# Tchaikovsky



## huBelial (Apr 11, 2008)

The other day I listened to Tchaikovsky and I just freaking love this guy. His Romeo and Juliet and The Nutcracker Suite is just absolutely breath taking. So I was wondering if there are any more composers out there like Tchaikovsky.


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

there are many more musical moments such as you have experienced!
i suggest some tchaikovsky symphonies and swan lake ballet suite.

dj


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## Drowning_by_numbers (May 30, 2006)

If you like Tchaik you may want to try the early Stravinsky ballets, which were heavily influenced by Tchaik. I recommen the firebird.. but there are a lot to choose from.


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## Yagan Kiely (Feb 6, 2008)

Sibelius symphony No.1

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Sibelius+Symphony+No.1&search_type=


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## Artemis (Dec 8, 2007)

For more classical ballet music, Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Delibes' Coppelia, Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty.


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## shsherm (Jan 24, 2008)

The Seasons by Alexander Glazounov is a very pretty and exciting composition. You might also try Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor by Borodin. The Russians had a flair for writing scores for ballet.


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## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

Antonin Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana. They've created some wonderful melodies, too. And if you're interested, there's a discussion on Tchaikovsky's music in the Composer Guestbook section of the forum.


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## huBelial (Apr 11, 2008)

opus67 said:


> Antonin Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana. They've created some wonderful melodies, too. And if you're interested, there's a discussion on Tchaikovsky's music in the Composer Guestbook section of the forum.


Thanks for telling me that opus.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

When I saw this topic, I didn't know whether or not I wanted to get cute with a link to a prior, related topic, or whether I simply wanted to quote myself.

What the heck... I'll do both! We covered some of this ground in this thread. More relevant to the immediate question, my entry was


Chi-town/Philly said:


> If you like large-scale Tchaikovsky works, you have a good chance of enjoying:
> Rimsky-Korsakov _Scheherazade_ (as saliently pointed out by others)
> Mussorgsky (Ravel orchestration) _Pictures at an Exhibition_.
> Borodin _Polovetsian Dances_ from Prince Igor, and Symphony #2.
> ...


Also relevant is the question "are there any more composers like Tchaikovsky?" Well... Tchaikovsky is arguably the greatest tunesmith God gave Classical Music. You can find _pieces_ that are like Tchaikovsky works, but there never really has been (nor will there be) anyone _like_ Tchaikovsky. Still, I think that the composer who comes closest to the (fractured Gatorade commercial) goal of "Be like Tchaik" is, ultimately, Rachmaninoff.


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## Edward Elgar (Mar 22, 2006)

Nobody has mentioned some of Shostakovich's more commercial tunes. I'm sure he took inspiration from the master!


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

The best Tchaikovsky before going elsewhere....his operas!!!! Thay are awesome.

Entrée: Evgeny Onieguin
Main dish: Opritchnik
Dessert: Pikovaia dama

He composed 10 operas

Listen also the the maid of Orleans, Cherevichky and Voyevoda...another day.

LOL


Martin Pitchon


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Russian Composers own everyone


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

*I was 17...*

at midnight I got to the Red square, it was snowing, January...the lights were magic, the silent...I was with my mother and I started trembling...OMG...Oh my God, I said, I feel in my country! This is my country, I'm sure I have been here before, in another life! I was living in Argentina then...Now since last year, I'm learning Russian.

I read many many Russian writers, I love Russian music...I have a link...Nobody in my family is Russian...But I thing I'd like to die there.

When I went to Russia in 1970 I stayed 45 days and went almost every night to the Bolshoi(big), the Mali (small) theatre and others...In Kiev I went twice to the opera and I saw Rigoletto and Traviata in Russian...LOL

In 1971 I went again, for 30 days this time and went about 15 times to the opera...

I bought 70 LP in my first trip and about 45 my second. I could have a CD for every LP I had, the best versions of each opera (ex.: Evgeny Onieguin: Lemeshev and Kozlovsky (for Lemsky)...I have 4 versions of Tsarskaya Nevesta (the tsar's bride - Rimsky), Cherevichki, 3 versions, Russalka (Dargomizhsky), 4 versions...including a new one longer (3 CDs)

I am a Russia freak...I like their culture and I met D.S. there too...

Martin Pitchon:tiphat:


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## scytheavatar (Aug 27, 2009)

Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Stravinsky are definitely NOT Russian composers; they are Soviet composers and there's a night and day difference between the Russian and the Soviet sound. The last surviving Russian composer is probably Rachmaninoff, and he's probably the closest you can get to Tchaikovsky's heir.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Stravinsky are definitely NOT Russian composers; they are Soviet composers and there's a night and day difference between the Russian and the Soviet sound. The last surviving Russian composer is probably Rachmaninoff, and he's probably the closest you can get to Tchaikovsky's heir. 


I don't think like you...It is difficult to say who is Russian who is Soviet. For Shostakovich, Khachaturian, Kabalevsky no doubtm Soviet...Stravinsky lived in France and finally he went to USA...Prokofiev lived for a long time in France and came back...to URSS with many foreign ideas...But he was Soviet indeed.

Even though, the roots are there...and Pushkin was Pushkin for every Russian composer...Russian or Soviet...The Nose composed by Shostakovich was a Gogol short story...Prokofiev's love fro three oranges was the Italian Gozzi (see Turandot) and War and Peace (Leon Tolstoi)...Roots are there! WE cannot make a divroce Russian-Soviet...It doesn't work like that.

Cordially

Martin Pitchon


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

scytheavatar said:


> Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Stravinsky are definitely NOT Russian composers; they are Soviet composers and there's a night and day difference between the Russian and the Soviet sound. The last surviving Russian composer is probably Rachmaninoff, and he's probably the closest you can get to Tchaikovsky's heir.


Shostakovich and Prokofiev are definitely Russian, just _modern_. Their music wasn't all about Social Idealism. Plus, they took compositions lessons from the great Russians, so they could shake all that influence off. I can almost hear hints of Glazunov in both composers, and _he_ wasn't Soviet.

However, I do agree with Stravinsky. Apart from a few works like the Firebird, most of his music is the most un-Russian music you could ever know. Completely Frenchified, Atonalized, depending on what era you examine. A Russian Dance is Petrouchka? Hardly. Stravinsky is the ultimate Unrussian composer. And that's why I'm opposed to him for the most part, except for his early works.


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## Sebastien Melmoth (Apr 14, 2010)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> Shostakovich and Prokofiev are definitely Russian, just _modern_.


Have to agree here.

However, find *Stravinsky just as Russian as Myaskovsky*.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

*sorry*

But Stravinsky quit Russia, Myaskovsky stayed. The latter composed 27 symphonies, Stravinsky didn't. Stravinsky was very audacious, Myaskovsky wasn't.

Martin Pitchon


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## Sebastien Melmoth (Apr 14, 2010)

myaskovsky2002 said:


> _Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Stravinsky are definitely Soviet composers and there's a night and day difference between the Russian and the Soviet sound. The last surviving Russian composer is probably Rachmaninoff, and he's probably the closest you can get to Tchaikovsky's heir. _


I've been thinking about this, and there is a point made here. Those composers are all Russians thru-and-thru; however, those Russian modernists worked within a *Soviet aesthetic*.

Elements of the *Soviet aesthetic* include *Constructivism*, stylized *military esthetic*, and *machine esthetic*.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(art)


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Sebastien Melmoth said:


> Elements of the Soviet aesthetic include Constructivism, stylized military esthetic, and machine esthetic.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(art)


Yes, Shostakovich made the epic battle scenes, Prokofiev the whirring steel gears.

Also, Social Idealism, the idea that music should be understandable by everyone, patriotic, and uplifting.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

*Things are less simple as we can say...*

Shostakovich, Khrennikov, Khachaturian, Kabalevsky, Myaskovsky...Soviet? YES!!!

Prokofiev...flirting with both...Less constructivist with some compositions, terribly with others (Le pas d'acier, on the Dniepr)...sometimes more European (Romeo and Juliette, the stone flower)...sometimes just Russian: War and Peace, the fairy angel, Maddalena...Sometimes very Sovietic: Story of a real man, Simeon Kotko...

Prokofiev was l'enfant terrible for many years, he lived in France and composed Love for 3 oranges...(in French? and translated to Russian,...I don't really know).
L'enfant terrible was finally "tamed", he went back to Russia and became a "good Soviet guy"...His terrible 3rd symphony, his terrible Gambler were suffocated! Like Shostakovich witth his Nose or his Gamblers, symphonies 2 and 3....They were reborn more classic, then they had a brain washing....LOL

Martin Pitchon


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## Sebastien Melmoth (Apr 14, 2010)

Much of Prokoffiev's music is imbued with the *Soviet aesthetic*.

I'm thinking of things like his *Seventh Piano Sonata*.


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## PianoCoach (Nov 28, 2010)

*Long, lyrical melodies*

Tchaikovsky was classically trained in the German style but added Russian flavor to his music. This is not true of many of his Russian contemporaries who tried to develop a unique Russian style. Do you like the German structure or the Russian harmonies?

The part of Tchaikovsky that I like most are his long, lyrical melodies. I compare those beautiful lines to Mozart. If you like the beautiful "singing" melodies, I suggest you explore Mozart. I think you would also like Rachmaninoff especially piano Cto #2.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Sebastien Melmoth said:


> Much of Prokoffiev's music is imbued with the *Soviet aesthetic*.
> 
> I'm thinking of things like his *Seventh Piano Sonata*.


Perhaps perhaps. Not sure if he labeled it himself "War Sonata 2: Stalingrad," it could've been a label the USSR put on it. He did win a Stalin Prize 2nd Class for it. But what's ironic is he quotes a Schumann lieder, which no one knew about, in 2nd mvmt., saying, "Nightingales... sing their song of longing from their dungeon's depth... everyone delights, yet no one feels the pain, the deep sorrow in the song." I think if the USSR knew he was expressing that, he would've got in trouble.

8th Sonata had Soviet aesthetic too, it was much respected until it was banned. :/


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

*Prostitye pazhalsta...*

Tchaikovsky was classically trained in the German style but added Russian flavor to his music. This is not true of many of his Russian contemporaries who tried to develop a unique Russian style. Do you like the German structure or the Russian harmonies?

The part of Tchaikovsky that I like most are his long, lyrical melodies. I compare those beautiful lines to Mozart. If you like the beautiful "singing" melodies, I suggest you explore Mozart. I think you would also like Rachmaninoff especially piano Cto #2. 
========================================================
Have you listened his opera Opritchnik...and Mazeppa...These are pure Russian!!!!!!
No European...forget the "ballcracker" and the "Ducks' lake"....LOL. Tchaikovsky had this ambivalence....

Many Prokofiev's works are Soviet Contructivist....LE pas d'acier shos the machines working...compare with the painter Fernand Leger....also communist.

Please take a look.

http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&b...esult_group&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CEIQsAQwAg

Music and painting go hand in hand.

Martin Pitchon


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