To turn now to his achievements, it may be asserted that Tchaikowsky
was marvellously versatile, composing in every form save for the
organ; for productiveness, only Mozart, Schubert and Liszt can
be compared with him. His works comprise eight operas, six
symphonies, six symphonic poems, three overtures, four orches-
tral suites, two pianoforte concertos, a violin concerto, three
string quartets, a wonderful trio, about one hundred songs and
a large number of pianoforte pieces. In addition he made sev-
eral settings of the Russian liturgy and edited many volumes of
church music. Whatever may be the final estimate of his mu-
sic, it assuredly has great vogue at present, for it is an intense
expression of that mental and spiritual unrest so characteris-
tic of our times. As Byron was said to have but one subject,
himself, so all Tchaikowsky’s music is the message of his highly
emotional and feverish sensibility. He is invariably eloquent in
the presentation of his material, although the thoughts are often
slight and the impression made not lasting. He pours out his
emotions with the impulsiveness and abandon so characteristic
of his race, and this lack of serenity, of restraint, is surely his
gravest weakness. We are reminded by his music of a fire which
either glows fitfully or bursts forth into a fierce uncontrolled
blaze, but where a steady white heat is too often missing. His
style has been concisely described as fiery exultation on a basis
of languid melancholy. To all this we may retort that what he
lacks in profundity and firm control, he makes up in spontane-
ity, wealth of imagination and, above all, warmth of color. It is
illogical to expect his music to be different from what it is. He
expressed himself sincerely and his style is the direct outcome
of his own temperament plus his nationality. Tchaikowsky was
widely read in modern literature—Dickens and Thackeray be-
ing favorite authors—and had travelled much. The breadth of
his cultivation is shown in the subjects of his symphonic poems
and the texts of his songs, which are from Shakespeare, Dante,
Goethe and Bryon. However much estimates may differ as to the
import of Tchaikowsky’s message, he is universally recognized
as a superb “colorist,” one of the masters of modern orchestral
treatment; who, by his subtle feeling for richness and variety of
tone, has enlarged the means of musical expression. This is espe-
cially shown in the characteristic use he makes of the orchestra
in its lower ranges. As Brahms, for depth of thought, was com-
pared with Browning, so Tchaikowsky may well be likened to
such poets as Shelley and Swinburne, so exquisite is his instinct
ann
(Ann)
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