# Tchaikovsky appreciation thread



## Guy Bacos (Feb 4, 2011)

I fear this is the kind of thread that ends up at the bottom of the page with no response, but what the hec, just wondering if there are others here that digs this masterpiece Polonaise as much as I do or any other masterpieces for that matter. It has always been among my all time favorite pieces. Such a brilliant composer and orchestrator, Tchaikovsky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwZF0JIRFqA


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## jlb (Feb 4, 2011)

*Re: Tchaikovsky-Brilliant!*

Complete mastery of the orchestra. He plays the orchestra like an instrument. My favourite is the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy overture.

jlb


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## Ashermusic (Feb 4, 2011)

Brilliant melody writer, brilliant orchestrator but he is the most frequently performed composer of all and he does not merit THAT kind of regard IMHO.

Personally, I have heard the Niutcracker and Swan Lake all I care to in my life.


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## reddognoyz (Feb 4, 2011)

*Re: Tchaikovsky-Brilliant!*

That's fantastic. The legato transitions in the strings are bang on. Is it HS or LASS?


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## Guy Bacos (Feb 4, 2011)

*Re: Tchaikovsky-Brilliant!*



Ashermusic @ Fri Feb 04 said:


> Brilliant melody writer, brilliant orchestrator but he is the most frequently performed composer of all and he does not merit THAT kind of regard IMHO.
> 
> Personally, I have heard the Niutcracker and Swan Lake all I care to in my life.



Then this thread isn't for you!


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## Ashermusic (Feb 4, 2011)

*Re: Tchaikovsky-Brilliant!*



Guy Bacos @ Fri Feb 04 said:


> Ashermusic @ Fri Feb 04 said:
> 
> 
> > Brilliant melody writer, brilliant orchestrator but he is the most frequently performed composer of all and he does not merit THAT kind of regard IMHO.
> ...



Just sayin' :lol:


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## Guy Bacos (Feb 4, 2011)

Ok, I changed the title of this thread.


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## Hannes_F (Feb 4, 2011)

When I was 2 or 3 my parents bought one of those portable record players. My first records: Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev. Thank you russian masters, it all started there for me.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 4, 2011)

Everyone has to go see "Black Swan."


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## madbulk (Feb 4, 2011)

Love Pyotr or however you spell it. 
Nutcracker, I've had enough too, but compared to Rockin Around the Xmas Tree which comes around the same time every year? I'll take it.
Swan Lake is just one of the best melodies ever so I don't care tired of that ever.
4th Symph, love that thing.
Had that first piano concerto on 45 after Van Cliburn won. Can still picutre it, on London records.


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## dadek (Feb 4, 2011)

Yes, do appreciate. I was raised on all the Russians.


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## José Herring (Feb 4, 2011)

Hannes_F @ Fri Feb 04 said:


> When I was 2 or 3 my parents bought one of those portable record players. My first records: Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev. Thank you russian masters, it all started there for me.



Haha! We must the same age. My parents did the same when I was 2. The bought me Nutcracker with the Dancing Mushrooms on the cover. I was a bit of what they call now Colic. What they called back then a "cry baby". Always had an upset stomach that made me uncomfortable because I was allergic to milk. The only way they would get me to shut up about it was to play that record. Mom says I liked the record so much that every time it ended I would complain until they played it again. That was my introduction to classical music and I've loved Tchaik. ever since.

Surprisingly, I've played just about everything in concert but not much Tchaikovsky. I'm afraid that my professors always had this feeling that Tchaik was overly romantic or something. But, if fact I'd rather be loved by the public and not thought much of by academics than to be an academic darling who baffles the public. Even Tchaik was accused of in his day of pandering to the public. But, I feel like he got it right. Who really cares what a handful of trained musicians think. Rather write good music that's publicly accessible.


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## Guy Bacos (Feb 4, 2011)

The word you may be looking for is "cheesy", it's not unusual to hear this about Tchaikovsky, but to put it in Mike Verta's words, (in a different context), I think that that description is worth ass!


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## Farkle (Feb 4, 2011)

Guy Bacos @ Fri Feb 04 said:


> The word you may be looking is "cheesy", it's not unusual to hear this about Tchaikovsky, but to put it in Mike Verta's words, I think that that description is worth ass!



HUGE fan of Tchaikovsky. Have studied his 4th and 5th Symphony, as well as sections of Swan Lake and Nutcracker.

His gift for a melody/theme is amazing. And, his writing for brass and strings is stupendous. It's solid, grounded in good orchestration, and all the parts sing really well.

Check out the 2nd movement of his 4th symphony, for a gorgeous A theme in the clarinet (with pizz accompaniment), followed by a breathtaking B theme by the strings in octaves, with winds accompaniment. It's lush and heartbreaking.

Also, look at that orchestration in the 4th symphony, second movement, B theme. Tchaikovsky orchestrates brilliantly. Gets all the accompaniment out of the way of the strings. Full lush sound, with no harmonic instruments doubling the melody. Just a brilliant composer!

here's the music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN7oFdFq ... re=related

Yes, I'm a Tchaikovsky fan. 

Mike


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## Guy Bacos (Feb 4, 2011)

I don't have time anymore to listen to music, but that was a real treat listening to this 2nd mov of symphony no 4. Gorgeous! The art of going to the top without going over it.


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## rJames (Feb 4, 2011)

In awe of his "connectivity" to the mass audience. Amazing, complex, interesting and yet popular.


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## mikebarry (Feb 4, 2011)

I have him first on the list behind Beethoven Mozart and Bach and Brahms.

Simply stunning musicianship. The master of inner voiceleading. Nutcracker (full) is in my top 10.


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## Guy Bacos (Feb 4, 2011)

Voice of Tchaikowsky & Anton Rubinstein On Edison Cylinder ! (1890)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DEEdFLjUiw


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## Dave Connor (Feb 4, 2011)

Beethoven is still the most performed composer is what I heard the other day. I think for decades it's always a matter of who's in 2nd place. But I heard this on KUSC just last week. 

What the criteria is I'm not sure. As far as symphonic music Beethoven symphonies are still the most performed. I don't know what happens if you figure in Ballet though and that may be what Jay is talking about.


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## SergeD (Feb 4, 2011)

The Finale of the 6th symphony is very profound. The Swan Lake reminds me John Williams every time i hear it.

The Nutcracker is unique and certainly somewhere a transition from the Romantic era to 20th century. A great composer.

SergeD


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## Dave Connor (Feb 4, 2011)

Anyway, I agree Tchaikovsky is one heck of a composer he never fails to knock me out with his command of the orchestra and his material. Just eyeballing a score of his the other day.


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## Guy Bacos (Feb 4, 2011)

Tchaikovsky's codas are always masterful, the most exciting of any composers, it is always a section of the piece you look forward to.


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## rgames (Feb 5, 2011)

Tchaikovsky - the source of much consternation in the music world...

I do love and appreciate his work. However, I find I appreciate Tchaikovsky differently than I appreciate Beethoven or Stravinsky or many other composers.

I guess I appreciate Tchaikovsky like I appreciate Heineken or Sam Adams: great for everyday use, but not the pinnacle of achievement.

rgames


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## Dave Connor (Feb 5, 2011)

rgames @ Sat Feb 05 said:


> Tchaikovsky - the source of much consternation in the music world...
> I do love and appreciate his work. However, I find I appreciate Tchaikovsky differently than I appreciate Beethoven or Stravinsky or many other composers.
> rgames



Same here. I'm a much bigger fan of those other two composers. With Tchaikovsky you get a lot of very sugary music that's just too much imho. However some of his works are quite classic in spirit and not maudlin and weepy. Those are the works or sections of works that I like of his. He was greatly respected by the Russian composers that followed him although they were much more modernist and saw him as another era and probably overwrought emotionally as well. 

Stravinsky referred to Tchaikovsky's music as _nefarious_ which is quite an indictment. Yet even Mahler who conducted a fair amount of the composer (who thought Mahler was spot on) was influenced by the Russian master.


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## David Story (Feb 5, 2011)

Love that Edison cylinder!

A few thoughts:
The premier of Swan Lake had choreography and lighting precisely timed to the music, notated and supervised by Tchaikovsky. This is the beginning of synchronizing music and image, in the modern sense. 

Tchaikovsky is even more popular in America than in Europe. Performing or imitating him was a passport to success.

When I hear Nutcracker, 1812, Romeo and Juliet, Symphony No. 4 and No. 6, I feel transported to a magic world. Life seems better. I think that's why he's performed so often. That, and unforgettable melodies.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky isn't for academics to explain or analyze, he's in the "force of nature" class. 

But I think you can learn how to orchestrate very well by studying his scores. And how to achieve emotional tones like "tragic drama", "epic bombast" and "child-like wonder".


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