Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations
Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations Program Notes
The Rococo Variations, for cello and orchestra, is a very different piece to some of the other works Tchaikovsky completed in 1876, including the ballet Swan Lake, or the tone poem Francesca da Rimini (scored for a large orchestra and inspired by Dante’s depiction of murdered lovers cast into the second circle of hell!). In his mid-thirties, Tchaikovsky became increasingly inspired by music from the 18th century – leading later to his suite Mozartiana, and these variations, among other works. Scored for a small classical-sized orchestra (two each of the standard woodwind instruments, two horns, and strings), the work is expressive but in a very refined way, as the opening melody is followed by seven contrasting variations, with differing characters, tempos and keys.Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 is a set of seven variations for cello and orchestra by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composed in 1876 in an elegant eighteenth-century style that pays homage to Mozart. It is the finest and most frequently performed work in the cello and orchestra repertoire after the great Romantic concertos.
Tchaikovsky composed the variations in 1876 for his friend the cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, and they were premiered in Moscow on November 30, 1877, with Fitzenhagen as soloist. Fitzenhagen subsequently altered the work significantly without Tchaikovsky's full approval.
A typical performance lasts approximately 18 to 22 minutes depending on whether the original or Fitzenhagen version is performed.
Listen for the graceful, elegant theme that opens the work — deliberately classical in style — and then follow its transformation through seven contrasting variations, ranging from lyrical to virtuosic to deeply expressive. The cello writing is both technically demanding and vocally beautiful throughout.
The Rococo Variations exist in two versions — Tchaikovsky's original and the heavily altered edition by Fitzenhagen that was performed for over a century. Fitzenhagen reordered the variations and cut one entirely. The question of which version to perform remains a lively debate among cellists and conductors today.
