Tchaikovsky
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TH 138

Twelve Pieces

Двенадцать пьес

Moderate difficulty, Op. 40 (1878).

1. Etude
   Этюд (G major)
2. Chanson triste
   Грустная песенка (G minor)
3. Marche funèbre
   Похоронный марш (C minor)
4. Mazurka
   Мазурка (C major)
5. Mazurka
   Мазурка (D major)
6. Chant sans paroles
   Песенка без слов (A minor)
7. Au village
   В деревне (A minor)
8. Valse
   Вальс (A♭ major)
9. Valse
   Вальс (F♯ minor)
10. Danse russe
    Русская пляска (A minor)
11. Scherzo
    Скерцо (D minor)
12. Rêverie interrompue
    Прерванные грезы (A♭ major)

• Composed February - April 1878. No. 10 is based on the Danse russe in the ballet Swan Lake.
• Scored for Piano solo (2 hands).
• Dedicated to Modest Tchaikovsky.
• Average duration: 47m 30s.

History

"I have decided that each morning I shall write something new. Yesterday I wrote a romance, and today a piano piece", Tchaikovsky wrote to Nadezha von Meck from Florence on 12/24 February 1878 [1]. The result of this decision was the composition of twelve piano pieces of moderate difficulty.

Tchaikovsky referred to the piece Rêverie interrompue (No. 12) in another letter of 13/25 February 1878 [2]. For its middle section the composer used a song which he heard through his window in Venice sung by a single street-singer [3]. Danse russe (No. 10) was written in 1877 as an additional number for the ballet Swan Lake. An earlier version of the Waltz in F-sharp minor (No. 9) was written on 4 June 1876 in Sergei Taneev’s notebook (according to the author's date) [4].

While travelling from Florence to Clarens (Switzerland), the composer continued work on the piano pieces. The next reference to the piano pieces was on 28 February/12 March 1878 in a letter to Anatolii Tchaikovsky [5]. By the middle of March he had already completed seven pieces [6]. At the same time Tchaikovsky was working on the Violin Concerto and the Grand Sonata in G major. The sketches for the pieces were completed at Kamenka in April. "The 12 pieces of moderate difficulty for solo piano are ready - but of course, only in draft" [7]. The copying out of the pieces was accomplished in the first half of July, by the 13th [8]. On 29h July the composer sent the pieces to his publisher in Moscow, together with a number of other completed works (the Grand Sonata in G major, the Children's Album, the Six Romances, Op. 38, and the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom). While preparing the pieces for publication, Tchaikovsky asked Petr Jurgenson to: "ask Taneev to play through these pieces, and correct any mistakes he might find" [9]. The proofs were corrected by Nikolai Kashkin, although Tchaikovsky himself also reviewed them [10].

The pieces are dedicated to Modest Tchaikovsky. The manuscript score carries no dedication, but his name appeared on the first edition at the author’s request.

Published by Petr Jurgenson in 1879.

From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), pp. 404-405
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston

Notes:

1. Letter 758 to Nadezhda von Meck, 12/24 February 1878 [back]
2. See letter 759 to Anatolii Tchaikovsky, 13/25-14/26 February 1878, and also letters 696 and 758 to Nadezhda von Meck, 20 December 1877/1 January 1878 (with a note of the song) and 12/24 February 1878 [back]
3. M. I. Tchaikovsky, Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского, том 2 (1901), p. 205 [back]
4. Until recently this piece had been wrongly dated to 1876 instead of 1878, and was consequently classified as an earlier, independent work – namely, the Waltz in F-sharp minor. However, it has now been established that this was actually a later variant of the Valse, Op. 40, No. 9, made for Sergei Taneev [back]
5. Letter 773 to Anatolii Tchaikovsky, 27 February/11 March-1/13 March 1878 [back]
6. See letter 789 to Petr Jurgenson, 15/27 March 1878 [back]
7. Letter 820 to Nadezhda von Meck, 30 April/12 May 1878 [back]
8. See letter 871 to Nadezhda von Meck, 13/25 July 1878 [back]
9. Letter 964 to Petr Jurgenson, 11/23 November 1878 [back]
10. See letters from Petr Jurgenson to Tchaikovsky, 24 October/5 November, 27 October/8 November and 16/28 November 1878 - Klin House-Museum Archive - and letter 946 to Petr Jurgenson, 20 October/1 November 1878 [back]

See also:

• 12 Pieces for Piano, Op. 40 page on the Internet Music Score Library Project (external site)

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