Tchaikovsky
www.tchaikovsky-research.net
Scherzo à la russe
Русское скерцо
Op. 1, No. 1 (1867).
| Catalogue References | TH 124 ; ČW 98 |
|---|---|
| Date | March 1867 |
| Key | B♭ major |
| Tempo/Section Listing | Allegro moderato (B♭ major, 267 bars) |
| Instrumentation | Piano (solo) |
| First Performance | Moscow, 31 March/12 April 1867, by Nikolai Rubinstein (as "Capriccio") |
| Autograph Location | Lost |
| First Publication | Moscow: P. Jurgenson, 1868 |
| Average Duration | 7 minutes |
| Dedication | Nikolai Grigor'evich Rubinstein (1835–1881) |
| External Links | IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library
 (downloadable score)Wikipedia (article) |
History
Written at the beginning of 1867 in Moscow, at the request of Nikolai Rubinstein, and based upon the melody of a Ukrainian song which Tchaikovsky heard from the gardeners at Kamenka, and called Capriccio [1]. This theme had already been used by the composer in the student String Quartet in B♭ major (1865).
The Scherzo à la russe was performed for the first time by Nikolai Rubinstein at a special concert of the Russian Musical Society in Moscow on 31 March/12 April 1867.
In a letter to Nadezhda von Meck of 27 November/9 December 1879, Tchaikovsky wrote: "My first published piece was Scherzo à la russe, Op. 1" [2]. The piece was published by Petr Jurgenson in 1868, together with the student Impromptu in E♭ minor.
In 1884, Petr Jurgenson undertook to publish a collection of Tchaikovsky's piano works, and asked the composer to select the pieces for this edition [3]. Amongst other works, Tchaikovsky decided on the Scherzo à la russe, with the reservation that "'perhaps in view of its difficulty. you would prefer not to print it? It’s up to you: I chose it only because Nikolai Grigor'evich played it" [4].
Herman Laroche, considering the piano pieces Op. 1, Op. 4, Op. 5 and Op. 8, noted: "The first of Tchaikovsky's works to appear in print were short piano pieces, published by Jurgenson in Moscow. They were evidently so successful that the Moscow pianists often performed them at their concerts" [5].
The Scherzo is dedicated to Nikolai Rubinstein.
From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958),
pp. 388–390
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston
Notes:
- Modest Tchaikovsky, Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского, том 1 (1900), pp. 197, 273 [back]
- Letter 1358 to Nadezhda von Meck, 27 November/9 December–28 November/10 December 1879 [back]
- Letter from Petr Jurgenson to Tchaikovsky, 17/29 April 1884 — Klin House-Museum Archive [back]
- Letter 2498 to Petr Jurgenson, 31 May/12 June 1884 [back]
- Herman Laroche, Собрание музвкально-критических статей том 2, часть.2 (1924), p. 19 [back]