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Piano Concerto No. 2 (Tchaikovsky)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, Op. 44, was written in 1879–1880 and dedicated to Nikolai Rubinstein, who had insisted he perform it at the premiere as a way of making up for his harsh criticism of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. But Rubinstein never played it, as he died in March 1881, and the work has never attained much popularity.

Piano Concerto in G major

44

1880 (1880)

Nikolai Rubinstein

12 November 1881 (1881-11-12): New York City

three

The premiere performance took place in New York City, on 12 November 1881. The soloist was Madeline Schiller, and Theodore Thomas conducted the New York Philharmonic orchestra.[1] The first Russian performance was in Moscow in May 1882,[2] conducted by Anton Rubinstein with Tchaikovsky's pupil, Sergei Taneyev, at the piano.

Instrumentation[edit]

The work is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B-flat and A, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in D, timpani, solo piano, and strings. Notable is the absence of trombones and tuba.

Other uses[edit]

George Balanchine set his ballet Ballet Imperial to this score in 1941, and it remains in the active repertoire of many companies under the revised title Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2.

Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Man and His Music (New York: Pegasus Books, 2007).  978-1-933648-30-9.

ISBN

Warrack, John, Tchaikovsky Symphonies and Concertos (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1969)

Tchaikovsky Research

: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

Piano Concerto No. 2