Symphony No. 2
Little Russian
A symphony steeped in Ukrainian folk song, bright and rhythmic rather than tragic. It shows Tchaikovsky binding national melody to symphonic form with real confidence.
Tchaikovsky wrote most of this symphony in 1872, much of it while staying with his sister at Kamenka in Ukraine, where he absorbed the local songs that shape the work. The critic Nikolai Kashkin later gave it the nickname Little Russian, the term then used for Ukraine, because Tchaikovsky draws on three Ukrainian folk tunes. It was premiered in Moscow under Nikolai Rubinstein in February 1873 and was an immediate success with public and colleagues, including the nationalist circle around Balakirev.
The folk material is placed openly. A solo horn opens the first movement with a variant of Down by Mother Volga. The central section of the slow movement uses Spin, O My Spinner, and the finale takes The Crane through a long, driving set of orchestral variations. In 1880 Tchaikovsky substantially revised the work. He recomposed the first movement afresh, keeping only its introduction and coda, rescored the middle movements, and cut roughly 150 bars from the finale. That later version is the one usually played. The scoring is clear and energetic, and the finale in particular has a bright, hammering brilliance that made the symphony an early favourite.
Movements
Recordings coming soon
The individual movements will be uploaded here.