P.I. Tchaikovsky "Children's Album"
It is known that Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky loved children very well, he understood them well. This is evidenced by his famous phrase that flowers, music and children make up the best decoration of life. Not surprisingly, the children's theme literally permeates all of his work, and the playbook “Children's Album” was the first such work in Russia. Later this cycle entered the golden fund of essays written specifically for children. This is not just a compilation - it is a whole world, a magical land, retold in sounds.
History of creation
To the idea to write a collection of small plays especially for children, Tchaikovsky was prompted by two factors. First, they served as an example of Robert Schumann. Pyotr Ilyich also wanted to compose a cycle of simple plays, like the Album for the Young, which children could freely perform. Secondly, to the idea of composing such a work, Tchaikovsky was prompted to communicate with his nephews. It is known that the composer was very warm towards the children of his sister, often visited them, told different stories about his travels, played them, and also listened with interest to all their stories.
For the first time, Tchaikovsky mentions his intention to compose a collection of children's plays on February 26, 1878 in a letter to his publisher while in Florence. A month later, the composer begins work on the cycle. April 30, 1878, during a visit to his sister A.I. Davydova in Kamenka, he writes PI. Jürgenson, reporting on his work on the Children's Album.
There is no information about the process of composing the cycle itself, it is known that it was written by the composer rather quickly. About a month later in his letter to N.F. von Meck Peter Ilyich wrote that he composed all the plays and now it will take another six months to put the cycle in order and edit everything.
On June 29, in his letter to the publisher, Tchaikovsky sent manuscripts of all the works written at that time, including a collection of children's plays.
Researchers suggest that the idea of a dedication of the collection to his nephew Volodya Davyvod arose in Tchaikovsky after the work on the composition was completed. It is known that in the summer of 1878 the composer spent a lot of time with him in Kamenka. There is no dedication in the autograph of the collection, but in his letter to N.F. von Meck Tchaikovsky already tells in detail that he decided to devote the cycle to his nephew, who loves music very much and even promises to become a musician. Obviously, Tchaikovsky expressed his decision about his decision to the publisher during a personal meeting at the end of September and beginning of October 1878.
Interesting Facts
- It is known that for his work, Tchaikovsky received 240 rubles from the publishing house. That was the price the composer himself set at 10 rubles for each piece.
- The researchers believe that the reason that prompted the composer to start writing a collection of children's pieces could have been very vivid impressions of the heard song of a street singer in Florence. Tchaikovsky even wrote about this case in a letter to his brother on March 27, 1878. The composer was especially shocked by the performance of such an "unchildish" song by a boy-singer, which was not so tragic in his interpretation as in the original.
- There is another factor that influenced Tchaikovsky’s decision to compose the Children's Album, which is communication with Kolya Konradi (a graduate of the composer’s brother). It is known that with Kolya and with MP Tchaikovsky, he spent part of the winter of 1877-1878. They visited sights together, traveled a lot.
- Initially, Tchaikovsky conceived a slightly different order of plays, which was changed in the first edition, carried out with his participation.
- Despite the fact that the compilation was originally intended specifically for children, it became firmly established in world music literature and was often performed even by professional artists. It is enough to recall the version of Ya.V. Flier, which is familiar to many thanks to preserved audio recordings. The versions of M. Pletnev and V. Postnikova are a highly artistic model. Pletnev brings his vision to the reading of this work. He changes the order of numbers, putting forward his version of the dramatic concept of the collection.
- Pyotr Ilyich highly appreciated the first edition of his collection, but he still didn’t like some moments. So, he regretted the appearance of the "Children's Album". He wanted the compilation format to be different, since Volodya (to whom the essay is dedicated) would be very uncomfortable looking at the notes when playing. The composer also had claims to the illustrations.
- In all editions of the Soviet period, the title of the last play, "In the Church," was specifically changed to "Choir."
- It is interesting that the idea to create such collections of miniatures for children was later addressed by composers such as A.S. Arensky, V.I. Rebikov, S.M. Maikapar.
- There is a large number of arrangements by Tchaikovsky’s children's collection for various instruments and even orchestras. For example, Vladimir Milman and Vladimir Spivakov made arrangements for a chamber orchestra. Thanks to the efforts of Robert Groslot, an arrangement for chamber orchestra and brass ensemble appeared. There is a score of "Children's Album" for the percussion ensemble, which Anatoly Ivanov reworked, and a little later, in 2014, the arrangement for string orchestra and percussion, made by composer Dmitry Batin, appeared.
Content
In the "Children's Album" includes 24 plays, with their individual name. The program content of the collection is constructed in a specific sequence: morning, afternoon and evening. In addition, several plot lines are viewed at once in the cycle.
The first storyline reveals to the audience images of the awakening of the child and the beginning of the day.
"Morning Prayer" - This is an incredibly beautiful, bright, contemplative piece, which evokes thoughts about God, about the soul. Tchaikovsky succeeded in surprisingly conveying the choir's singing in piano music. The melody of this play is woven from live intonations, thanks to a special presentation. Mood concentration also helps to convey a uniform rhythmic movement, texture of presentation, simple harmonic language and light tonality.
Second play "Winter morning" brings a different mood to the peaceful morning atmosphere. Rainy weather (cold, with a blizzard and a blizzard) is conveyed very accurately by disturbed and replaced transparently enlightened music. The middle part brings a certain shade of sadness, which further emphasizes the onset of the reprise.
"Winter Morning" (listen)
Third play "Playing horses" opens the storyline of toys and children's room. This small piece very accurately conveys the clatter of hoofs due to the uniform rhythmic pulsation, which brings it closer to the tokat. The image of toy horses helps to convey a three-part size that sounds easy and lively in this case.
In the play "Mama" music is very simple, but full of spiritual experiences. It is presented in the form of a duet: the lower voice has a warmer timbre, and the upper one - a clear, bright one. In general, this piece is very harmonious, soft, even the size of the composer chose not by chance, as the three-part volume gives the music roundness and softness.
In the play "March of wooden soldiers" Tchaikovsky reveals the main image of a very clear rhythmic pattern and verified strokes. The composer managed to very accurately convey the precise, almost mechanical movements of the soldiers to the drummer’s shot.
"March of wooden soldiers" (listen)
The following plays (6, 7, 8, 9), which form a small suite, reveal another storyline, which tells about the difficult, serious spiritual life of a small child, who feels everything as acutely as adults.
"Disease dolls" makes a completely different image. Sad music conveys the experiences of a little girl who has become so involved in playing that she takes everything seriously and is very worried about her favorite doll. Interestingly built musical fabric of the play, in which there is no continuous melody. Pauses, as well as mournful intonation, convey the "sighs" and "moans" of the dolls. After a tense climax, it ends with a fading coda.
Play "Funeral dolls" has another subtitle, which the author himself gave - "In imitation of Schumann." According to the imagery, this miniature is very similar to the “First Loss” of Robert Schumann from his “Album for the Young”. The composer took seriously the feelings of the child, reflecting the genuine feelings of the little heroine.
"Waltz" completely suddenly breaks into the course of the narrative, replacing sadness and sadness for fun. Why choose a waltz? This dance was one of the most popular and beloved in the XIX century and it sounded not only at the magnificent balls, but also at home holidays. "Waltz" from the "Children's Album" conveys the atmosphere of a home holiday.
"Waltz" (listen)
"New Doll" - This is a continuation of the fun, because the girl is very happy with her new toy. She is dancing and spinning with the new doll. Music very accurately conveys the mood of a little girl, a feeling of delight and joy. The play resembles a waltz, however, it sounds very quickly, the usual size of 3/4 is accelerated twice.
Swift Polish dance "Mazurka" continues the line of dance miniatures in the collection. But only Tchaikovsky has a more intimate character, therefore the first theme of the play is calm, elegiac.
The next three plays of the Children's Album (11,12, 13) reveal the folk line and can even be called a kind of “Russian suite”.
All three plays: "Russian song", "A man playing the harmonica", "Kamarinskaya" they convey a national flavor and in them Tchaikovsky uses the same development method - the variational one, which was peculiar to the people's performance.
"Kamarinskaya" (listen)
Replaces Russian theme Czech folk dance "Polka". It sounds very fun, perky and graceful. Interestingly, it is this miniature that is the most popular of the whole cycle.
In the next storyline, the composer presented songs from different countries. The theme of travel was very close to Tchaikovsky, because he had visited quite a lot of countries and cities. Obviously, he tried to embody all his impressions of the numerous trips into music. In this storyline includes plays 15,16,17,18 and they are still adjacent to the 23 number. All these numbers are bright, colorful sketches. They very accurately conveyed Tchaikovsky Italian, French and German features in music.
It is no coincidence that the author gives preference to the Italian, because it is the autumn and winter of 1877-1878 that he travels around European cities, in particular, Tchaikovsky visits Italy. From Milan he writes N. F. von Meck about his vivid impressions received there.
Curious that "Italian song", "German song", "The Organ-Grinder Sings" and even in a sense "Old French Song" united by one idea. They all resemble the sound of a barrel organ. These impressions of the maestro have been preserved since childhood, when his father brought a mechanical organ from St. Petersburg. Thanks to this device, Tchaikovsky was able to get acquainted with the works of great composers.
"Italian song" (listen)
Not in the "Children's Album" and without fairy tales, there are two of them here, and together with the play "Sweet Dreams" they form a fabulously dreamy line.
"Nurse Tale" - This is a scary story told by an old nanny. The fairy-tale image revealed in the play is expressed with the help of harmonic language and musical expressive means. In general, the music sounds very cautious.
"Baba Yaga" - This is another fairy tale in the cycle in which the composer very accurately conveyed the fantastic flight of the main character. The witch quickly rushes past the audience. The music sounds harsh, with characteristic "shouts" of Baba Yaga and the "whistle of the wind." With the help of musical expressive means, Tchaikovsky was able to very accurately characterize this fantastic character.
"Baba Yaga" (listen)
Play "Sweet Dreams" is calm, dreamy. The softness of this miniature is underlined by the sharp sound of the previous fairy numbers.
"Sweet Dreams" (listen)
"Song of the Lark" - This is a bright and incredibly picturesque picture, transmitting the twitter of birds. The music sounds very easy, it is promoted by the absence of rhythmic accents, as well as the fact that the motifs of the melody begin and end mostly on weak beats.
The final play of the cycle "In the church" - this is again an appeal to prayer, as in the first miniature. Music sounds quite strictly and seriously. This is due to the fact that in it the maestro used a genuine melody of prayer. Most likely, Tchaikovsky did not specifically simplify the musical language, embodying the depth of feelings in such a rather small construction.
"Children's album" Tchaikovsky - This is not only a collection of children's plays dedicated to his beloved nephew. This is a kaleidoscope of vivid images, a number of vivid impressions of the composer himself, which he was able to convey so accurately in music, as well as children's emotions. This is an amazing piece in its design and implementation, which deservedly enters the golden fund of world music literature for children.
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