Tchaikovsky's violin concerto
This piece is one of three that Tchaikovsky finished following the
destruction of his marriage and his escape to Switzerland. In early March of 1878,
Tchaikovsky was visited by a former student and friend named Yosif Yosifovich, a violin
player. He acted as a consultant to Tchaikovsky on technique on the instrument, for
Tchaikovsky was unaware of the physical limitations of the instrument (Tchaikovsky was
intentionally wishing to push the limitations of the instrument to a new level, Yosifovich
had more proficiency on the instrument than Tchaikovsky.) Upon its completion, Tchaikovsky
dedicated the concerto to the great Hungarian violinist Leopold Auer. Upon hearing the
piece for the first time, Auer was deeply touched and promised to perform the concerto
at the first opportunity. However, after Tchaikovsky left and Auer had the time to look
the piece over, he decided it was in need of revision because it was unsuited for the
nature of the violin. After a few years, Auer never got around to revising it, and
Tchaikovsky withdrew the original score and the dedication. For some time, there was
talk of the concerto as being unplayable, until a young Russian violinist named Adolf
Brodsky took it up and premiered it on December 4 1881, with the Berlin Philharmonic
orchestra. The critics came down very hard on Tchaikovsky, stating that he called for
the violin to be “beaten black and blue,” and yanked and torn about. Brodsky continued
to perform the piece, and eventually it was rededicated to him. A few months before
Tchaikovsky’s death in 1893, Auer finally performed the piece in public. He later published
his own revised version of the piece and began teaching it to his advanced students.
The piece has a very demanding presence, for at each moment music is heard it is aggressive
and fierce. The song is filled with beauty, all the themes used in the piece are gentle
and touching, yet the manner in which they were to be played is more like a fistfight with a
violin than a song. It brings out the true beauty of the piece, and broke several barriers
in the manner in which a violin is to be played. The extensive use of double-stops in the
cadenzas is a very distinct trait of this piece, as well as the use of several extremely high
parts that can only be played properly using harmonics. The tonality is unchanged throughout
the piece, it stays in D major with little deviation.
tchaikovsky biography
symphony no. 5
symphony no. 6
piano concerto
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