

It has not been precisely established when the sketches were completed, but "this week" ended on 22 December/3 January (Sunday), and bearing in mind that the arrangement for two pianos was finished on 21 December 1874/2 January 1875 (according to the manuscript), it might be concluded that the sketches for the concerto were completed on the journey back from Kiev, i.e. On returning to Moscow, he wrote to Modest Tchaikovsky that he had worked "tirelessly" on the concerto, which in his words "certainly should be finished this week". īetween 7/19–12/24 December, Tchaikovsky visited Kiev for a production of The Oprichnik. In a letter from the composer to Modest Tchaikovsky of 28 November/10 December, we read: "I am completely bogged down in the composition of the piano concerto it's coming along-but very poorly". I'm routinely having to be strict with myself, and to compel piano passages to come into my head.". "I'm now entirely immersed in composing a piano concerto", Tchaikovsky wrote on 21 November/3 December, and in the same letter he complained that "it's going with much difficulty and rather badly. In a letter to Vasily Bessel of 9/21 November the composer reported: "I am again beginning to think about a new large-scale composition which, since I finished the piano score of the opera, has taken over all my thoughts". The first reference to the concerto is found in a letter to Modest Tchaikovsky of 29 October/10 November 1874, when Tchaikovsky had completed work on the piano score of the opera Vakula the Smith: "I wanted to start a piano concerto-but for some reason it didn't work out". Allegro con fuoco (B-flat major, 301 bars) Ī complete performance of the concerto lasts approximately 35 minutes.Andantino semplice (D-flat major, 170 bars).Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso (D-flat major)-Allegro con spirito (B-flat minor, 865 bars).The concerto is scored for solo piano and an orchestra comprising 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in B-flat), 2 bassoons + 4 horns (in F), 2 trumpets (in F), 3 trombones + 3 timpani + violins I, violins II, violas, cellos, and double basses.
