Originally published in 1918 as a portion of the author’s larger “The Lure of Music,” this Kindle edition, equivalent in length to a physical book of approximately 16 pages, describes the life and work of Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Includes supplemental material:
•A Brief Summary of the Life of Tchaikovsky
•About the “Nutcracker Suite”
Sample passage:
Just after this bitter experience, and while he was still so much under the spell of the woman that he could not hear her name without emotion, Tchaikovsky was asked to write an overture to Shakespeare’s great love drama, “Romeo and Juliet.” Could he have found the inspiration for this music had it not been for his own tragedy? The overture opens with a choral motive—the thought of Friar Laurence—and harmonies as beautiful as they are laden with the fateful atmosphere of the drama. Music of strife depicts the brawls of the Montagues and Capulets. Then rises from the depths of the orchestra that melody—one of the greatest Tchaikovsky ever penned—which chants the love of the immortal pair. It was to this same melody that the composer, intending in later years to complete an opera on the subject, set the words of Juliet: “Oh tarry, night of ecstasy; Oh night of love, stretch thy dark veil over us!” In the overture it is heard again and again, passing from instrument to instrument, and sung with all the splendor and power of the orchestra. At the last it is echoed tragically by different instruments, as chords of the most poignant tenderness and beauty bring the overture to an end.
About the author:
Olin Downes (1886-1955) was an American music critic for the New York Times (1924-1955). Other works include “Jean Sibelius and Olin Downes” and “Olin Downes on Music.”
Includes supplemental material:
•A Brief Summary of the Life of Tchaikovsky
•About the “Nutcracker Suite”
Sample passage:
Just after this bitter experience, and while he was still so much under the spell of the woman that he could not hear her name without emotion, Tchaikovsky was asked to write an overture to Shakespeare’s great love drama, “Romeo and Juliet.” Could he have found the inspiration for this music had it not been for his own tragedy? The overture opens with a choral motive—the thought of Friar Laurence—and harmonies as beautiful as they are laden with the fateful atmosphere of the drama. Music of strife depicts the brawls of the Montagues and Capulets. Then rises from the depths of the orchestra that melody—one of the greatest Tchaikovsky ever penned—which chants the love of the immortal pair. It was to this same melody that the composer, intending in later years to complete an opera on the subject, set the words of Juliet: “Oh tarry, night of ecstasy; Oh night of love, stretch thy dark veil over us!” In the overture it is heard again and again, passing from instrument to instrument, and sung with all the splendor and power of the orchestra. At the last it is echoed tragically by different instruments, as chords of the most poignant tenderness and beauty bring the overture to an end.
About the author:
Olin Downes (1886-1955) was an American music critic for the New York Times (1924-1955). Other works include “Jean Sibelius and Olin Downes” and “Olin Downes on Music.”
