By Amy Corless - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

By Amy Corless Intro to music 1010Fall 2014

Tchaikovsky and His Music Slide2

Biography Slide3

Early Life

Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840

in

Votkinsk

, Russia.

At

the age of 10, Tchaikovsky was enrolled to The School of Jurisprudence

At the age of 19, Pyotr graduated from The School of Jurisprudence. Slide4

Childhood

As a boy Tchaikovsky’s favorite composer was Mozart

Tchaikovsy

said about his piano teacher “I am very, very indebted” to her. Slide5

Young Adult

In 1877 Tchaikovsky married

Antonina

Ivanovna

Milyukova

, a 28-year-old woman.

From the start of their married life, Tchaikovsky felt suffocated by his new life.

He attempted

suicideSlide6

Young Adult

The same year of his wedding, Tchaikovsky started to write to another

woman, Madame von

Meck

Meck would help Tchaikovsky mentally, emotionally, and financially. Slide7

Adult

During his adult life, Tchaikovsky traveled across Europe and made visits to the US. Slide8

Last Years

His

and

Meck’s friendship had ended and he felt that his muse had died.

One important event was that he was going to be awarded at the Cambridge University Musical

SocietySlide9

Death

Tchaikovsky’s death was unexpected. He became ill with cholera, the same disease his mother had died from, after he drank water that was not boiled. And died on October 25, 1883.Slide10

Composition History Slide11

The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker Ballet

music was written

by Pyotr Tchaikovsky in the year 1892.

Tchaikovsky worked with Marius

Petipa

, who had worked on

The Sleeping Beauty

with Tchaikovsky. Slide12

Performance

It was first performed in the

Mariinsky

Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia on December 18, 1892. Slide13

First Act

Clara’s godfather comes with amazing gifts, including a nutcracker. Later in the night goes back to the room where the party was held and finds her

nutcracker. After a battle has

been won by the nutcracker’s army, Clara finds herself in a forest. This ends the first act.Slide14

Second Act

The second act shows Clara and her nutcracker, who has turned into a prince, arriving at the Land of Sweets, where she meets the Sugar Plum Fairy. Slide15

Listening Guide:Waltz of the Snowflakes Slide16

The time signature is ¾ 0:00 The composition starts with a piccolo, flute, violin and viola. The tempo gradually speeds up and the sound becomes stronger. The harmony feels dissonant and the melody disjunctive, creating tension and the image of a flurry of snow beginning to look more like a storm, repeating the notes over and over again. The texture is polyphonic. The rhythm starts out slow.

1:05 The harmony becomes more relaxing, like snow softly falling from the sky. A few violinists start to pluck their strings rather than use their bow, creating a much different sound and a more jumpy melody. Slide17

1:40 The flutes (and other woodwinds) become very strong and loud for a few seconds.

1:48 Soprano voices begin to sing in the background, creating a more conjunctive melody. The timbre is very easy to hear the distinction between the voices and instruments.

2:03 Percussion (chimes) and

brass instruments start to play

and really transform the sound of the music. Slide18

2:16 The voices stop singing. 2:18 The string instruments become louder for a moment and the next 5 seconds are repeated once and then the music changes again. The melody is disjunct and the harmony is dissonant. Like a blizzard is starting and the snow is becoming thicker and falling faster.

2:48 A harp begins to be played (and maybe a Celeste) while the voices still sing and the other instruments continue to play, but more softly.

3:16 Woodwinds and brass

instruments join in again.

The speed becomes faster

and the harmony feels

dissonant. The strings are

still repeating the same seven

seconds as before.Slide19

3:29 Again only the strings play3:33 Brass and woodwinds

are introduced again

3:42 The strings start to speed

up and become quite fast, it

feels as if the end of the song is near, but it is not.3:46 The other instruments also start to speed up

3:51 All instruments stop,

except for a harp, which is

being strummed loudly.Slide20

4:13 The voices join in again for a few seconds, singing a similar rhythm and notes to what they have been. The strings continue to play quickly.

4:25 The voices stop singing and the tempo is sped up. Making it feel like the snowflakes are falling faster, again.

4:41 A percussion instrument (cymbals) is played loudly and the other instruments are continued to be played normally.

4:47 The percussion instrument is played again and

the music repeats itself for a little while. It repeats only a few notes about eight times.

4:55 It becomes silent for a moment and then

strings are added, they are played softly. The

texture is monophonic and the melody conjunct. Slide21

5:00 A harp is being played very softly in the background while brass or woodwinds are playing the melody. The harmony becomes more consonant and the melody conjunctive.

5:34 The voices sing in a higher pitch and give a different feel to the music than before.

5:45 The voices hold a note for about six seconds. Other instruments start to become louder.

6:00 Brass instruments

are used to make the feeling of the end stronger.

6:06 The song ends. Slide22

Listening Guide: Waltz of the Flowers Slide23

The time signature is ¾, the rhythm is changing constantly.

0:00 The composition is introduced with French horns playing with a monophonic texture. The rhythm has two notes per counts.

0:03 A harp begins to be strummed; the first three seconds are then repeated. The harp makes the melody conjunctive and the harmony consonant; as if flowers starting to bloom in the first light of morning.

0:18 The harp begins to play again and is the main instrument used for the next few seconds, while the horns finish their last note. The texture is monophonic.

0:44 The harp becomes

slower and lower.Slide24

0:48 The harp is only strummed once slowly and then it picks up the speed

again for a short time.

1:02 There are few seconds of silence.

1:07 The horns come in again being

the main instrument heard, while the strings continue to play in the back-ground. 1:38 The strings come in very loud

and very strong. The rhythm has two

counts per note.

1:41 The clarinet is played again with

a disjunctive melody. The clarinet and

strings repeat for the next few seconds

. It sounds like flower petals are falling

from off of a tree’s blossom.Slide25

2:07 The strings become stronger and the horns start to play in the background.

2:18 A viola plays in the foreground as the rest of the strings continue to play in the background. Along with it, a flute plays a small amount of notes.

2:26 The composition starts to repeat itself again. And as time goes on the tempo becomes faster and the sound becomes louder.

2:34 The

instruments play

in a higher pitch.Slide26

3:32 As the strings repeat themselves from the before section, a chime comes into the background.

3:46 The strings begin to play louder and a violin and viola play in the foreground, like a duet. It seems that the full flower is being blown gently in the wind. The rhythm changes again.

4:03 The strings in the background become louder. And again the composition repeats itself.

4:38 The strings play lower and are deeper. The melody continues to be conjunctive. The texture is monophonic. Slide27

4:43 The French horns come in again along with the clarinet. The strings have stopped playing for the moment.

5:13 The strings come in strong and the flute, also plays in the foreground. The music repeats itself quit a few times.

5:47 The horns, strings, and timpani play together as they build up tension.

5:55 The strings play along with the flute and chime.

6:11 The timpani plays in the background making a lower and deeper sound, while chimes, horns, and strings are also being played.

6:45 The composition repeats

the section twice.Slide28

6:50 The horns and chimes are the main instruments in this section. It almost feels like the flowers are finishing dancing in the wind.

6:54 The horns and timpani are being played without any accompaniment. The rhythm has four notes per count.

6:56 The chime comes in again as the song ends.

7:00 The composition ends.Slide29

References and Bibliography Slide30

Bibliography

Brown, D. (2007).

Tchaikovsky The Man and His Music.

New York: Pegasus Books LLC. Holden, A. (1995).

Tchaikovsky A Biography . New York: Random House, Inc. Wiley, R. J. (2009). Tchaikovsky . New York: Oxford University, Inc.

Images from Google