Mozartiana’ – I. Gigue. Allegro (Gigue, K.574)
06. Orchestral Suite No. 4 in G major, ‘Mozartiana’ – II. Menuet. Moderato (Minuet, K.355)
07. Orchestral Suite No. 4 in G major, ‘Mozartiana’ – III. Preghiera. Andante non tanto (Ave verum corpus, K.618)
08. Orchestral Suite No. 4 in G major, ‘Mozartiana’ – IV. Thème et Variations. Allegro giusto (Unser dummer Pöbel meint, K.455)
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart
Neville Merriner – Conductor