May 4, 2015.Brahms and Tchaikovsky. This is the week when we celebrate two birthdays, that of Johannes Brahms and of Peter Tchaikovsky.Both were born on May 7th: Brahms in 1833, Tchaikovsky – in 1840.Last year we wrote rather extensively about the latter, and heard two first symphonies, the magisterial one by Brahms, which he spent almost 15 years composing (he started working on it in 1862, it was premiered in 1876), and also Tchaikovsky’s First, which is much smaller both in scale and as a musical achievement; it was written in 1866.Тhe comparison wasn’t quite fair, and we did it only because of Tchaikovsky’s incomprehensible disdain for Brahms’s music.Tchaikovsky wrote six symphonies and only the last three represent his talent at its highest level, while all four of Brahms’s symphonies are great.So if we were to continue the parallel, we’d probably have to compare Tchaikovsky’s Fourth with Brahms’s Second, especially considering that they were written practically at the same time: Tchaikovsky’s in 1877-78, while Brahms, after procrastinating over his first, wrote the second in just one summer of 1877.
Tchaikovsky composed the Fourth around the time he was recovering from the disastrous marriage to his former student, Antonina Milyukova.Tchaikovsky married Milyukova in July of 1877 (at that time he was working on his opera “Eugene Onegin”).The marriage was hastily arranged.It seems that Tchaikovsky mostly wanted to stop the rumors of his homosexuality; at least that’s what we find in his letter to his brother Modest.But homosexuality was also the reason the marriage turned a devastating failure.In just several weeks Tchaikovsky fled.The whole experience upset him to no end.Despondent, he quit his position at the Moscow Conservatory and set off for Italy.But even in this terrible mental state, he continued to compose, and the Forth symphony was the main work he produced during that period.Most of its themes are either tragic or full of melancholy.Following Beethoven’s Fifth, the first movement is built around the theme of Fate; Tchaikovsky himself spelled out the “program” of the first movement in a letter to his patroness Nadezhda von Meck, writing that fate prevents one from attaining happiness).The reference in the fourth movement to a simple Russian folk song about the birch tree in a field also has melancholy overtones.Even the rousing finale refers to the Fate motive of the first movement.Tchaikovsky was in Florence when the Symphony premiered in Moscow, in February of 1878 with his friend Nikolai Rubinstein conducting.The initial reception was rather negative, not just in Russia but also in the US, Germany and Britain.Soon after, though, opinions changed with the Fourth being acknowledged as Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece and one of the most important Romantic symphonies.We’ll hear it in a taut, unsentimental 1957 performance by the Leningrad Philharmonic under the baton of the great Russian conductor Evgeny Mravinsky.The portrait of Mravinsky, above, was painted by Lev Russov the same year the recording was made, in 1957.
Brahms’s life during this period was very different.His career was at the summit.Even though some years earlier his First Piano concerto was poorly received, the German Requiem established him as one of the most important European composer.He had recently completed the First symphony, and was invited all around Europe to perform it as the pianist and conductor (he mostly played his own work).He had many friends (Clara Schumann being one of them) and even more admirers.In 1878, for the first time in his life, he went on vacation to Italy, which he described as paradise.Brahms was in Italy practically at the same time as Tchaikovky – but in a very different mood.Somehow this mood affected his Second symphony, so "pastoral" in nature that it was often compared to Beethoven’s Sixth.Here’s Brahm’s Symphony no. 2 in D major, Op. 73, performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti conducting.
Brahms and Tchaikovsky, 2015
May 4, 2015. Brahms and Tchaikovsky. This is the week when we celebrate two birthdays, that of Johannes Brahms and of Peter Tchaikovsky. Both were born on May 7th: Brahms in 1833, Tchaikovsky – in 1840. Last year we wrote rather extensively about the latter, and heard two
first symphonies, the magisterial one by Brahms, which he spent almost 15 years composing (he started working on it in 1862, it was premiered in 1876), and also Tchaikovsky’s First, which is much smaller both in scale and as a musical achievement; it was written in 1866. Тhe comparison wasn’t quite fair, and we did it only because of Tchaikovsky’s incomprehensible disdain for Brahms’s music. Tchaikovsky wrote six symphonies and only the last three represent his talent at its highest level, while all four of Brahms’s symphonies are great. So if we were to continue the parallel, we’d probably have to compare Tchaikovsky’s Fourth with Brahms’s Second, especially considering that they were written practically at the same time: Tchaikovsky’s in 1877-78, while Brahms, after procrastinating over his first, wrote the second in just one summer of 1877.
Tchaikovsky composed the Fourth around the time he was recovering from the disastrous marriage to his former student, Antonina Milyukova. Tchaikovsky married Milyukova in July of 1877 (at that time he was working on his opera “Eugene Onegin”). The marriage was hastily arranged. It seems that Tchaikovsky mostly wanted to stop the rumors of his homosexuality; at least that’s what we find in his letter to his brother Modest. But homosexuality was also the reason the marriage turned a devastating failure. In just several weeks Tchaikovsky fled. The whole experience upset him to no end. Despondent, he quit his position at the Moscow Conservatory and set off for Italy. But even in this terrible mental state, he continued to compose, and the Forth symphony was the main work he produced during that period. Most of its themes are either tragic or full of melancholy. Following Beethoven’s Fifth, the first movement is built around the theme of Fate; Tchaikovsky himself spelled out the “program” of the first movement in a letter to his patroness Nadezhda von Meck, writing that fate prevents one from attaining happiness). The reference in the fourth movement%20by%20Lev%20Russov.jpg "Evgeny Mravinsky by Lev Russov")
to a simple Russian folk song about the birch tree in a field also has melancholy overtones. Even the rousing finale refers to the Fate motive of the first movement. Tchaikovsky was in Florence when the Symphony premiered in Moscow, in February of 1878 with his friend Nikolai Rubinstein conducting. The initial reception was rather negative, not just in Russia but also in the US, Germany and Britain. Soon after, though, opinions changed with the Fourth being acknowledged as Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece and one of the most important Romantic symphonies. We’ll hear it in a taut, unsentimental 1957 performance by the Leningrad Philharmonic under the baton of the great Russian conductor Evgeny Mravinsky. The portrait of Mravinsky, above, was painted by Lev Russov the same year the recording was made, in 1957.
Brahms’s life during this period was very different. His career was at the summit. Even though some years earlier his First Piano concerto was poorly received, the German Requiem established him as one of the most important European composer. He had recently completed the First symphony, and was invited all around Europe to perform it as the pianist and conductor (he mostly played his own work). He had many friends (Clara Schumann being one of them) and even more admirers. In 1878, for the first time in his life, he went on vacation to Italy, which he described as paradise. Brahms was in Italy practically at the same time as Tchaikovky – but in a very different mood. Somehow this mood affected his Second symphony, so "pastoral" in nature that it was often compared to Beethoven’s Sixth. Here’s Brahm’s Symphony no. 2 in D major, Op. 73, performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti conducting.