Serenade Melancholique, Op. 26/ TH 56: Full Orchestra, Solo Strings with Ensemble, Solo Violin Part

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) composed his Sérénade mélancolique (Melancholy Serenade), Op. 26, TH 56 in Moscow in January-February 1875, immediately after completing his First Piano Concerto. His first composition for solo violin and orchestra, it was written after Tchaikovsky met the celebrated Hungarian violinist and pedagogue Leopold Auer at Nikolay Rubinstein's home in January, and by February, the composer could report to his brother Modest that he had already written the violin piece he had promised Auer. Cast as a single Andante in B-flat minor for solo violin, pairs of woodwinds, four horns, and strings, the work is a compact example of Tchaikovsky's intensely lyrical early style, its introspective principal melody and more impassioned central episodes allowing the soloist expressive prominence without the overt display of a conventional virtuoso concerto. Musical connections have also been noted with the recently completed First Piano Concerto and with Tchaikovsky's opera Vakula the Smith. Although written for and subsequently dedicated to Auer, the premiere was given on January 16, 1876, in Moscow at the seventh symphony concert of the Russian Musical Society, with Adolph Brodsky as soloist and Nikolay Rubinstein conducting. Auer did not perform the piece until November 6 of that year in Saint Petersburg, and Tchaikovsky later withdrew the dedication after Auer's initial unwillingness to champion the Violin Concerto, which Brodsky likewise ultimately premiered. P. Jurgenson issued the orchestral parts and Tchaikovsky's violin-and-piano version in 1876, followed by the full score in 1879, and the substantial initial print runs indicate that the work enjoyed considerable early success. Today, Sérénade mélancolique remains a recognized part of the Romantic violin repertoire and is regularly recorded and occasionally programmed as a concert piece or encore. Although inevitably overshadowed by Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, it is valued both for its concentrated lyricism and as the composer's first exploration of the solo violin with orchestra, anticipating the expressive violin writing of the concerto three years later. Instrumentation: 2.1.2.2: 4.0.0.0: Str (9.8.7.6.5 in set): Solo Violin in set. Reprint edition.