Variations On A Rococo Theme, Op. 3
TCHAIKOVSKY 1840–1893
Although the young Tchaikovsky began music lessons at the age of five and progressed to the point of being able to improvise at the piano by fourteen, none of his teachers detected what was apparently a natural ability to compose. Thus, he was never encouraged to progress beyond the level expected of any average child from a comfortable middleclass family. By the age of nineteen he completed studies at a school of jurisprudence and began a three-year career as an ordinary civil servant in St. Petersburg’s Ministry of Justice. Finally, in 1861, Tchaikovsky gave in to his creative urges and began taking composition lessons from Nikolai Zeremba. One year later, Zeremba joined the faculty of the newly created Conservatory of Music and his pupil followed him there. Tchaikovsky permanently abandoned his law career in 1863.
Tchaikovsky would eventually develop into a major figure in 19th century music due in large part to the influence of two Russian-born, but German-trained, brothers, Anton and Nikolai Rubenstein. The former was a brilliant pianist often favorably compared to Liszt who, as director of the conservatory and teacher of orchestra, was the first strong, positive influence on the young composer’s career.
In 1866, Nikolai, an almost equally adept pianist, became the first director of the Moscow Conservatory. In this position he was able to offer a teaching post to Tchaikovsky. During the next ten years Tchaikovsky fully developed his unique style in three symphonies, the famous Piano Concerto in B-flat Minor, and the symphonic fantasies Romeo and Juliet, and Francesca da Rimini. The Variations on a Rococo Theme was written at the end of this period in December 1876, immediately before the tumultuous and somewhat fallow six year period that accompanied the crisis of his marriage and its aftermath.
The “Rococo” Variations display an aspect of Tchaikovsky’s style that is often hidden from the public – his delight in the music of Mozart and other 18th century master. His attempt to imitate the structure and harmonies of the period can be heard primarily in his chamber music works and the Suites for Orchestra. In many ways, the Variations recall the traditional divertimentos and serenades of Mozart’s time in that they often served as solo vehicles for orchestral principals. A simple theme in the style of a gavotte (Tchaikovsky’s own) is developed in seven variations – some simple embellishments and others pure virtuoso displays. Several variations end with the cello in its highest register. When Tchaikovsky and his cellist friend Wilhelm Fitzenhagen (for whom the work was composed) performed the work in front of a hostile anti-Russian audience in Wiesbaden, Liszt came backstage after the performance and said, “Ah, this is music again.” The implication being that Tchaikovsky’s other works heard at the festival were not music. No one has ever been able to find fault with Tchaikovsky’s unpretentious work.
Concert Performance
Orchestration
2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, strings