Violin Concerto (Tchaikovsky)

The concerto was influenced by Édouard Lalo's Symphonie espagnole and was composed with the help of Tchaikovsky's pupil and probable former lover, Iosif Kotek.

The piece was written in Clarens, Switzerland, a resort on the shores of Lake Geneva, where Tchaikovsky had gone to recover from the depression brought on by his disastrous marriage to Antonina Miliukova.

Presently he was joined there by his composition pupil, the violinist Iosif Kotek, who had been in Berlin for violin studies with Joseph Joachim.

[1] Tchaikovsky wrote to his patroness Nadezhda von Meck, "It [the Symphonie espagnole] has a lot of freshness, lightness, of piquant rhythms, of beautiful and excellently harmonized melodies....

He [Lalo], in the same way as Léo Delibes and Bizet, does not strive after profundity, but he carefully avoids routine, seeks out new forms, and thinks more about musical beauty than about observing established traditions, as do the Germans.

"[6] Tchaikovsky wanted to dedicate the concerto to Iosif Kotek, but felt constrained by the gossip this would undoubtedly cause about the true nature of his relationship with the younger man.

Tchaikovsky intended the first performance to be given by Leopold Auer, for whom he had written his Sérénade mélancolique for violin and orchestra, and accordingly dedicated the work to him.

Much unpleasantness might then have been spared us both....Warmly as I had championed the symphonic works of the young composer (who was at that time not universally recognized), I could not feel the same enthusiasm for the Violin Concerto, with the exception of the first movement; still less could I place it on the same level as his purely orchestral compositions.

This delicate and difficult task I subsequently undertook, and re-edited the violin solo part, and it is this edition which has been played by me, and also by my pupils, up to the present day.

From this purely aesthetic point of view only I found some of it impracticable, and for this reason I re-edited the solo part.Tchaikovsky, hurt at my delay in playing the concerto in public and quite rightly too (I have often deeply regretted it, and before his death received absolution from him), now proceeded to have a second edition published, and dedicated the concerto this time to Adolf Brodsky, who brought it out in Vienna, where it met with much adverse criticism, especially from Hanslick.

[11][12] The concerto is scored for solo violin, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in A and B-flat, two bassoons, four horns in F, two trumpets in D, optional trombone, timpani and strings.

[14] The mood gradually intensifies and builds up to a majestic climax, with the main theme being played by the full orchestra, which has been ranked among the most satisfying "arrivals" in literature.

[15] The development section begins with a series of seemingly random chromatic shifts,[15] ending in C major, where the solo violin processes a delicate variation of the main theme.

A heroic orchestral tutti of the main theme in F major follows, building up to Tchaikovsky's own, technically demanding cadenza that makes use of some of the violin's highest notes.

The final movement uses distinctly Russian elements: a drone-like accompaniment, the initial theme on the G-string that gives the music a "deep, resonant, and slightly gritty sound", a tempo that gets faster and faster, a "lyric folk-like melody" inspired by Russian folk themes,[14] and repetitive thematic loops.