Complete solo Piano Music Vol. 1

Abstract

Despite its high opus number and designation as "No. 2," this is a student work that Tchaikovsky never allowed to be published in his lifetime; it didn't appear until 1900, and has never generated much enthusiasm. Composed just before Tchaikovsky graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, it is technically immature but melodically promising.

The first movement, Allegro con fuoco, opens with a motif consisting of a chord repeated marcato five times. The arching second theme strongly evokes Tchaikovsky's then-idol, Robert Schumann. The development section subjects these themes, mainly the second, to some routine, repetitive embellishments without really altering their basic characters. After a recapitulation, the movement ends with a brief Andante coda that mulls over fragments of the main motifs.

The ghost of Schumann hovers over the second movement as well; it's an Andante in 3/4 time, consisting of a halting, simple theme (interrupted occasionally by odd little runs) and four variations. The first is slightly marchlike, the second full of ornate right-hand figurations that take control of the section, the third a chordal proclamation, and the fourth an indistinct burble from which the theme emerges mischievously in a high register at the end.

The Scherzo is actually familiar music; Tchaikovsky would incorporate it into his First Symphony the following year. The main theme is snappy and restless; the trio-not transferred to the symphony-is all florid weaving with a weaker melodic profile. After the obligatory repeat of the opening section comes an extended, mostly slow and stentorian epilog that forms a bridge to the final movement.

This Allegro vivo finale, essentially in sonata form, begins with a turbulent theme that makes way for a more chordal but still aggressive second subject, marked (contradictorily) Tranquillo ma energico. The two themes undergo a development that is far more vigorous than rigorous, building to an exciting major-mode conclusion.

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