Maybe because of his turbulent private struggles, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was drawn to tales of doomed love.
It’s a theme which runs by means of the Pushkin-inspired operas, Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades, the ballet Swan Lake, the Manfred Symphony, and the hellish Dante-inspired tone poem, Francesca da Rimini.
Predating all of those works was the Overture-Fantasy on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, composed in 1869 by the 29-year-old Tchaikovsky. The subject material, and an overview for the piece, have been advised to the younger Tchaikovsky by Mily Balakirev. Regardless of their variations, the 2 composers consulted incessantly. (Tchaikovsky was formally skilled, whereas Balakirev and his group of nationalistic “Russian 5” composers distrusted formal musical coaching and turned their backs on the West). Following preliminary performances, Tchaikovsky revised the tone poem in 1870, and once more in 1880.
Unfolding in sonata type, Romeo and Juliet encapsulates moments of the tragic drama in a manner just like a modern-day movie rating. The introduction begins with a solemn organ-like chorale, performed within the low woodwinds by clarinets and bassoons. Evocative of a Russian Orthodox chant, it’s a musical depiction of Friar Laurence, who in Shakespeare’s play is without delay compassionate, scheming, and political.
All through the tone poem, Tchaikovsky’s use of disparate keys sharply contrasts the “outer world” of feuding households with the “interior world” of the lovers. Starting in F-sharp minor and modulating to E minor, the introduction foreshadows the story to come back, with its mixture of blissful exultation and supreme tragedy.
The tempestuous first theme, set in B minor, represents the battle between the Capulets and Montagues. It’s full of swirling counterpoint, punctuated by cymbal crashes. With a sudden shift to D-flat main, we’re transported to Romeo and Juliet’s first assembly within the balcony scene. The English horn quietly introduces what is probably essentially the most iconic love theme of all time. The quiet shimmering harp and muted strings create a dreamy second of celestial repose. Within the growth part, we’re pulled again to the “outer world,” with the rising scale of the Friar Laurence motif combining with the “feud” theme. With a conflict of steel, cymbal and bass drum blows evoke a livid sword struggle. The “love” theme returns as a passionately hovering assertion in D main. The theme’s prolonged strains climb ever greater, however its celestial trajectory is interrupted, and pulled again to earth.
The coda part brings the somber timpani tread of a funeral procession. A wind chorale in B main supplies a glimmer of daylight, and a second of repose. A last echo of the “love” theme, heard excessive within the violins, is a wrenching mix of darkness and light-weight. The ultimate cadential chords land as a faltering heartbeat.
This efficiency, that includes Andrés Orozco-Estrada and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, was recorded in September of 2023:
5 Nice Recordings
Featured Picture:”Representing the well-known balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet” (1884), Frank Bernard Dicksee
