Tchaikovsky’s Classicisms

Eighteenth-century syntactic routines—formal functions and schemata—endured stubbornly in Tchaikovsky’s compositions. His application of these formulae was diverse, and analysis of his works reveals multiple “classicisms,” which can be broadly placed on a spectrum derived from Friderich Schiller’s distinction of “naive” and “sentimental.” On the one hand, certain passages are invested in eighteenth-century terms of expression and organization, which ground musical communication and are preserved in a notional line of continuity down to Tchaikovsky’s present. At other times, Tchaikovsky’s way of realizing eighteenth-century syntactic patterns suggests greater detachment, something more knowing that the listener may recognize as a deliberate signal. These passages draw on old conventions for deliberately antique effect, consistent with a wider aesthetic of the “characteristic” that is found in much of his music. Other passages could be termed “idyllic”: they are colored by intense subjective emotion and point to a lost ideal of guileless simplicity. Finally, exaggeration and distortion occasionally led to the “grotesque,” a darkly ironic twist on Tchaikovsky’s beloved Mozart. Some of the passages examined in this article imply a deep understanding of eighteenth-century compositional principles and a remarkable ability to apply them anew. That understanding appears to have developed over time and culminated in what turned out to be Tchaikovsky’s last years.