Analysis of Tchaikovsky's 'Swan Lake' Essay

Orchestrally, it is scored for strings, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, two flutes, one piccolo, two oboes, one English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four French horns, two trumpets, three trombones, two harps, and one cimbasso. Musically, this opera is very directly vigorous. It sticks to the widely used concepts of arias, duets, finales, and choruses. His fine music often excused the glaring faults in character and plot lines.

The melody in the first movement opens with the violins and they are then accompany by the violas and the cello. As you keep listening you notice that French horn, clarinets, flutes, and oboes contribute to the harmony. The first movement is also in the key signature of G minor. As you move through the first movement you enter into the second section which is in a different key. The key signature of the second movement is in B flat major. The instruments that have the melody this time are the violins along with the clarinets and bassoons.

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is the author of six symphonies and the finest and most popular operas in the Russian repertory. Tchaikovsky was also one of the founders of the school of Russian music. He was a brilliant composer with a creative imagination that helped his career throughout many years. He was completely attached to his art. His life and art were inseparably woven together. "I literally cannot live without working," Tchaikovsky once wrote, "for as soon as one piece of work is finished and one would wish to relax, I desire to tackle some new work without delay." The purpose of this paper is to give you a background concerning Tchaikovsky's biography, as well as to discuss his various works of

Throughout the piece, the brass plays the theme in alteration with the timpani and tam-tam. Although the theme is simple, together they create a long musical idea. The overall dynamic of the brass grows throughout creating a sense of power especially when

The development starts very similarly to the exposition with the first violin part once again playing the sunrise theme with the only differences being the distribution of the motifs ‘x’ and ‘y’ (The opening sunrise theme of the exposition was in the order of motif ‘y-x-x’ then ‘x-x-y’ compared to the opening

The first and opening piece was a Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9, by Hector Berlioz. In major tonality, classical piece started with vivace statement, and then slow introduction progressed later in allegro. It featured an independent solo that was performed with an English horn and gradually changed dynamics throughout the classical movement.

During the latter part of his life, rumors emerged of Tchaikovsky being a homosexual. This effected how his works were received, mainly in the Western part of the world. According to Poznansky, “His music began to be criticized as sentimental, romantically excessive, charged with many imperfections and even pathological” (Poznansky, 2012). It is now known that although Tchaikovsky was married to Antonina Miliukova in July 1877, their marriage lasted less than three months. Tchaikovky admits to having homosexual escapades in 1861 and even to falling in love with a student, Losif Kotek. It is quite obvious that these events have no bearing on the popularity of his work now.

Then follows a scherzo with trio - Molto vivace - also in D minor. The scherzo itself is in sonata form with all parts repeated. The octave tuned drums immediately announcing the important role they play in the tonality of the movement as a whole. Then follows a hushed fugato, which serves an introductory purpose as the full force of the orchestra. Then follows a more harmonic path with the utmost vigor. The second subject in C major adds an unusual harmonic flavor. The trio has a quasi-pastoral flavor, The trio is played only once, although Beethoven fools us into believing we will here it once more at the end, like in the first movement but it abruptly ends.

The first song played from the Orchestra was Infernal Dance. The whole orchestra plays a loud chord to show the intensity of the piece. The rhythm of this movement is syncopation due to the rhythm not being on the beat. This makes the strong beat weak, thus giving a chilling ambience. Infernal Dance then transitions to the soothing movement Berceuse. Berceuse is a lullaby played by the bassoon. The Orchestra concludes the concert with Finale. Finale is the finishing piece of The Firebird and uses one french horn for the melody in a dynamic of piano. The whole orchestra soon joins in creating a hymn like choral. Instead of ending with a grand note, the brass takes the melody at a faster pace developing a celebratory ending. With its uneven rhythmic and extravagant arrangement this Suite fashions a spellbinding

Tchaikovsky=s first masterpiece was composed from 1869-1870. It was a symphonic fantasy based on Shakespeare=s Romeo and Juliet. ARomeo and Juliet@ was the first of Tchaikovsky=s works in which his superbly

“Inspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy,” Tchaikovsky once said, and it can be agreed on how influential and inspirational he once was, and still is, in music history. Music has evolved at an unimaginable rate over the past couple of centuries, and none of these advancements would have been possible without magnificent composers creating them. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was one of the most popular of these composers in history and is someone whose musical composures are famous with almost everyone. Though he lived a struggling life with frequent hardships, he was still able to create numerous influential works, many of which are used in today’s movies and shows, and impacted

This is typical of Stravinsky, as he liked quick transposition between episodes so one never knows quite what one is expecting.                                              Next, a fanfare-like figure is introduced on the trumpets and is passed around the orchestra. Soon after, everything stops (typical Stravinsky) and the chords in the string section returns. The chords now persist for a little longer and there are no bassoon solos. Instead of having a break every now and then, this time the bassoon is on top of the whole string orchestra, playing a loud, simple, powerful rhythm. This eventually is done in some other wind instruments and the movement is finished with a loud bang from the Timpani really caught me off guard.                                         The orchestra then builds up into tremolo ideas used in the strings that create a busy effect. Another fanfare-like figure is introduced on the horns, which appears throughout the rest of the movement. Stravinsky plays around with the accents in the music thus resulting in 9-8 bars

He contributed to Russian music in more ways than one, but the way that most people would agree that he helped was that he kept nationalism strong during the roughest times of WW1 and the Russian revolutions. His traditionally Russian sound was inspired by the nationalistic Balakirev, with the fabulous orchestration of Rimsky-Korsakov, the larger-than-life sound of Borodin, shaped by the beautifully lyrical sound of Tchaikovsky, and structured with the potent counterpoint of Sergei Taneyev. Glazunov remains one of the most well known Russian composers of his time, and his legacy lives on in the beautiful modern recordings of his many symphonies, string quartets, ballets, and concerti. He will always hold a place in the heart of the national Russian sound, with the echoes of the grand halls of the Russian Music Society concerts, his soul rings in his music, untouched by the harsh dissonance that so oft is felt in society

There is a minor brass introduction followed by ascending and descending major scales played by the harp. The strings play a legato melody and there is a pedal note in the woodwind. The music modulates back to minor and there is a crescendo with a sequence and use of the timpani. There is a descending arpeggio played by the brass section, and then the string melody is repeated with brass repeated notes. The music has a ¾ rhythm and an adagio tempo. There is a quiet woodwind passage with a timpani roll and crescendo. The main melody is then played by brass. It is then repeated with cymbal crashes, brass fanfares and a timpani roll. There is a crescendo with discords and imperfect cadences. And the piece ends with a perfect cadence and timpani roll.

Peter Tchaikovsky was a famous Composer from the 19th Century. He is known as the most famous Russian composer in history (“Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Biography”). Some historians think that he was Russia’s first truly professional composer ("Tchaikovsky Music's – Famous”). His music was performed during the late 1800s. He created many musical works throughout this time as a composer and many of these works are still listened to today.