~ Barbra Streisand & Kris Kristofferson ~
In 1881, Peter Tchaikovsky was a 41 year old instructor at the Moscow Conservatory working under head honcho Nick Rubinstein, a gifted pianist. The job gave Tchaikovsky a chance to compose, teach, pass on musical tradition – and troll for teenage boys, which was his other passion. One day Nick keeled over dead from a heart attack. Pete was devastated and eventually left the Conservatory to make his way in the world as a composer.
Pete decided to write a memorial piece for his old friend. Considering that Nick had been a fine pianist, Pete decided to write a trio for piano, violin and cello. This stemmed from the fact that his patroness, Natasha von Meck, had a trio in this configuration on her personal payroll. Pete decided to borrow the format of Beethoven’s last piano sonata and write a two-movement piece where the final movement would be in theme-and-variations format.
The first movement of the Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello in A minor, Op. 50 is all about grief, very Russian grief. It begins with the elegiac theme that will dominate the piece.
At 4:00 he begins his second subject in the unexpected key of E Major. At 6:00 he winds down the theme in a manner reminiscent of any one of his symphonies.
At 6:25 it’s development time as he takes his subjects apart piece by piece and puts them back together in different combinations.
At 11:00 he recaps but re-composes his recapitulation. At 13:54 the second subject appears in the expected key of A Major. The wind-down at 16:15 leads into a coda based on development material which then morphs into the first subject all over again, this time stated very quietly to the end.
The idea behind the finale is that grief is not necessarily just self-pity, but blessed memories. He begins with a theme in a walking pace. Twelve variations follow quickly. Variation #5 sounds like a music box, #6 is a waltz, #8 is a fugue and #10 is a mazurka in the style of Chopin.
At 38:30, Variation #12 works up the theme in sonata format, but instead of a recap following the development, he segues into the theme from the first movement. Everything turns pitch black, and as the theme winds down, the slow march to the cemetery begins. The piece ends slowly and very quietly.
My good friend, the cellist Ron Thomas, once told me that at the end of this piece, half the audience will be in tears – and the other half will be yearning for a trip to the nearest bar for a stiff drink.
This performance is from the Lugano Festival in the Italian-speaking area of Switzerland. The pianist is Marta Argerich, who has almost put a copyright on this trio. Marta has this beautiful mane of silvery hair, and she’s aging quite well. It’s a great performance.