P.I. Tchaikovsky "Italian Capriccio"
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is a brilliant Russian composer, whose works today are admired all over the world. The great merit of the outstanding maestro is that with his work he managed to raise the national musical art to an unattainable height. Peter Ilyich wrote his compositions in various musical genres, ranging from small piano, vocal miniatures to impressive works, such as operas, the ballets and symphonies. Each brainchild of the great Tchaikovsky had his own fate, and not all of the composer’s works were immediately appreciated. For example, the story of "Italian Capriccio" - a work that is very popular today, also did not start out quite smoothly.
History of creation
In that period of life, which Tchaikovsky’s biographers used to be called “years of wandering,” Pyotr Ilyich traveled extensively, visiting various European cities. In the winter of 1979, the road of wandering led him to Rome. Getting acquainted with the sights of the city and its suburbs, studying the masterpieces of Italian art and architecture, the maestro visited many unique and beautiful places. He visited the cathedral, on Capitol Hill, in the Cathedral of St. Paul, the Colosseum and the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Everything he saw left the composer enthusiastic impressions, but he was particularly struck by the sculptures of Michelangelo and the paintings of Raphael. In addition, another event that was taking place in Rome at that time sunk into the soul of the maestro and left an indelible mark on it - this is the famous Roman carnival with its boiling fun, dance melodies and colorful processions.
The Italian capital, which combined ancient grandeur and tireless vigorous life, amazed Pyotr Ilyich so much that he had a desire to write music that would vividly reflect everything seen during a trip to Italy. Without delay, the composer set to work on a new work. He took some of the topics from music collections, and wrote other ones from memory that he heard on the street himself. In early February, "Italian Capriccio", and that is how Tchaikovsky called his new brainchild, was finished in draft form. He put off the instrumentation until spring, because he intended to do it, returning to his homeland, in a calm atmosphere. And so it happened: in the middle of May, being in Kamenka with his beloved sister Alexandra, the maestro completed the work on his new composition.
The premiere performance of the Italian Capriccio, almost simultaneously, with a difference of only a few days, took place first in Moscow and then in St. Petersburg at the beginning of the winter of that same 1880. Muscovites enjoyed cheerful music filled with bright Italian flavor, performed by the orchestra conducted by Eduard Napravnik, and Nikolai Rubinstein led the orchestra at a concert in the capital. Despite the excellent reception of the new composition by the public, the reaction of music critics regarding him was very controversial, which upset the author very much.
Interesting Facts
- The word capriccio in literal translation from Italian means a whim or a whim, is quite often found in musical terminology. Usually, composers call their compositions this way, which are not constrained by the boundaries of form and are very whimsical in character. The most famous "Capriccio" such outstanding maestro as Felix Mendelsohn ("Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra"), Mikhail Glinka ("Capriccio on the Aragon Jota"), Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov ("Spanish Capriccio"), Igor Stravinsky ("Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra").
- Peter Ilyich loved to devote his works to those people whom he especially esteemed and respected. On the Italian Capriccio he made an honorary inscription with the name of Karl Yulievich Davydov - a talented Russian composer, cellist and remarkable organizer, who from 1876 to 1887 headed the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
- The impressions of the trip to Italy from Peter Ilyich were so great that in his music he wanted to reflect all this in the smallest details. For example, the fanfare signal from which Capriccio begins is heard daily in the evenings from the cuirassier barracks, located in the immediate vicinity of the hotel where the composer stayed during his journey.
- The first performance of the Italian Capriccio, held in December 1880, was greeted by the public with enthusiasm. However, from the articles that critics published after the premiere, the composer learned that his new work has no artistic value, and it is more suitable for garden concerts.
- The bright music of the “Italian Capriccio” could not help but seduce the choreographers. In 1945, Olga Genrikhovna Jordan, a talented ballerina and choreographer, on the stage of the Leningrad Maly Opera and Ballet Theater, which is now called Mikhailovsky, successfully staged a one-act ballet to the music of this work by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Content
Initially, Peter Ilyich intended to write "Italian Capriccio" in the form of fantasy - a one-part work of a form not bound with frames. Its structure should have been based on the principle of continuous continuation, or in other words - through development. To do this, the composer used six diverse themes that naturally replace each other.
The introduction of the composition begins with a recruiting fanfare motif, played by pipesthen supported by the rich sound of all wind instruments. The following lyrical theme is a bit mournful. Chanting to the accompaniment of bright chords of a group of copper instruments and bassoon, it subsequently receives a dynamic development, becomes extremely agitated, and at the time of the climax of the section casually leads to a triumphantly sounding fanfare motif.
The central part of the "Capriccio" begins with an expressive and gentle melody, which is very beautifully sung in the third two oboeagainst the background of jerky accompaniment cellos and double basses. Then the motive, gently intercepted by pipes first, and then violins actively develops and leads to a bright climax. After it, a new temperamental graceful-flight theme immediately appears, accompanied by a lively accompaniment of strings, which they perform with an unusual touch, called "Saltando". Further, the previously sounding lyrical theme, which unobtrusively prepares the appearance of a light and cheerful tarantella, returns briefly. There is a picture of a cheerful national holiday, a colorful carnival. The active development of musical material leads to the culmination of the whole work, where the theme performed by the oboes reappears. But now, accompanied by percussion instruments, it sounds powerful and solemn.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in the rating of classical composers at the present time occupies the highest place. His works are very popular around the world and are often heard at concert venues, from television screens and on radio waves. "Italian capriccio is one of such compositions. It may not be the most worthy among the works of the great maestro, but with its originality and brilliance it fascinates listeners and therefore invariably enters the repertoire of many famous symphony orchestras.
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