Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1 Mp3 LINK Download
Jacque Finister
Tchaikovsky revised the concerto three times, the last in 1888, which is the version usually played. One of the most prominent differences between the original and final versions is that in the opening section, the chords played by the pianist, over which the orchestra plays the main theme, were originally written as arpeggios. Tchaikovsky also arranged the work for two pianos in December 1874; this edition was revised in 1888.[citation needed]
There is some confusion about to whom the concerto was originally dedicated. It was long thought that Tchaikovsky initially dedicated the work to Nikolai Rubinstein, and Michael Steinberg writes that Rubinstein's name is crossed off the autograph score.[3] But in his Tchaikovsky biography, David Brown writes that the work was never dedicated to Rubinstein.[4] Tchaikovsky did hope that Rubinstein would perform the work at one of the 1875 concerts of the Russian Musical Society in Moscow. For this reason he showed the work to him and another musical friend, Nikolai Hubert, at the Moscow Conservatory on December 24, 1874/January 5, 1875, three days after finishing it.[5] Brown writes, "This occasion has become one of the most notorious incidents in the composer's biography."[6] Three years later, Tchaikovsky shared what happened with his patroness, Nadezhda von Meck:
I was not only astounded but outraged by the whole scene. I am no longer a boy trying his hand at composition, and I no longer need lessons from anyone, especially when they are delivered so harshly and unfriendlily. I need and shall always need friendly criticism, but there was nothing resembling friendly criticism. It was indiscriminate, determined censure, delivered in such a way as to wound me to the quick. I left the room without a word and went upstairs. In my agitation and rage I could not say a thing. Presently R. enjoined me, and seeing how upset I was he asked me into one of the distant rooms. There he repeated that my concerto was impossible, pointed out many places where it would have to be completely revised, and said that if within a limited time I reworked the concerto according to his demands, then he would do me the honor of playing my thing at his concert. "I shall not alter a single note," I answered, "I shall publish the work exactly as it is!" This I did.[7]
Brown writes that it is not known why Tchaikovsky next approached German pianist Hans von Bülow to premiere the work,[4] although he had heard Bülow play in Moscow earlier in 1874 and been taken with his combination of intellect and passion; Bülow likewise admired Tchaikovsky's music.[11] Bülow was preparing to go on a tour of the United States. This meant that the concerto would be premiered half a world away from Moscow. Brown suggests that Rubinstein's comments may have deeply shaken Tchaikovsky, though he did not change the work and finished orchestrating it the following month, and that his confidence in the piece may have been so shaken that he wanted the public to hear it in a place where he would not have to personally endure any humiliation if it did not fare well.[4] Tchaikovsky dedicated the work to Bülow, who called it "so original and noble".
The first performance of the original version took place on October 25, 1875, in Boston, conducted by Benjamin Johnson Lang with Bülow as soloist. Bülow had initially engaged a different conductor, but they quarrelled, and Lang was brought in on short notice.[12] According to Alan Walker, the concerto was so popular that Bülow was obliged to repeat the Finale, a fact that Tchaikovsky found astonishing.[13] Although the premiere was a success with the audience, the critics were not so impressed. One wrote that the piece was "hardly destined ..to become classical".[14] George Whitefield Chadwick, who was in the audience, recalled in a memoir years later: "They had not rehearsed much and the trombones got in wrong in the 'tutti' in the middle of the first movement, whereupon Bülow sang out in a perfectly audible voice, The brass may go to hell".[15] The work fared much better at its performance in New York City on November 22, under Leopold Damrosch.[16]
Lang appeared as soloist in a complete performance of the concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on February 20, 1885, under Wilhelm Gericke.[12] Lang previously performed the first movement with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in March 1883, conducted by Georg Henschel, in a concert in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
In 1875, Tchaikovsky published the work in its original form,[19] but in 1876 he happily accepted advice on improving the piano writing from German pianist Edward Dannreuther, who had given the London premiere of the work,[20] and from Russian pianist Alexander Siloti several years later. The solid chords played by the soloist at the opening of the concerto may in fact have been Siloti's idea, as they appear in the first (1875) edition as rolled chords, somewhat extended by the addition of one or sometimes two notes which made them more inconvenient to play but without significantly altering the sound of the passage. Various other slight simplifications were also incorporated into the published 1879 version. Further small revisions were undertaken for a new edition published in 1890.
In 2015, Kirill Gerstein made the world premiere recording of the 1879 version. It received an ECHO Klassik award in the Concerto Recording of the Year category. Based on Tchaikovsky's conducting score from his last public concert, the new critical urtext edition was published in 2015 by the Tchaikovsky Museum in Klin, tying in with Tchaikovsky's 175th anniversary and marking 140 years since the concerto's world premiere in Boston in 1875. For the recording, Gerstein was granted special pre-publication access to the new urtext edition.[22]
After Russia was banned from all major sporting competitions from 2021 to 2023 by the World Anti-Doping Agency as a result of a doping scandal, those cleared to compete were allowed to represent the Russian Olympic Committee or Russian Paralympic Committee at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics,[a] and at the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Instead of the national anthem of Russia, a fragment of the concerto was used as the "Anthem of Team Russia" when athletes competing under the banner were awarded a gold medal. The introduction to the first movement had been played during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and during the final leg of the Olympic torch relay during the Opening Ceremony of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.[23][24][25][26]
Maes adds that all the themes are tied together by a strong motivic link. These themes include the Ukrainian folk song "Oi, kriache, kriache, ta y chornenkyi voron ..." as the first theme of the first movement proper; the French chansonette "Il faut s'amuser, danser et rire" ("One must have fun, dance and laugh") in the middle section of the second movement; and a Ukrainian vesnianka "Vyidy, vyidy, Ivanku" or greeting to spring which appears as the first theme of the finale. The second theme of the finale is motivically derived from the Russian folk song "Poydu, poydu vo Tsar-Gorod" ("I'm Coming to the Capital")[31] and also shares this motivic bond. The relationship between them has often been ascribed to chance because they were all well-known songs at the time Tchaikovsky composed the concerto. But it seems likely that he used these songs precisely because of their motivic connection. "Selecting folkloristic material," Maes writes, "went hand in hand with planning the large-scale structure of the work."[32]
All this is in line with the earlier analysis of the concerto by Tchaikovsky authority David Brown, who further suggests that Alexander Borodin's First Symphony may have given Tchaikovsky both the idea to write such an introduction and to link the work motivically as he does. Brown also identifies a four-note musical phrase ciphered from Tchaikovsky's own name and a three-note phrase likewise taken from the name of soprano Désirée Artôt, to whom the composer had been engaged some years before.[33]
And therein lies a story: Tchaikovsky had written the concerto for his Moscow Conservatory colleague, Nikolay Rubinstein, to play. But Rubinstein said it was badly written and refused to play it unless Tchaikovsky made important changes. Insulted, Tchaikovsky offered it instead to German pianist Hans von Bülow, who liked it and gave the world premiere during an American tour.
The concerto was an immediate success and has been a staple of the repertoire ever since, its penetration into pop culture later being confirmed by its use on The Simpsons, Mad Men and numerous films.
"This concerto is so popular because of how easy the melodies are to remember," says pianist Tony Yike Yang, who has played "Tchaik 1" with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Hunan Symphony Orchestra, and has an upcoming performance with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on Feb. 10. "It's also a very emotional work, so it's bound to tug on people's hearts, like it did on mine when I first started learning the piece."
In this concerto, the pianist has little time to get in the zone before the solo part begins. "I prefer concerti like this a lot more," Yang admits. "A long orchestral introduction forces you to wait until your hands are cold before you start playing. Most of my favourite concerti actually start with the soloist entering very early on: Rach 3, Prok 2, Schumann, Ravel, etc."
About one minute in, Tchaikovsky subtly introduces a melody in the strings that will eventually become the theme that concludes the concerto in heroic style. To get there, the soloist has a gauntlet of double octaves to run.
"It feels extremely satisfying to reach this full-blown version of the theme. It kind of feels like homecoming after a long journey given how similar it is to the very beginning of the concerto in the sense that it's extremely grandioso and maestoso. However, there is an added feeling of triumph, too, this time around.
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