Concerning the Issue of Reception of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concertos Outside of Russia

Abstract

The article examines the reception of Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s First and Second Concertos
for Piano and Orchestra and Concerto Fantasy. The main issue of the research lies in the perception
of these works in the context of late Romantic Western European music, which in the present day
is represented in musicological literature in a fragmentary manner. The materials for the research
presented in this article are comprised of reviews and notes in newspapers outside of Russia
during the time period of 1875–1893, i.e., published during Tchaikovsky’s lifetime.
During the process of research, a number of tendencies were identified. The critics of that time
expressed both positive and negative evaluations of the compositional structure of the concertos.
Thereby, in addition to their excessively lengthy duration, which, incidentally, was at that time a
common European feature of the genre, the authors of the articles noted alleged fallacies in the
development of the musical material, in particular, the prevalence of expositional features, one of
the most important manifestations of the compositional logic of suite-like compositions. Feelings
of puzzlement was caused by the introduction to the first movement of the First Concerto: in a
number of articles, it was interpreted as an independent section of the cycle. On the other hand,
the entering of the three soloists in the Andante movement of the Second Concerto received
approval, not least of all because of the similarity to Beethoven’s Triple Concerto opus 56.
Some of the techniques of orchestration in Tchaikovsky's concertos were perceived as
innovative: the use of wind instruments both in combination with the piano and by themselves;
the isolation of the parts of the soloist and the orchestra in the Second Concerto and Concerto
Fantasy, which was perceived as a departure from the Western European pianistic tradition.
When examining the stylistic features of the works, the journalists indicated at the influences of
both the German and the French compositional schools. Regarding the former, analogies were
made with the musical styles of Liszt, Schumann and Adolf von Henselt; in the second case,
Chopin and Ambroise Thomas were mentioned. Generally speaking, assessing the reaction to
Tchaikovsky's concertos in the Western European press, we can conclude: while recognizing the
individual traits of the style, his music was considered to be an indispensable part of the common
European cultural space.

Keywords: Piotr Tchaikovsky, piano concerto, musical criticism, Tchaikovsky’s orchestration.