Hamlet (Tchaikovsky)
Encyclopedia
Hamlet provided material for two works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
, his fantasy overture after Shakespeare Hamlet, Op. 67a, and the incidental music
he composed for Shakespeare
's Hamlet
, Op. 67b.
.
The idea of a Hamlet overture had first occurred to Tchaikovsky in 1876, as outlined in his plans in a letter to his brother Modest
. At that time, he conceived it in three parts:
However, by 1888 he had altered these notions. The actor Lucien Guitry
asked him to write some incidental music
for a production of Shakespeare's play, to which Tchaikovsky agreed. The planned performance was cancelled, but Tchaikovsky decided to finish what he had started, in the form of a concert overture. There is no musical enactment of the events of the play, or even a presentation of the key characters. The work adopts the same scheme he used in his other Shakespeare pieces, the fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet
(1869, revised 1870 and 1880) and the symphonic fantasy The Tempest
(1873), in using certain characteristics or emotional situations within the play. The essence of the work is the brooding atmosphere depicting Elsinore, but there is an obvious love theme, and a plaintive melody on the oboe can be seen to represent Ophelia.
The Hamlet overture-fantasia was dedicated to Edvard Grieg
, whom Tchaikovsky had met in Leipzig in early 1888 on the same occasion that he met Johannes Brahms
. He described Grieg as "an extraordinarily charming man".
The Symphony No. 5 was premiered on 17 November 1888, and Hamlet had its first performance a week later, on 24 November. Both performances were in Saint Petersburg
, and Tchaikovsky conducted both of them. While Hamlet was not a great success, it still received a better initial reception than the symphony did, but it has subsequently assumed a lower profile in Tchaikovsky's works.
Excerpts from the score were used in the 2005 ballet Anna Karenina
, choreographed by Boris Eifman
.
again asked Tchaikovsky to write incidental music
for Hamlet
. This time, it was for a benefit production on 21 February 1891 at the Mikhaylovsky Theatre
in Saint Petersburg
, and it was to be Guitry's farewell performance. Tchaikovsky started work on the incidental music on 13 January, but found it difficult. He was exhausted from completing The Queen of Spades
, which had premiered to a triumph in December 1890. Also that month, his patroness Nadezhda von Meck
had severed her connection with him. He was also suffering an affliction of the right hand. For these reasons he had cancelled his conducting engagements in Mainz
, Budapest
and Frankfurt, and retired for rest and recuperation to Frolovskoye.
For the overture, he used the earlier stand-alone Hamlet overture-fantasia Op. 67a, but in a shortened form. In the 16 other numbers, as well as writing some new music, he also used material from the incidental music to The Snow Maiden
, Op. 12 (1873), from the alla tedesca movement of the Third Symphony
(1875), and from the Elegy for Ivan Samarin (1884). The writing was finished by 3 February. Tchaikovsky travelled from Moscow to attend the performance in Saint Petersburg. He enjoyed the performance for the acting, but he never thought much of the music he had produced, and refused permission for it to be used in a later production in Warsaw
. The complete incidental music has been released on compact disc and in MP3 form.http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000B170S
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
, his fantasy overture after Shakespeare Hamlet, Op. 67a, and the incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
he composed for Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, Op. 67b.
Overture-Fantasia, Op. 67a
Tchaikovsky wrote the Hamlet overture-fantasia, Op. 67a, between June and 19 October 1888, overlapping the scoring of his Fifth SymphonySymphony No. 5 (Tchaikovsky)
The Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was composed between May and August 1888 and was first performed in St Petersburg at the Hall of Nobility on November 6 of that year with Tchaikovsky conducting. It is dedicated to Theodore Avé-Lallemant.-Structure:A typical...
.
The idea of a Hamlet overture had first occurred to Tchaikovsky in 1876, as outlined in his plans in a letter to his brother Modest
Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian dramatist, opera librettist and translator.-Early life:Modest Ilyich was born in Alapayevsk, the younger brother of the future composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He graduated from the School of Jurisprudence with a degree in law...
. At that time, he conceived it in three parts:
- 1. Elsinore and Hamlet, up to the appearance of his father's ghost
- 2. Polonius (scherzando) and Ophelia (adagio), and
- 3. Hamlet after the appearance of the ghost. His death and Fortinbras.
However, by 1888 he had altered these notions. The actor Lucien Guitry
Lucien Guitry
Lucien Germain Guitry was a French actor.In 1885, while living in Saint Petersburg, he appeared at the French Theatre. His son, the future actor, writer and director Sacha Guitry, was born in Saint Petersburg and named in honour of Tsar Alexander III...
asked him to write some incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
for a production of Shakespeare's play, to which Tchaikovsky agreed. The planned performance was cancelled, but Tchaikovsky decided to finish what he had started, in the form of a concert overture. There is no musical enactment of the events of the play, or even a presentation of the key characters. The work adopts the same scheme he used in his other Shakespeare pieces, the fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet (Tchaikovsky)
Romeo and Juliet is an orchestral work composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It is styled an Overture-Fantasy, and is based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. Like other composers such as Berlioz and Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky was deeply inspired by Shakespeare and wrote works based on The...
(1869, revised 1870 and 1880) and the symphonic fantasy The Tempest
The Tempest (Tchaikovsky)
The Tempest , Symphonic Fantasia after Shakespeare, Op. 18, is a symphonic poem in F minor by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed in 1873. It was premiered in December 1873, conducted by Nikolai Rubinstein....
(1873), in using certain characteristics or emotional situations within the play. The essence of the work is the brooding atmosphere depicting Elsinore, but there is an obvious love theme, and a plaintive melody on the oboe can be seen to represent Ophelia.
The Hamlet overture-fantasia was dedicated to Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
, whom Tchaikovsky had met in Leipzig in early 1888 on the same occasion that he met Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
. He described Grieg as "an extraordinarily charming man".
The Symphony No. 5 was premiered on 17 November 1888, and Hamlet had its first performance a week later, on 24 November. Both performances were in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, and Tchaikovsky conducted both of them. While Hamlet was not a great success, it still received a better initial reception than the symphony did, but it has subsequently assumed a lower profile in Tchaikovsky's works.
Excerpts from the score were used in the 2005 ballet Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina (Eifman)
The ballet Anna Karenina was choreographed by Boris Eifman and had its world première in Saint Petersburg on Saturday, April 2nd, 2005. Its plot was based on the novel Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.The music is by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and included excerpts from:* Symphony No. 2 in C minor Little...
, choreographed by Boris Eifman
Boris Eifman
Boris Eifman is a prolific choreographer associated with the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg. He is known for his dark portrayals of anguished sexuality and extreme psychological states. The company frequently tours abroad, and has been economically successful...
.
Incidental music, Op. 67b
Lucien GuitryLucien Guitry
Lucien Germain Guitry was a French actor.In 1885, while living in Saint Petersburg, he appeared at the French Theatre. His son, the future actor, writer and director Sacha Guitry, was born in Saint Petersburg and named in honour of Tsar Alexander III...
again asked Tchaikovsky to write incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
for Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
. This time, it was for a benefit production on 21 February 1891 at the Mikhaylovsky Theatre
Mikhaylovsky Theatre
The Mikhaylovsky Theatre is one of the oldest opera and ballet houses in Russia. It was founded in 1833 and is situated in a historical building on the Arts Square in St. Petersburg...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, and it was to be Guitry's farewell performance. Tchaikovsky started work on the incidental music on 13 January, but found it difficult. He was exhausted from completing The Queen of Spades
The Queen of Spades (opera)
The Queen of Spades, Op. 68 is an opera in 3 acts by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to a Russian libretto by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, based on a short story of the same name by Alexander Pushkin. The premiere took place in 1890 in St...
, which had premiered to a triumph in December 1890. Also that month, his patroness Nadezhda von Meck
Nadezhda von Meck
Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck was a Russian businesswoman, who is best known today for her artistic relationship with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. She supported him financially for 13 years, enabling him to devote himself full-time to composition, but she stipulated that they were never to meet. ...
had severed her connection with him. He was also suffering an affliction of the right hand. For these reasons he had cancelled his conducting engagements in Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
and Frankfurt, and retired for rest and recuperation to Frolovskoye.
For the overture, he used the earlier stand-alone Hamlet overture-fantasia Op. 67a, but in a shortened form. In the 16 other numbers, as well as writing some new music, he also used material from the incidental music to The Snow Maiden
The Snow Maiden
The Snow Maiden: A Spring Fairy Tale is an opera in four acts with a prologue by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composed during 1880–1881. The Russian libretto, by the composer, is based on the like-named play by Alexander Ostrovsky .The first performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera took place at the...
, Op. 12 (1873), from the alla tedesca movement of the Third Symphony
Symphony No. 3 (Tchaikovsky)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 3 in D major, Op. 29, was written in 1875. He began it at Vladimir Shilovsky's estate at Ussovo on 5 June and finished it on 1 August at Verbovka. It is dedicated to Shilovsky.The Symphony No...
(1875), and from the Elegy for Ivan Samarin (1884). The writing was finished by 3 February. Tchaikovsky travelled from Moscow to attend the performance in Saint Petersburg. He enjoyed the performance for the acting, but he never thought much of the music he had produced, and refused permission for it to be used in a later production in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. The complete incidental music has been released on compact disc and in MP3 form.http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000B170S
Sources
- Alexander Poznansky, Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man, pp. 485, 492, 494, 523, 525
- John Warrack, Tchaikovsky pp. 214, 217-218, 244.
- Groves’ Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed.