Tschaikowsky, Peter

Tschaikowsky, Peter – Ode to Joy, Cantata for solo voices, choir and orchestra (Vocal score with Russian text, a translation of Schiller’s poem)

For more information about the piece read the preface to the full score:

Andante p.3
Allegro non troppo p.23
Adagio molto p.80
Allegro p.97
Andante non troppo p.113
Allegro giusto p.127

Preface
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Cantata To Joy dates back to 1865 and belongs to his years of study at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, marking his early experiments with large-scale forms. Despite certain imperfections in realizing the composer’s initial vision, this work holds considerable significance as one of Tchaikovsky’s earliest compositions, already revealing the magnitude of his talent. It serves as a testament to the emergence of his individual style.

The cantata, set to the text of Friedrich Schiller’s Ode to Joy is scored for orchestra, choir, and four vocal soloists. Unlike the composer of the Ninth Symphony, who incorporated only a few adapted lines of Schiller’s poem in German for the finale, Tchaikovsky took a distinct approach, setting the entire text to music by compiling Russian translations from three poets: Konstantin Aksakov, Vladimir Benediktov, and Mikhail Dmitriev. In a letter to his sister, Alexandra Davydova, dated October 22, 1865, Tchaikovsky wrote: ‘My studies are becoming very serious. By the end of the conservatory course, there will be an enormous amount of work’ [1, 87].

It is likely that the young composer wrote the cantata in November 1865, completing it by December 20, in time for the final examinations. Cantata To Joy was performed at a public examination by a student choir and orchestra. The soloists were tenor Pavel Bronnikov, Natalia Iretskaya (a pupil of Pauline Viardot), and singers Dmitry Chernavin and Elena Skorduli. The examination took place in the Theatrical Hall of the Mikhailovsky Palace on December 29, 1865, with Anton Rubinstein conducting. During Tchaikovsky’s lifetime, the cantata was never performed again. …

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