Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Capriccio Italien, Op.45

Russian composers loved the South. The "Father of Russian Music", Mikhail Glinka, wrote two colourful overtures on Spanish themes in 1845 and ever afterwards his followers felt free to indulge their love for the Mediterranean. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote a "Capriccio Espagnol" in 1887, Borodin and Glazunov wrote "alla Spagnuola"s and overtures on Greek themes, and Tchaikovsky found release from his worries under the blue skies of Italy. Two of his most colourful works show him relaxing in Italian warmth – the vibrant string sextet "Souvenir de Florence" and the tuneful, perennially popular "Capriccio Italien".

Tchaikovsky and his brother Modest arrived in Rome in December 1879. The previous months had been stressful but as Tchaikovsky relaxed and absorbed the Roman atmosphere his thoughts returned to composition. By late January 1880 he was writing to his patroness Nadezhda von Meck about an "Italian Fantasia" he was planning, based on Glinka’s second Spanish Overture. By the next month it had become an "Italian Suite" and soon after that it was fully sketched out. For once Tchaikovsky was happy with one of his own works. "I predict a good future for my ‘Capriccio’", he wrote, with uncharacteristic optimism " It will be effective thanks to the delightful Italian themes which I managed to collect, partly from anthologies and partly with my own ears in the streets". It was orchestrated in May, receiving its final title of "Capriccio Italien" at the same time, and was premiered to great acclaim in Moscow that December.

Tchaikovsky’s prediction was correct; the "Capriccio" is wonderfully effective and highly tuneful. There’s no reason to doubt that the melodies are genuinely Italian, although only two have been positively identified – the opening fanfare, which, according to Modest, could be heard by the brothers each morning from a barrack adjacent to their hotel, and the closing tarantella, known in Italy as "Cicuzza". Tchaikovsky simply fits them together and scores them in his own inimitably flamboyant manner, with just a few splashes of folk-colour such as the brief "bagpipe" oboe passage in the final tarantella. It’s not "authentic", it’s not profound, and neither was it meant to be. "Capriccio Italien" is simply Tchaikovsky’s invitation to join him, relaxing on holiday and enjoying some terrific tunes in the Italian sunshine.

R.G. Bratby, 2001


Copyright Classical Notes.co.uk 2000
CLICK HERE for a wide and diverse selection of contemporary music and standard repertoire programme notes.