Bougher, Jennifer Lynn

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Butler University Digital Commons @ Butler University Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection Undergraduate Scholarship 3-9-2000 Tchaikovsky and his Violin Concerto : A Theme of Opposites Jennifer Lynn Bougher Butler University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ugtheses  Part of the Musicology Commons, and the Music Performance Commons Recommended Citation Bougher, Jennifer Lynn, "Tchaikovsky and his Violin Concerto : A Theme of Opposites" (2000). Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection. 366. https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ugtheses/366 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Scholarship at Digital Commons @ Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Butler University. For more information, please contact digitalscholarship@butler.edu. .,----_ ..__ ..- .-.-------------------------BUTLER UNIVERSITY HONORS PROGRAMHonors Thesis CertificationPlease type all information in this section:Applicant Jennifer Lynn Bougher(Name as it is to appear on diploma)Thesis title Tchaikovsky and his Violin Concerto: A Themeof OppositesIntended date of commencement May 13. 2000Reader(s)Certified byDateS/gY;l./'oODateFor Honors Program use:Level of Honors conferred: University _M_a_gn_a_C_u_m_L_au_d_e _Departmental Honors in English and HighHonors in Music·.Pyotr I1yitch Tchaikovsky and His Violin Concerto:l..--D-rot~6zY2-jbB~BZ_{ZODOA Theme of OppositesA ThesisPresented to the Department of Music HistoryJordan College of Fine ArtsandThe Honors ProgramofButler UniversityIn Partial Fulfillmentof the Requirements for Graduation HonorsJennifer Lynn Bougher9 March 2000BUTLER UNIVERSITY • JORDAN COLLEGE OF FINE ARTSHONORS THESIS RECITALJennifer Bougher, violinStudent of Larry ShapiroViolin Concerto inD Major, Op. 35Allegro moderatoCanzonetta: AndanteFinale: Allegro vivacissimoPl. Tcbaikovsky(1840-1893)assisted byAmy Eggleston, pianoJohnson RoomThursday, March 9, 2000 • 7:00 p.m.PROGRAMLecture"Tchaikovsky and his Violin Concerto: A Theme of Opposites"~BUTLER~ UNIVERSITYThis recital is presented in partial fuljillment of the requirements forUniversity Honors.Bougher 1Jennifer Bougher Honors Thesis Lecture Recital 9 March 2000':4 Theme of Opposites in Tchaikovsky" *IntroductionAs I began researching Tchaikovsky and his Violin Concerto, I noted a theme ofopposites. Tchaikovsky led an antithetical and complicated life that is reflected in hismusic. In my lecture I want to illuminate these ambiguities and complexities in his life,his music in general, and in his Violin Concerto. I will assert that while many opposingfactors presented a struggle in his life, in his music it is the reconciliation of theseopposites that makes for intriguing music. At the end of the lecture I will illustrate theseclaims musically by performing a majority ofTchaikovsky's Violin Concerto.(I. LifeA. EmotionallPersonal1. In Tchaikovsky's personal traits alone there are contradictions. He has beendescribed as: Intensely emotional, headstrong, and impetuous but also as modest,shy, conscious of careful workmanship, and "simple."a. ex. anecdote of youth: "Passionately kissing the map of Russia andBougher 2then ..spitting on the other countries, he was reminded by his nurse that sheherself was French. "Yes," he said, "I covered France with my hand."This example illustrates his duality of heart and mind. (Mason)2. In other personal traits, Tchaikovsky has been described as shy, awkward,self-critical, and suffering from insomnia, but at the same time as warm, friendly,attractive, sought-out, gentle, and modest.a. Catherine Drinker Bowen writes: "Over-sensitive, over-shy, weak ofwill and overwhelmingly, frighteningly strong of emotion, Peter shunnedthe concert hall where his music was to be performed ...." He was"pathologically shy", according to himself in letters to Ms. von Meek.Yet, he was not "unattractive physically; awkward in manners, ordisagreeable to meet. Perversely enough, he was the very antithesis ofthese things: his trouble was over-attractiveness, over-amiability; his onlysocial incapacity lay in a ludicrous inability to say no" (Bowen 14-15)b. Alexandra Panayeva illustrates duality, conflicting opposites withinthe composer: She always wanted to meet him, but was not successful. Atthe premiere of Tchaikovsky' s Eugene Onegin in 1879 she saw him fromthe box she was sharing with Anton Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky's oldteacher. Rubinstein tricked Tchaikovsky into going to the box "assuringhim that no one was in it." Tchaikovsky refused to speak and at firstchance, "he flew headlong out of the box." About a week laterBougher 3lI··ITchaikovsky and his brothers were to dine with Panayeva, but he sat as faraway as possible, "totally confused and with eyes lowered" and refused tospeak directly to her. The next day however, he visited her alone. Shewrites, "He approached to take my hand in a free and easy manner, and wehad a lively conversation. He began by thanking me for having spent sucha pleasant evening the previous day. I saw before me a totally differentperson - cheerful, lively, a thorough man of fashion, even elegant" Yetshe acknowledges that he had inner struggles between his two opposites ofcharacter: "For instance, once he for some reason invited me to dine withhim and, on my agreeing, suddenly became alarmed, and beganreproaching himself for inviting me." (Tchaikovsky Remembered, 67)a. Tchaikovsky was married to Antonina, but he was homosexual, as isB. Historically, there is also a theme of opposites in Tchaikovsky's life. .\"",1. Antonina Ivanova Milyukova, his wiferevealed in letters to his brothers.b. She provided her own ambiguities for him in letters which were oftenloving then hateful.2. Nadejda (Nadezhda) von Meeka. As opposed to Antonina, with Nadejda Tchaikovsky had less contact,yet theirs was a relationship of much more warmth. It was business butBougher 4also love. This is a prime example of two opposite sides ofTchaikovsky:the impersonal artist versus the real, vulnerable human being.b. Tchaikovsky and Nadejda agreed to have no personal contact.3. Clarens, village on Lake Genevaa. Piano Sonata (empty, fabricated) vs. Violin Concerto (YosefKotek-violinist friend from Berlin, stayed in Clarens with him, wrote concertowith him, sexual, emotional) Tchaikovsky loved Kotek dearly, and thetime he spent with him was time spent joyously, though in the midst ofgreat emotional turmoil surrounding his wife. (The Crisis Years 265)4. Violin Concertoa. Written in lull of emotional sadness, in midst of musical happiness.Sexual frustration to sexual happiness, emotional whirlwind.Was Tchaikovsky able to reconcile the opposites that existed within his life? Maybenot. However, as with most artists, life filters into art, and these ambiguities arepresent in his music.II. MusicA. Generall. Inspiration vs. Mechanical Work- Tchaikovsky helps answer questions ofBougher 5inspiration and work and how to reconcile the two. He illustrates and reconcilesthe differences between the artistic world and the ordinary business of life.a. Passion and inspiration are reconciled with reason and mechanics in hisletters: "For compositions of the second category [commissioned] sometimes you haveto attune yourself Here you very often have to overcome laziness, reluctance. Thencertain things happen. Sometimes victory comes easily. Sometimes inspiration slips away,eludes you. But I consider it is the duty of an artist never to give way, for laziness is avery powerful human trait. For an artist there is nothing worse than to give way to this.You cannot simply wait. Inspiration is the sort of guest who does not like visiting thosewho are lazy. She reveals herself to those who invite her. (The Crisis Years 233-235).You forget everything, you are almost insane, everything inside you trembles and writhes,you scarcely manage to set down sketches, one idea presses upon another. Sometimes inthe middle of this enchanted process some jolt from without suddenly wakens you fromthis somnambulistic state. Somebody will ring, a servant will enter, the clock strikes andreminds you that you have to go about your business ... these breaks are painful,inexpressibly painful. Sometimes inspiration flies off for a while; you have to go in searchof her, sometimes in vain. Very frequently you have to resort to a completely cold,intellectual, mechanical work process. Perhaps this is why you can find moments in eventhe greatest masters where organic cohesion is lacking, where a seam shows, bits of thewhole which are artificially stuck together. But there is no other way. If that state of theartist's soul which is called inspiration, and which I have just been trying to describe toyou, were to continue unbroken, it would not be possible to survive a single day. Thestrings would snap and the instrument shatter to smithereens.Bougher 6Do not believe those who try to convince you that musical creation is a cold pursuit,governed by reason ...You can only be moved, touched, or shaken by that music which haspoured from the depths of an artistic soul stirred by inspiration. There is no doubt thateven the greatest musical geniuses sometimes worked unwarmed by inspiration. It is thekind of guest that does not always appear at the first summons. In the meantime you mustalways work.b. Tchaikovsky's music reflects outer brilliance and also inner warmth:"His compositions traced ..a middle path between Gounod and Schumann;they had outer brilliance and inner warmth, they pleased the uninitiatedand the expert, could serve as a model for fashion, yet outlive itscaprices." (Tchaikovsky Remembered 239)2. His music expresses both torment and love: "I will tell you that more than onceI have tried lovingly to express in music the torment and, at the same time, thebliss of love...I completely disagree with you when you say that music cannotconvey the all-embracing characteristics of the feeling of love. 1believe quite thecontrary, that music alone can do this." (The Crisis Years 231)3. Tchaikovsky loved Mozart and Classical style, yet this is not at all reflected inhis Romantic, Russian Style, which we'll see especially in Mvts II, III of theViolin Concerto.a. He had within him that happy balance between 'the search for newBougher 7paths' and an instinctive attachment to the classical tradition ... He lovedMozart passionately, loved him not in theory but in practice, andsuccessfully advanced his cause - but in Tchaikovsky's own compositionsthere was no turning back, nothing archaic or in opposition to the age .."(Tchaikovsky Remembered 241)4. MelodylHarmony/Rhythm - These different elements become one inTchaikovsky's music.a. (The Crisis Years 236) - " A melody can never appear in my headexcept with its harmony. Both these musical elements, together with therhythm, can never be separated from each other, i.e. every melodic ideacarries its own implicit harmony, and is unfailingly furnished with its ownrhythmic structure"5. Lush Melodies and Technical Acrobatics also combine in his music.B. Violin Concerto1. Movement I - specific look at how these opposites and ambiguities exist in theViolin Concertoa. Structurally simple, but rich lyrics and "brilliant passage work" - "Suchan alliance of simple melody and complex pyrotechnics was, of course, therecipe for countless virtuoso concerti of the nineteenth century, but innone of these is the melody on a higher level, or the display element moreBougher 8judiciously employed or more naturally integrated into the flow of lyricalideas - nor is the structural bracing of musical expanses so secure" (TheCrisis Years 264 italics mine) ->(not like his life, where there is not analliance, but a struggle) --momentarily I will play the exposition of thefirst movement where you will hear this alliance of lyricism andtechnicality. I believe they are each recognizable enough that I need notpoint out the lyrical passages, though you will notice that both melody andtechnicalities are intertwined. Today I am playing only the exposition ofthe first movement. It is a structurally simple movement, and the entiresecond half after the cadenza is a reiteration of the exposition. Thus, theexposition reveals all the significant points.b. Exposition - fertile, free, melodic flow wi recurrent features (anexample of inspiration combined with careful work) -> succession ofdifferent melodic ideas from which a longer musical stretch is created(play examples)"Delightful Ambiguity" - where does one theme end and the next begin(play examples) sm. example of reconciled differences. tThe Crisis Years264-5)Play I ExpositionBougher 9C. Leopold Auer1. Concerto dedicated to Auer (not Kotek for fear of rumors) because of hisprestige - March 22, 1979 scheduled premier in St. Petersburg. Although theyhad a "sincere friendship" Auer refused to play it, deeming it too awkward andunplayable. "Auer himself, writing thirty years after Tchaikovsky's death, bywhich time he had played the concerto many times, excused himself on thegrounds that he wished to make revisions to the solo part before attempting itpublicly ...." (The Crisis Years 262). Two years later Tchaikovsky transferred thededication to Adolf Brodsky who premiered it in Vienna on 4 Dec 1881 (to badreviews).2. The irony - "At a memorial concert given within a fortnight of Tchaikovsky'sdeath, the program included ...the Violin Concerto - played by Leopold Auer!After this, Auer took up the "offensive" concerto, not only decided that it was notunplayable, but proceeded to add technical difficulties of his own to the firstmovement and to make cuts in the Finale." (play Auer change) His edition isoften played today - the Concerto today lives amid contradictions!B. (cont) Violin Concerto - Movements II, III1. Russian!a. The opposites combined here are Patriotism and love/art.Bougher 10b. In III, we see pure Russian life combined with technicalcomplicationsc. There is contrast between the two movements. The second isinwardly yearning, full of "muted, ripe, soulful Slavic imagery"versus the third movement: vividly pictorial, openly Russian. Yetfor all the opposites within, the two are complementary, linked(The Crisis Years 268)/ConclusionThere were a great deal of opposites, ambiguities, and complexities present inTchaikovsky's life. These worked their way into his music as well. Though maybe notin his life, in music Tchaikovsky is able to reconcile the ambiguities and paradoxes andopposites. In fact, it is their merging that makes something beautiful.Play II, III* This outline is intended to be a supplement to the video-recorded presentation, not as aseparate work.Bougher 11BibliographyBowen, Catherine Drinker, and Von Meek, Barbara. Beloved Friend. Westport,Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1976.Brown, David. Tchaikovsky Remembered. London: Faber and Faber, 1993.Tchaikovsky: The Crisis Years 1874-1878. Vol 2. London: W.W. Norton &Company, 1983.Holden, Anthony. Tchaikovsky: A Biography. Random House, New York. 1996.Huneker, James. Mezzotints inModern Music: Brahms, Tschaikowsky, Chopin, RichardStrauss, Liszt, and Wagner. Scribner, New York. 1922.Mason, Daniel Gregory. "Personal Life." Tchaikovsky. Online.http://www.geocities.com/Viennal5648IPLife.htmPozansky, Alexander. Tchaikovsky: The Quest/or the Inner Man. Schirmer Books, NewYork. 1991.Slonimsky, Nicolas. Lexicon ofMusical Invective: Critical Assaults on Composers SinceBeethoven's Time. University of Washington Press, Seattle. 1969.BUTLER UNIVERSITY HONORS PROGRAMHONORS THESIS READER'S RESPONSEThesis Student's Name:Dear Faculty Reader:Our students spend a great many hours, energy and thought on their Honors Thesis projects, and your writtencomments will aid them not only in bringing their project to a successful close but also in. recognizing andcelebrating their achievement. Please use the space provided below to offer your overall evaluation of the thesisc0J?!Ilenting. on the following ar~as: content and organization, reasoning, research and methodology, creativity:wntmg quality, performance quality, Feel free to use additional sheets. When you have completed your evaluationof the thesis, please return both the form and the thesis to the Honors Office (m 133). Thank you very much.Pyotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky and His Violin Concerto: A Theme of Opposites byJennifer Lynn Bougher opens an interesting window of interpretation for aperformer of this work: that the composer's antithetical and complicated lifecan somehow be mapped onto the music. This claim was well presented at thehonors thesis recital on March 9, 2000, both verbally and musically. It was afine performance of this highly difficult work.The final version of the thesis presents a few problems (however solvablewith some revision work); it consists more of an outline of the lecture recitalthan a self-contained work of prose. At it stands, the text cannot be read andunderstood by someone who did not attend the recital.I propose the following:V. The addition of an introductory paragraph in which the ideas presentedare outlined. I/{ .>o The removal of outlines in point form (such as the ones on pp. 1, , 8-9), tobe replaced by a narrative written in complete sentences./. A conclusion that summarizes the findings.Faculty Reader's Name ':=-= '3 'KO fI1!]A.JSignature ~. ~,.,_...JDept.Date 1t/tO/'70(}Vr i Rev. 3/99

Tchaikovsky and his Violin Concerto : A Theme of Opposites

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Tchaikovsky and his Violin Concerto : A Theme of Opposites

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