The opening chords of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 1 are instantly recognisable; you can listen to the whole piece at the end of this post. The reaction it evoked when it was first played may come as a surprise to you.
Tchaikovsky wrote this to his patroness, Nadezhda von Meck, describing what Nikolai Rubinstein (director of the Moscow Conservatoire) thought of the piece.
It appeared …that passages were trite, awkward, and so clumsy that it was impossible to put them right, that as a composition it was bad and tawdry, that I had filched this bit from here and that bit from there, that there were only two or three pages that could be retained, and that the rest would have to be scrapped or completely revised. …I can’t convey to you the most significant thing -that is, the tone in which all this was delivered. In a word, any outsider who chanced to come into the room might have thought that I was an imbecile, an untalented scribbler, who understood nothing, who had come to an eminent musician to pester him with rubbish …I was not only stunned, I was mortified by the whole scene.
Strong stuff that might have discouraged a lesser man. Tchaikovsky, however, proved himself a man in the mould of Adlai Stevenson (Two Principled Politicians) writing again to Nadezhda von Meck.
I have always written, and shall always write, with feeling and sincerity, never troubling myself as to what the public would think of my work. At the moment of composing, when I am aglow with emotion, it flashes across my mind that all who will hear my music will experience some reflection of what I am feeling myself … I have never deliberately tried to lower myself to the vulgar requirements of the crowd.
It is ironic that yesterday I heard it played at the Royal College of Music by Russian pianist, Victor Maslov, whose picture is at the top of this post. The irony is that he won first prize in the Nikolai Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Paris in 2004. It was a stirring performance showing great virtuosity. He was accompanied by the RCM Philharmonic.
There is no slow movement in the piece. Hammersmith is, however, shortly to be one big slow movement with a blanket 20 mph speed limit on all but a few major roads. These signs are sprouting all over the place.
Amen!