Tschaikowsky, Peter

Tschaikowsky, Peter – Incidental music to ‘Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky’ (Ostrovsky) and ‘The Barber of Seville’ (Beaumarchais)

(b. Votkinsk, 7 May 1840 – d. St. Petersburg, 6 November 1893)

Preface

Incidental music has a difficult time in the concert hall. Divorced from its original play, it is often difficult for listeners to grasp its form and dramatic structure. As a result, concert performances of complete scores of incidental music are a rarity. This has led several composers (such as Grieg and Sibelius) to arrange and compile their incidental music into orchestral suites for concert purposes. In other cases (e.g. Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream), excerpts are occasionally played in order to “salvage” at least part of the score.
Tchaikovsky wrote a total of nine sets of incidental music, of which, however, only five have survived. Two complete theater scores exist for Ostrovsky’s Snegurochka (“The Snow Maiden”) and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, both of which are available in study format from mph. Only isolated numbers exist of the other three works, including the two in our volume.
Tchaikovsky was evidently keenly interested in the writings of the Russian dramatist Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (1823-1886), for his library contained several volumes of his works. Besides the literary connection, the two men may also have had biographical parallels. Both Ostrovsky and Tchaikovsky abandoned the study of law. …

Read preface / Vorwort > HERE