Tschaikowsky, Peter

Tschaikowsky, Peter – Cantata for the Opening of the Polytechnic Exhibition

(b. Kamsko-Votkinsk, 7 May 1840 – d. Saint Petersburg, 6 November 1893

(or Cantata for the Bicentenary of the Birth of Peter the Great)

Preface
Among his choral works, Pytor Ilich Tchaikovsky’s TH 67 (Cantata for the Opening of the Polytechnic Exhibition, or Cantata for the Bicentenary of the Birth of Peter the Great), represents the stark progression from student composer to professional contributor, having graduated from Saint Petersburg Conservatory only seven years prior. Tchaikovsky was solicited for the commission by the Moscow Polytechnic Exhibition in late 1871, the work becoming an expedited affair as work only began in early 1872, with the work due by April for its May premiere (according to the pre-1918 Julian calendar). Featuring a libretto written by late-19th century poet Yakov Polonsky, routine collaborator and firm adherent to the late-Romantic Realist tradition, TH 67 masterfully represented the well-developed and technical artistry of the now 32-year old composer. Within Tchaikovsky’s output, the years of 1871 and 1872 are specifically important as the former featured the publication of his lauded pedagogical textbook, A Guide to the Practical Study of Harmony (TH 255).

The latter is punctuated by the Glinkian op. 17 (Symphony No. 2), op. 16 (6 Romances), and TH 183 (65 Russian Folk Songs), a collaborative effort with student Vasily Prokunin, who’d go onto to do more collection efforts with folklorist Nikolai Lopatin (Collection of Russian Folk Lyric Songs, 1889, reflective of the trend of ethno-graphic work at the time. Tchaikovsky had published his own ethnographic collection, TH 176 (50 Russian Folk Songs) in the late 1860s, albeit on commission by Pyotr Jurgenson. Although finding teaching a burden in many regards despite his proficiencies at doing so, he remained at Moscow Conservatory until 1878. To this end, TH 67 was a pragmatic example to his students of the working composer who, between times of elongated personal free-dom, did what was necessary to support themselves, even if that meant writing objectively ideological music. …

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