An enchanting cello melody: the Andante cantabile for cello and strings by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Performed by Gautier Capuçon (cello) and the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra (VFCO) under the direction of Gábor Takács-Nagy. The cello piece was the encore of the concert on July 27, 2012, at the Verbier Festival.
00:00 Applause
00:23 Theme 1
03:14 Theme 2
04:51 Theme 1
06:25 Theme 2
07:52 Theme 1
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's (1840 - 1893) Andante cantabile is one of his most famous pieces of music, and it has had an extraordinary career. Originally, the Andante was the second movement of String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11, which Tchaikovsky composed in February 1871, and which premiered in Moscow a month later.
At a concert in his honor Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910) is said to have been moved to tears by the second movement of the first string quartet. Tolstoy's emotional reaction may also have led to Tchaikovsky’s arranging the Andante cantabile for cello and string orchestra in 1888 and performing it as a single piece. Numerous arrangements of the popular piece by other composers followed.
“Andante cantabile” means slow and in a songlike manner. Formally, this slow piece has a simple structure: It consists of two themes, each of which appears three times in alternating variations. The first theme is decidedly melodic and goes back to a folk song that Tchaikovsky heard when he was visiting his sister in Ukraine. The syncopated rhythm of the melody and the pizzicato in the accompaniment make the second theme seem more dance-like and somewhat more cheerful than Theme 1, but somehow Tchaikovsky succeeds in making the positive mood of Theme 2 sound as if from afar. It seems like a distant, beautiful memory. Together, the two themes create the strongly melancholy mood of the Andante cantabile. In addition, both themes radiate a calm beauty and it is impossible to say which is the more beautiful of the two.
But Tolstoy was not the only one touched by this heartfelt piece of music. American writer Helen Keller (1880 - 1968) was also moved by Tchaikovsky's Andante cantabile. As she was blind and deaf, the piece was played for her while she held her fingertips on a resonant table. She alternately cried and smiled at the vibrations. She later described Tchaikovsky's piece with great enthusiasm.
The melody of the second theme of Tchaikovsky's Andante cantabile forms the basis for the song “On the Isle of May,” made famous by legendary American jazz singer Connee Boswell (1907 - 1976) in 1940.
© 2012 Idéale Audience
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