Tchaikovsky: Piano Works

Featuring

Nicola Meecham
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

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Performer Biography

Nicola Meecham, the pianist on this recording, started playing piano at age four, gave her concerto debut at thirteen, and won the Macfarren Gold Medal, the Royal Academy of Music's highest distinction.

Composition History

The Doumka in C minor, Opus 59, was composed in February 1886 and dedicated to Antoine Marmontel, a professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire, in response to a request from a Parisian music publisher.

Composition History

Tchaikovsky's early C sharp minor Sonata, though complete, was not published during his lifetime and received its high opus number (80) posthumously through Sergei Taneyev, who edited and completed several of the composer's unpublished scores.

Compositional Technique

Tchaikovsky incorporated the Scherzo from his C sharp minor Sonata into his First Symphony (Opus 13, 'Winter Daydreams') the following year, transposing it to C minor and adding a new Trio section.

Composer's Artistic Vision

The Grande Sonate in G major opens with a magnificent chordal gesture, whose inherent nobility has sometimes led to the word 'Imperial' being applied to Tchaikovsky's works in G major.

Composer Biography

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, though not a public recitalist, often played the piano daily and was proficient enough to compose his two piano concertos.

Composition History

Tchaikovsky's Grande Sonate in G major, Opus 37, was written in 1878 and dedicated to Karl Klindworth, a German musical polymath, pianist, conductor, composer, and editor.