Talking Shop On Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1
The Backstory
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23
Hello, I'm Tchaikovsky, and this is the backstory of my Piano Concerto No 1. You'll learn how Nikolai Rubinstein dismissed my score on Christmas Eve 1874, and how I answered that I would not change a single note. Come and test yourself in the Trainer , where my fellow composers and I teach you to recognize our pieces as soon as they begin.
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A Winter Spent at the Piano
I began the concerto in November 1874 and finished it on 21 February 1875. It is in B-flat minor, a key that tends to sound dark and serious. If you have never met a concerto, it is a piece where one soloist, here a pianist, stands up to a whole orchestra. I wanted that contest to feel big, so I gave the piano plenty of muscle.The Least Welcome Christmas Present
On Christmas Eve 1874 I showed the score to Nikolai Rubinstein, the man I had planned to dedicate it to. I hoped for praise, but he judged it harshly, and the accounts disagree on his exact words, though one has him calling it so badly written as to be beyond rescue. He did suggest revisions, which was the polite part of an otherwise miserable evening. I walked out of that room with my score and my pride both a little bruised.Not One Note
My answer was that I would not alter a single note and would publish the work exactly as it stood. I was not bluffing about the publishing, because in May 1875 Jurgenson brought out a version for two pianos. That arrangement lets people play the piece at home, with a second pianist standing in for the orchestra. The orchestral parts followed in October 1875, so the concerto was on its way into the world.Whose Name Goes on the Gift Tag?
I had first meant the concerto for Rubinstein, but after that Christmas Eve he was no longer the obvious choice. In the manuscript I wrote the name of my friend Sergey Taneyev instead. In the end I dedicated it to Hans von Bülow, a pianist who believed in the piece. It was a bit like crossing out one name on a present and writing another, and then doing it a second time.A Premiere Across the Ocean
The first performance was not in Russia at all but in Boston, on 25 October 1875. Hans von Bülow played the solo part in the Music Hall, with Benjamin Johnson Lang conducting the orchestra of the Harvard Musical Association. Some program notes say Boston was chosen to keep the premiere away from the quarrel in Moscow, though not every source agrees. Either way, the piece first met its audience thousands of miles from the man who had condemned it.Home at Last
Russia heard the concerto three weeks later, in Saint Petersburg on 13 November 1875. Gustav Kross played the piano and Eduard Nápravník conducted. The Moscow premiere came on 3 December 1875, with Taneyev as soloist. So within about six weeks the piece had been played in three cities in two countries.The Critic Changes His Mind
The conductor in Moscow that December was Nikolai Rubinstein himself. He later became a champion of the work, which is about as complete a turnaround as a musician can make. I like to think he came to hear what I had heard all along. It is a comforting story for anyone who has ever had a first draft torn apart.Three Courses, One Evening
A concerto is split into movements, which are like the courses of a dinner: each has its own character, and you pause between them. The first, marked Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso, is the grand opening course, and its main theme is a Ukrainian folk song I heard from a street singer. The second, Andantino semplice, is the light, gentle course that gives your ears a rest. The third, Allegro con fuoco, is the fiery finish, built on a Ukrainian song called "Go on, go on Ivan" that alternates with the Russian folk song "I'm Coming to the Capital".I Did Change a Few Notes
I should admit that I did not keep my word to the letter. In 1879 I revised the piano part, and around 1888 and 1889 I made further changes, including to the finale. The version most pianists play today is the late one, with a cut in the finale. So the man who swore to change nothing ended up changing quite a lot, though by then it was my own decision.A Big Orchestra and a Big Evening
Besides the piano, the score calls for woodwinds, brass, timpani and strings, so the soloist has real company. A performance lasts about 35 minutes, long enough to feel like a proper journey. The full score was printed in August 1879, several years after those first performances. In 1891 I conducted at the opening concert of Carnegie Hall in New York, which I think shows how far my music had traveled by then.---
I hope you enjoyed learning about the backstory of my Piano Concerto No 1. Looking back, it still amazes me how a piece that began with such a harsh judgment ended up traveling so far, from Boston to Saint Petersburg and Moscow. Even Nikolai Rubinstein came around in the end, which I find rather touching. There is still plenty more to discover in this concerto, from the folk songs hidden in its themes to the changes I made to it over the years. I'd love for you to hear it with fresh ears, perhaps noticing a melody you missed before. Please click on the links below to keep exploring my Piano Concerto No 1.