Tchaikovsky, First Quartet for Strings - Andante

In 1871, a 31-year-old Tchaikovsky had been teaching harmony for five years at the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society, which would later become the Moscow Conservatory. He had come to that position following an invitation extended by his friend Nicholas Rubinstein, who at the time was serving as director of the school. But the salary was rather meager, and Tchaikovsky was forced to write articles of music criticism to increase his income, thus taking precious time away from composition.

The Quartet No. 1 - Premiere

In these circumstances, five years before the appearance on the scene of Madame von Meck and the six thousand rubles a year that came with her, the young master resolved to stage a concert with his own works and for his own benefit, which took place in March 1871. The concert included the contribution of his friend Rubinstein who accompanied some ladies of the nobility on the piano in a couple of songs, and ended in style with the First Quartet for Strings written by Tchaikovsky, composed just a month before, and which on the occasion was performed by professors of the Russian Musical Society.

Tolstoy and the Andante

The evening was a success, even financially, and constituted an important first step in the composer's career. During the rest of his life, Tchaikovsky would write only two other string quartets, and although according to connoisseurs the third is the best of them all, none is as popular as this one, No. 1, due, especially to its famous second movement, Andante. According the maestro himself recounts in his Diary, it once made Leo Tolstoy weep:

"I believe that never, in all my existence as a musician, have I ever felt so flattered and moved as the moment when Tolstoy, seated next to me, began to sob on hearing my First Quartet."

Quartet No. 1 in D major, opus 11 - Andante cantabile
It is in the usual four movements. Presented here is the second, Andante cantabile, in a performance by the Russian Borodin Quartet. It opens with a simple folk melody that Tchaikovsky would have once heard sung by a carpenter. The second theme is original, and is introduced by the first violin, at 2:29. Numerous arrangements for string orchestra and various other instrumental combinations have contributed to the movement's popularity.