A Tribute to Tchaikovsky: Exploring Anton Arensky's Variations on a Theme
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A Tribute to Tchaikovsky: Exploring Anton Arensky's Variations on a Theme
Who was Arensky? How does the Variations on a Theme reflect his relationship with the great Tchaikovsky?
The circumstances of Arensky’s life read like the pages of a Dostoyevskian Russian novel — a brilliant talent, fostered under the tutelage of the great Rimsky-Korsakov, degenerating into a life of drinking, gambling, and dissolution, leading to oblivion and death in a Finnish sanatorium, aged 45.
‘Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky’ is the most popular work of the talented Anton Arensky, a tribute written to his friend who had died a year before, in 1893. Arensky had been dismissed by his former teacher Rimsky-Korsakov by ‘he will soon be forgotten’, but praised by Tolstoy, the prolific writer, who claimed that ‘among the new composers he is the best, he is simple and melodious’. Born in Novgorod in 1861, Arensky went to conservatoire in St Petersburg, where he studied under Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. Although he was known for being lazy, his prodigious skills enabled him to obtain his degree, moving on to teach at the Moscow Conservatory, where his pupils included Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexandr Scriabin. One description of Arensky from his biography reads:
The circumstances of Arensky’s life read like the pages of a Dostoyevskian Russian novel — a brilliant talent, fostered under the tutelage of the great Rimsky-Korsakov, degenerating into a life of drinking, gambling, and dissolution, leading to oblivion and death in a Finnish sanatorium, aged 45.
Throughout his life, Arensky was in correspondence with the great Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and, for a period, Tchaikovsky was staying several floors below Arensky at the Kokorevsky Courtyard Hotel in Moscow. The following is the translation of a letter sent to Arensky by Tchaikovsky in 1891:
8 September 1891
Dear Antonij Stepanovich!
I'm sending you a photograph [1]. I will expect yours. Kindly pass on the enclosed cabinet portrait to Laduhkin [2].
I hug you with all my heart.
P. Tchaikovsky
‘Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky’ was originally composed as the second movement of Arensky’s String Quartet No.2 in A minor, using the melody from ‘Legend’ – the fifth of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Sixteen Songs for Children’, to write a set of variations, which had the unusual and sombre scoring of violin, viola and two celli. Due to the success of the first performance of this piece, Arensky chose to arrange the second movement into a piece for string orchestra.
In ‘Legend’, the young Jesus plants a tree, which grows the thorns used in his crown at his crucifixion. ‘Legend’ was one of the few pieces which Tchaikovsky orchestrated himself, and throughout, the accompaniment is simple and very much homophonic, emphasising the beauty of the melody. This is echoed in the theme section of Arensky’s work, with a similar accompaniment bringing out the haunting beauty of the melody. The first variation, ‘un poco piu mosso’, puts the theme in a canon-like form, with the tune played by each part simultaneously, separated by staggered entries. This, coupled, with constant crescendos and diminuendos following the general melodic shape, gives a sense of yearning, continued by the celli in variation 2, ‘allegro non troppo’, which has a much livelier feel, with semiquavers in the upper strings adding lightness and charm. The combination of poise and energy in the upper parts, with the mournful yet graceful melody at the lower register is reminiscent of the balletic music Tchaikovsky was so known for, such as ‘Swan Lake’. In variation 3, ‘Andantino tranquillo’, the theme moves back into the first violins, with continuous semiquavers passed among the lower strings, giving an expansive feel to the variation. The key also shifts to E major, a key of both joy and dissatisfaction, and, incidentally, the key of a sketch made by Tchaikovsky when he visited a gravely ill Rimsky-Korsakov in Aachen in 1887, which was titled ‘Valse’, and comprised 16 bars of a melody, although whether Arensky knew about this is not evident. Variation 4, ‘Vivace’, is characterised by offbeat quavers in the upper strings, giving a restless tone, added to by the descending, accented pattern passed around the lower strings, the excitement of the variation echoing that feature so recognisable in Tchaikovsky’s work. The fifth variation, ‘Andante’, features scalic decoration in the form of semiquaver passages, conveying beauty and elegance, the simpler texture once again placing the emphasis on the mournful melody. ‘Allegro con spirito’, the sixth variation, is very much in 2, with stresses on each beat of the bar, regular semiquaver passages, and constant escalations to accented chords. This may have been a homage to Tchaikovsky’s famous 1812 Overture, the celebratory military piece with instructions for a cannon at the climax, the commemorative nature of the piece echoing Arensky’s hope in commemorating his friend. In the last variation, ‘Andante con moto’, the waltz-like feel from the accompaniment in the lower parts references Tchaikovsky’s many famous waltzes found throughout his great balletic works. The theme is also played backwards, which Arensky claimed was a reference to military funerals, and the tradition of holding guns upside down in the ceremony. The piece concludes with a coda, in which the theme is played, with the same tempo marking of Moderato as the theme at the opening, in the sombre key of e minor, with four bars of harmonics at the beginning of the coda leaving a lingering nostalgia and setting the coda as the ‘peace after the storm’.
Bibliography:
https://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Anton_Arensky
https://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Sixteen_Songs_for_Children,_Op._54