Variations on a Rococo Theme. Tchaikovsky wrote this piece for and with the help of Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, a German cellist and fellow-professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Fitzenhagen gave the premiere in Moscow on November 30, 1877, with Nikolai Rubinstein conducting. This was perhaps the only hearing of the Variations as Tchaikovsky wrote the piece until 1941, when it was played in Moscow without Fitzenhagen's by-then-standard emendations. Orchestration[edit] Structure and overview[edit] The piece is composed of a theme and seven variations (eight in Tchaikovsky's original version), making up roughly 20 minutes of music. Moderato assai quasi Andante - Thema: Moderato sempliceThe orchestra comes in with a somewhat brief (though it looks long on paper) introduction, and the solo cello states the simple, elegant theme.
The potential problem with this approach could be a lack of variety between variations. Tchaikovsky versus Fitzenhagen[edit] Adaptations[edit] References[edit] Bibliography[edit] External links[edit] Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op.33 (Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich. Free public domain sheet music from IMSLP / Petrucci Music Library Performances Sheet Music Full Scores Version A Editor: Viktor Kubatsky (1891–1970)First edition (reprint) Publisher Info Reprinted: New York: Edwin F.
Copyright: Public Domain [tag/del] Misc. Original publisher info, plate numbers and footnotes omittedTchaikovsky's original version (with 8 variations), without any changes by Fitzenhagen. URTEXT EDITION [more...]This "urtext" or "scholarly" (scientific) edition was published at least 25 years ago in the EU (or 20 years ago in Italy, before 1992 in the former USSR).
Purchase: Version B Wilhelm Fitzenhagen (1848-1890) Moscow: Muzgiz, 1962. Public Domain [tag/del] The piece was written for Fitzenhagen, and the dedicatee took it upon himself to make changes to the original score (which was not revived until the 1940s). Parts Arrangements and Transcriptions For Cello and Piano. Piano Concerto No. 5 (Beethoven) The epithet of Emperor for this concerto was not Beethoven's own but was coined by Johann Baptist Cramer, the English publisher of the concerto.[1] Its duration is approximately forty minutes.
Following the opening flourish, the movement follows Beethoven's trademark three-theme sonata structure for a concerto. The orchestral exposition is a typical two-theme sonata exposition, but the second exposition with the piano has a triumphant virtuoso third theme at the end that belongs solely to the solo instrument. Beethoven does this in many of his concertos. The coda at the end of the movement is quite long, and, again typical of Beethoven, uses the open-ended first theme and gives it closure to create a satisfying conclusion. Work Information: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73, "Emperor" BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5 / Piano Sonata No. 15 - Naxos Music Library. Musical meaning in Beethoven ... The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Oct., 1958), pp. 431-447.
The classical style: Haydn, Mozart ... Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Spring, 1974), pp. 25-60. The concerto: a listener's guide. Beethoven: the music and the life. Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.