Tchaikovsky in Context
TCHAIKOVSKY IN CONTEXT
Whether you think of Tchaikovsky as a composer of ballet scores, of big
symphonic works, concertos, opera or chamber music, Revealing Tchaikovsky gives you the chance to explore.
Some of his less well known works are contrasted with music by his predecessors, contemporaries, pupils and younger generations
of Russian composers who acknowledged Tchaikovsky’s influence.
Tchaikovsky greatly admired the ballet scores of Leo Delibes.
By embracing ballet music as a musical form in its own right, Tchaikovsky released it from the realm of specialist ballet
composers, redefining the balance between music and dance. Tchaikovsky was influenced by Robert Schumann’s
musical Romanticism, and for him, Schumann’s symphonic works, chamber music and piano pieces revealed ‘a whole
new world of musical forms’.
Tchaikovsky encouraged and supported composers such as his contemporary Rimsky-Korsakov and also the younger generation including Taneyev and Kalinnikov. And as the towering figure of 19th century Russian composition, his music was well known and appreciated by both Stravinsky and Shostakovich.
Visit the festival
timeline to see how the featured composers link to Tchaikovsky.
You can find out more about key works in the festival with our Revealing Tchaikovsky factsheets.
Excerpt from a letter from Tchaikovsky to N F von Meck, 26 Nov 1877
Lately I have heard Delibes’ very
clever music - in its own style - to the ballet Sylvia. I became acquainted with this music in the pianoforte
arrangement some time ago, but the splendid performance of it by the Vienna orchestra quite fascinated me, especially the
first part. The Swan Lake is poor stuff compared to Sylvia. Nothing during the last few years has charmed
me so greatly as this ballet of Delibes and Carmen.’