Hi,
I have a question on Tchaikovsky and especially the part where he was
inspired by music of other cultures I assume one was Asia, can you please
tell me more about this and if any others and also in which of his works
this is most notable.
Thank you so much in advance,
Vanessa Paulina
12/11/2011 11:40
Hi Vanessa,
Tchaikovsky was a cosmopolitan composer...of Asia I cant say...there
was a folk song from the Caucasus which he used in the number for Coffee
in the Arabian dance from Nutcracker...there are two French popular songs
which he used in the Madame Gignone sequence again in Nutcracker...a
French popular song featured in the second movement from his First Piano
Concerto....he utilized many Russian folk songs especially in the earlier
part of his career...and of course he was influenced by many composers of
his day and age...he had a strong European affiliation...his favorite
composer was Mozart...but admits to being influenced by Berlioz, Wagner,
Bizet and other composers including Glinka...his melodic invention was
also influenced by Italians of the Bel Canto era...he wrote several tone
poems, Liszt and Berlioz were the creators of that art form....so outside
of Russia and that is European Russia at that, his music was deeply rooted
in the European tradition...
The main theme of the first movement of his Fourth Symphony was
influenced by an aria from Bizet's Carmen..the main theme from the last
movement was based on a Russian folk song.....his Capriccio Italien had a
number of Italian pop songs in it....at times he used styles from the
rococo age..as in a section of Pique Dame...So he was pretty much a
product of his age and time...
Best Wishes,
AL Gasparo
14/11/2011 23:50