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On this date, November 6, in 1893, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (/ˈpjoʊtər ɪˈljɪtʃ tʃaɪˈkɒfski/; Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский) often anglicized as Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, died. He was a Russian composer of the late-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.
The first classical music album I bought was this recording of the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky, so, I have chosen it to commemorate him. The recording was conducted by the funky, fun and marvelous Arthur Fiedler.
The first classical music album I bought was this recording of the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky, so, I have chosen it to commemorate him. The recording was conducted by the funky, fun and marvelous Arthur Fiedler.
I would go to the Civic Center Auditorium (now called the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium) on Grove Street in San Francisco in the late fifties to hear him as he led the San Francisco Pops Orchestra on wild and thrilling orchestral rides (link below).
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Fiedler was born in Boston, Massachusetts; he died on July 10, 1979. Composer John Williams succeeded Fiedler as the orchestra's nineteenth director (Pop King link below).
Fiedler was fascinated by the work of firefighters and would travel in his own vehicle to large fires in and around Boston at any time of the day or night to watch the firefighters at work. The biography of Fiedler reports that the conductor once helped in the rescue efforts at the tragic Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston in 1942 (link below).
Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, a small town in Vyatka Governorate (present-day Udmurtia) in the Russian Empire, into a family with a long line of military service. Although musically precocious, he was educated for a career as a civil servant.
He entered the new Saint Petersburg Conservatory and graduated from it 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: Mily Balakirev (the leader), César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Borodin all of whom lived in Saint Petersburg,
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detail photo by Styrous®
Tchaikovsky's training from the conservatory 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; not an easy task. 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. 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.
vinyl LP, Side 1
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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.
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.
However, Tchaikovsky was honored in 1884, by Emperor Alexander III, and awarded a lifetime pension. So there!
vinyl LP label, Side 1
photo by Styrous®
There is a recording of Tchaikovsky's voice made in Moscow in January 1890, by Julius Block on behalf of Thomas Edison on Wikipedia (link below).
vinyl LP, Side 2
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Some productions have chimes played and cannons fired in the finale. One famous version of this was performed and recorded by Antal Doráti in 1954 (link below).
vinyl LP label, Side 2
photo by Styrous®
Tracklist:
Side 1:
A1 - Capriccio Italien, Op. 45
Side 2:
B1 - 1812 Overture, Op. 49
Credits:
Composed By – Tchaikovsky*
Conductor – Arthur Fiedler
Orchestra – Boston Pops Orchestra*
Notes:
2nd cover version - Release with same cat # has different cover art and center labels thanks Capriccio Italien, 1812 Overture
Tchaikovsky* - Boston Pops Orchestra*, Arthur Fiedler – Capriccio Italien, 1812 Overture
Label: RCA Victor Red Seal – LM 1134
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1953
Genre: Classical
Viewfinder links:
1812 Overture (Antal Dorati)
1812 Overture (Arthur Fiedler)
The Nutcracker
Symphony #6: (Pathétique)
Swan Lake
Van Cliburn & Sputnik ~ 1958
Arthur Fiedler articles/mentions
Arthur Fiedler ~ The "Pop" King
Arthur Fiedler, Mickey Alpert & the Cocoanut Grove fire
The SF Civic Auditorium, Motorama & Arthur Fiedler
John Willimas ~ A Soundtrack King
PIL (Public Image Ltd.)
Net links:
Side 1:
A1 - Capriccio Italien, Op. 45
Side 2:
B1 - 1812 Overture, Op. 49
Credits:
Composed By – Tchaikovsky*
Conductor – Arthur Fiedler
Orchestra – Boston Pops Orchestra*
Notes:
2nd cover version - Release with same cat # has different cover art and center labels thanks Capriccio Italien, 1812 Overture
Tchaikovsky* - Boston Pops Orchestra*, Arthur Fiedler – Capriccio Italien, 1812 Overture
Label: RCA Victor Red Seal – LM 1134
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1953
Genre: Classical
Viewfinder links:
1812 Overture (Antal Dorati)
1812 Overture (Arthur Fiedler)
The Nutcracker
Symphony #6: (Pathétique)
Swan Lake
Van Cliburn & Sputnik ~ 1958
Arthur Fiedler articles/mentions
Arthur Fiedler ~ The "Pop" King
Arthur Fiedler, Mickey Alpert & the Cocoanut Grove fire
The SF Civic Auditorium, Motorama & Arthur Fiedler
John Willimas ~ A Soundtrack King
PIL (Public Image Ltd.)
Net links:
Scotty Moore ~ Civic Auditorium
Tchaikovsky's voice on Wikipedia
This is a great article, very comprehensive and fun to read.I'll try to look for his works, and hear them out.
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Thanks, Stephanie!
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