In the past months, we saw the travesty of institutions and symphony orchestras banning Russian music under the rubric of "Free Ukraine". In particular, they banned the work of Russian composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (even the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition was banned). This is beyond travesty—it is sheer idiocy.
But the idiocy was fortunately curtailed in Ukraine itself. On June 16, 2022, the Pyotr Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kiev announced that it will not remove Tchaikovsky’s name from their Academy. Yury Rybchinsky, a prominent Ukrainian songwriter and member of the Academy’s supervisory board said: “Governments and armies can fight, but cultures can never fight each other”. He argued: “Tchaikovsky, like Shakespeare, like Joan of Arc, like Christ, does not belong to one specific people, he belongs to the whole world.” He also noted that Tchaikovsky even came from a family of Zaporozhzhian Cossacks (in Ukraine), that he “treated Ukraine with incredible love” and that he used motifs from Ukrainian folk music in some of his works. This discovery was echoed in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, when someone realized that Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17, composed 1873, is a celebration of Ukrainian folk music, and even performed it in a concert for Ukraine.
TCHAIKOVSKY
Whatever one may think about Tchaikovsky's music, or neuroses, one should look at his overall role in building Russian culture.
The composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Votinsk Russia, where his father Ilya managed the iron works, which produced anchors. Under Ilya's leadership, it was converted to machine production, and produced boats and steam engines for railroads. It also became the first open hearth furnace in Russia.
The family came from Ukraine. The composer's grandfather, Pyotr Feodorovitch was the son of a Cossack, Fedir Chaika (meaning seagull). He studied at Kiev Academy, and later St. Petersburg, where he changed his name to the more Russian-sounding Chaikovsky.
His grandson, the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was a Russian patriot, but also proud of his Ukrainian heritage. He took a leading role in organizing Russian music. He personally catalogued the complete works of Dmitro Bortniansky, the founder of modern Russian music. Bortniansky was head of the Russian Imperial Court Chapel Choir in St. Petersburg, but was a product of the singing school in Hukhliv Ukraine, which trained all of the singers for that imperial choir. The Czar declared that Bortniansly set the musical standards for the entire Russian Empire. Bortniansky was chosen by Beethoven to conduct the world premier of his Missa Solemnis. He was Ukrainian, but led Russia in music, after studying in Italy for 11 years.
Here is a short work for a capella choir by Bortniansky: Tebe Poem- We Praise (Hymn) Thee
When a decision was made to elevate the Moscow Synodal Choir to the same level as the St. Petersburg Court Choir in 1880, Tchaikovsky played a leading role. He wrote a Liturgy of St. John of Chrysostom for it, and recommended the conductor Orlov, resident composer Katalsky, and others.
Here is Tchaikovsky's a capella setting of the same Orthodox hymn: Tebe Poem
Thirty years later, the Moscow Synodal Choir become great, and in 1910, Russian composer Rachmaninoff composed another beautiful a capella setting of “Tebe Poem”.
That is three beautiful renditions of the same hymn, coming out of the same a capella tradition.
RUSSIA
Tchaikovsky was a Russian patriot. The famed conductor, Evgeny Mravinsky, played his 5th Symphony in such a way, that it served as an inspiration for the Russian people during WWII, a war in which it lost 26 million people. One cannot emotionally bullshit a nation which suffered such losses. The music had to be real.
Though the horn solo in the second movement of His Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64, composed 1888, is marked Con Alcun Licenza (with no licence), it is often played with great licence, as though full of Alpine longing. Even great conductors and soloists commit this error.
The famous conductor and pedagogue, Evgeny Mravinsky, played this symphony as a rallying cry for the Russian people during WWII, who lost 26 million to the war. He was famed for deemphasizing the neurotic side of the composer. Here is his rendition of the second movement. The horn solo is performed like a tenor aria( we could not isolate the solo, so we included the entire movement. The horn solo lasts up 'till about 2:20 :
What a world of difference!
Another example of Tchaikovsky's patriotism is the third act of his opera “Mazeppa”, which celebrates Peter the Great's victory over Sweden at Potlova, with the folk song, "Glory, Glory, to the Sun in the Sky". This is the same song Beethoven had set much earlier in his String Quartet, Op. 59, No. 2, as requested by Count Razumovsky.
His Marche Slav was written to celebrate Russian support for the Serbs in a war against the Ottomans, who had brutally dominated the area for centuries.
UKRAINE
Tchaikovsky visited Ukraine for several months every year, where he found inspiration, and incorporated many Ukrainian folk songs into his works. His works were performed in Odessa, Kharkiv, and Kiev, where he worked closely with local performers.
Ukrainian nationalist Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912), was the central figure in Ukrainian music, who insisted on writing in the Ukrainian language. The text of his opera, “Taras Bulba”, was written in the Ukrainian language, and was banned during his lifetime. Tchaikovsky had been friends with Lysenko, and participated in the production of “Taras Bulba” after his death. In 1885, Lysenko composed the “Prayer for Ukraine”.
Lysenko Hymn for Ukraine
AMERICA
Although we know little of Tchaikovsky's opinion on industry, the following stands out:
1. His father's industrial leadership.
2. His patron was Nadezhda von Meck, widow of the man who built the first phase of Russian railroads. She and her son continued to build railroads.
3. When Tchaikovsky visited the U.S., in order to conduct his own music for the opening of Carnegie Hall, though he had his neurotic moments of self-pity, he met steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. They got along famously. Tchaikovsky found Carnegie very knowledgeable about Russian developments. He commented:
"I am ten times better known here than in Russia. Of all the people I have met, [the Americans] are the most generous and open hearted."
And, after a reception in his honor, wrote:
“The Americans are absolutely amazing! Their sincerity, generosity, friendliness and desire to please are absolutely out of this world! Nowhere but in Russia have I ever seen so much love for foreigners. The American way of life is really so good me!”
“I wish the Americans knew more about the intellectual life and progress in Russia, As far as I go, I’m really enchanted by your country and I’m sure that some day I will do my duty and familiarize the Americans with the musical achievements we have in Russia… I’m certain that this is not my last visit to America.”
In 1891, Tchaikovsky invited his friend Antonin Dvorak to visit Russia. There, Dvorak is reported to have studied the Ukrainian Dumka with Lysenko. Dvorak may have learned a lot about the Dumka from Lysenko, but he went far beyond him, and was composing them before his visit to Russia. Here is a Dumka composed by Dvorak for his Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81 (composed 1887):
Dumka from Quintet in A Dvorak
Do you see a certain intensity of events in the following?
1. 1890: Dvorak visits Russia at Tchaikovsky's request.
2. 1891: Tchaikovsky visits the U.S. to open Carnegie Hall.
3. 1892: Dvorak comes to New York to head the composition department in the National Conservatory of Music in New York. Carnegie is a financial sponsor. Brahms proofreads the compositions that Dvorak composes in the U.S.
UKRAINIAN FOLK MUSIC
Tchaikovsky frequently incorporated Ukrainian folk songs. The best example is his Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17, sometimes known as the "Little Russian Symphony". It utilizes at least three Ukrainian folk songs. The fourth movement consists of variations on A Ukrainian folk song called "The Crane".
Rather than play that, we play for you the “Andante Cantabile” from his String Quartet No. 1 in D major Op. 11, composed 1871. It features two themes. The second one is of his own invention. The first however, is a rather complex folk song he heard an Russian carpenter singing: