Scherzo

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

(1840-1893)

Publisher Concert Works Unlimited

Date of Publication 2008
Duration 01:00
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Unit 1: Composer
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the romantic period, some of whose
works are among the most popular music in the classical repertoire. He was the first Russian
composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally, bolstered by his appearances
as a guest conductor in Europe and the United States. Tchaikovsky was honored in 1884 by
Emperor Alexander III, and awarded a lifetime pension. Tchaikovsky was educated for a career
as a civil servant. There was scant opportunity for a musical career in Russia at that time and no
system of public music education. When an opportunity for such an education arose, he
entered the nascent Saint Petersburg Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1865. The
formal Western-oriented teaching he received there set him apart from composers of the
contemporary nationalist movement embodied by the Russian composers of The Five, with
whom his professional relationship was mixed.
Tchaikovsky's training set him on a path to reconcile what he had learned with the
native musical practices to which he had been exposed from childhood. From this reconciliation
he forged a personal but unmistakably Russian style in which was not one that proved easy. The
principles that governed melody, harmony and other fundamentals of Russian music ran
completely counter to those that governed Western European music; this seemed to defeat the
potential for using Russian music in large-scale Western composition or for forming a
composite style, and it caused personal antipathies that dented Tchaikovsky's self-confidence.
Russian culture exhibited a split personality, with its native and adopted elements having
drifted apart increasingly since the time of Peter the Great. This resulted in uncertainty among
the intelligentsia about the country's national identity—an ambiguity mirrored in Tchaikovsky's
career.
Unit 2: Composition
The Original composition has been transposed to practical keys, when necessary, and
have been arranged in a 4-part texture amenable to performance by either small of a large
ensemble. Score is written for choir and arranged for Woodwind ensemble whether that be for
a full or partial one.
The distribution of parts is
Soprano – Flute (best as a double for Oboe or 1st Clarinet), Oboe, and First Bb Clarinet
Alto – 2nd Bb Clarinet, Eb Alto Saxophone
Tenor – 3rd Bb Clarinet, Eb Alto Clarinet, Bb Tenor Saxophone
Bass – Bassoon, Bb Bass Clarinet, BBb Contra-Bass Clarinet, Eb Contra-Bass Clarinet, Eb Baritone
Saxophone.

 The arrangements may be played by any combination in which there is at least one
instrument for each part (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) or by the entire woodwind section
of a band or orchestra.
 The piece can also be performed through vocal choir as well as dictated by the score
itself.

Unit 3: Historical Perspective

Scherzo is a piece set in the Romantic Period of music repertoire. Despite his many popular
successes, Tchaikovsky's life was punctuated by personal crises and depression. Contributory
factors included his early separation from his mother for boarding school followed by his
mother's early death, the death of his close friend and colleague Nikolai Rubinstein, and the
collapse of the one enduring relationship of his adult life, which was his 13-year association
with the wealthy widow Nadezhda von Meck. His homosexuality, which he kept private, has
traditionally also been considered a major factor, though some musicologists now downplay its
importance. Tchaikovsky's sudden death at the age of 53 is generally ascribed to cholera; there
is an ongoing debate as to whether cholera was indeed the cause of death, and whether his
death was accidental or self-inflicted. There is a theory that he was black-mailed (forced) to
suicide.
While his music has remained popular among audiences, critical opinions were initially mixed.
Some Russians did not feel it was sufficiently representative of native musical values and
expressed suspicion that Europeans accepted the music for its Western elements. In an
apparent reinforcement of the latter claim, some Europeans lauded Tchaikovsky for offering
music more substantive than base exoticism and said he transcended stereotypes of Russian
classical music. Others dismissed Tchaikovsky's music as "lacking in elevated thought,"
according to longtime New York Times music critic Harold C. Schonberg, and derided its formal
workings as deficient because they did not stringently follow Western principles.

Unit 4: Technical Considerations

 Meter – 2/4
 Tempo – Allegro, Quarter = 128-132)
 Duration – 1:00
 Measures – 41
 Repeats – 1
 Instruments – Flute, Oboe, and First Bb Clarinet, 2nd Bb Clarinet, Eb Alto Saxophone
3rd Bb Clarinet, Eb Alto Clarinet, Bb Tenor Saxophone, Bassoon, Bb Bass Clarinet, BBb
Contra-Bass Clarinet, Eb Contra-Bass Clarinet, Eb Baritone Saxophone.

Unit 5: Stylistic Considerations

 Flute (8va)
 Flute (loco.)
 Ties
 Crescendos
 Decrescendos
 Accents
 Slurs
 Piano, Mezzo Forte, Forte Dynamics
 Fast
Unit 6: Musical Elements

 Key transitions at M.13 slightly

 Melody is alike for Soprano and Tenor line AND Alto and Bass line
 Harmony starts on CM 1 chord and transitions from 1 to 4 to 5 back to 1 regularly.
 Rhythm is Eighth notes and Quarter Note based.
 Everyone has same Rhythm at beginning and end of the piece some variance in middle
(m.18)
 F#, C#, D#, Bb, Eb, Ab, notes are present outside of original key.
 Doubling of parts in Soprano and Bass is recorded for balance.
Unit 7: Form and Structure

 M.1-M.4 – Quiet entrance, Alto and Bass are parking on same note every measure while
Soprano and Tenor play a melody by step
 M.5-M.10 – Same idea as the first four measures with added notes and a new bass line
to build up toward a climax.
 M.11-M.16 – Use of a Crescendo and Decrescendo as the piece goes from piano to forte
back down to piano. Accents are also utilized along with slurs and doublings. M.16
repeats back to M.1.
 M.17-M.26 – Instruments start to drop out with less notes and more rests to count
while certain instruments trade off being show cased. Every 3 measures the dynamic is
crescendo up a level until a climax of forte is hit at M.25 to be dropped back down at
M.26
 M.26-38 The beginning is brought back in a slightly modified form that brings back the
same idea with some different notes and articulations
 M.38-41 – Ending four measures end in a decrescendo with a slightly harder rhythmic
pattern of eighth notes and rests that are alike within every instrument, having a rep of
running the rhythm alone without the notes would be a good idea here.
Unit 8: Suggested Listening

 Festival Overture in D on the Danish National Anthem, for orchestra (1866)

 The Tempest, symphonic fantasia in F minor, after Shakespeare (1873)
 1812 Overture (1880)
 String Quartet No. 1 in D (1871)
 Scherzo à la russe in B flat major

Unit 9: Additional Resources

Cooper, Martin, "The Symphonies." In Music of Tchaikovsky (New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, 1946), ed. Abraham, Gerald.
Kozinn, Allan, "Critic's Notebook; Defending Tchaikovsky, With Gravity and With Froth." In
The New York Times, 18 July 1992. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
Asafyev, Boris, "The Great Russian Composer." In Russian Symphony: Thoughts About
Tchaikovsky (New York: Philosophical Library, 1947).