Anton Arensky - Variations on a theme by Tchaikovsky Op. 35a

Anton Arensky

 

(12 July [O.S. 30 June] 1861 – 25 February [O.S. 12 February] 1906)

was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music.

Variations on a theme by Tchaikovsky Op. 35a

Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky, Op. 35a, a piece for string orchestra by Anton Arensky, started out as the slow movement of his String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 35. It was written in 1894, the year after the death of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, in a tribute to that composer. It was based on the theme from the song "Legend: Christ in His Garden", the fifth of Sixteen Children’s Songs, Op. 54.

Tchaikovsky's song was originally set to a Russian translation by Aleksey Pleshcheyev of an English poem called "Roses and Thorns" by the American poet Richard Henry Stoddard.

At the first performance of the quartet, the slow movement was so well received that Arensky soon arranged it as a separate piece for string orchestra, Op. 35a, in which form it has remained among the most popular of all Arensky’s works.

Arensky also made a version of the quartet for the unusual scoring of violin, viola and two cellos.

The Variations are set out in the following sequence:

Theme, Moderato
Variation I, Un poco più mosso
Variation II, Allegro non troppo
Variation III, Andantino tranquillo
Variation IV, Vivace
Variation V, Andante
Variation VI, Allegro con spirito
Variation VII, Andante con moto
Coda: Moderato.

Live recording of the Summer Concert of the Haydn Youth String Orchestra conducted by Jan-Ype Nota on June 10th 2017 in the Nieuwe Kerk in Groningen, The Netherlands.

Anton Arensky – Variations on a theme by Tchaikovsky, Op. 35a
I. Theme, Moderato
II. Variation I, Un poco più mosso
III. Variation II, Allegro non troppo
IV. Variation III, Andantino tranquillo
V. Variation IV, Vivace
VI. Variation V, Andante
VII. Variation VI, Allegro con spirito
VIII. Variation VII, Andante con moto
IX. Coda: Moderato.