Pezzo capriccioso, Op. 62
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Piano
- Composed
- 1887
- Duration
- 7'
- Publisher
- Public Domain
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About this piece
Tchaikovsky's second work for cello and orchestra, written in a single week at Aachen in August 1887 while visiting his seriously ill friend Nikolay Kondratyev; he told his publisher it was 'the single fruit of my musical spirit from the whole summer'. A single Andante con moto in B minor, it is his shortest concert piece for the instrument. Brandukov and the composer gave the first performance privately in Paris in February 1888, and Brandukov played the orchestral version under Tchaikovsky in Moscow in 1889. Tchaikovsky's own cello-and-piano version (Jurgenson, 1888) and the orchestral score are both free on IMSLP, including Kubatsky's Urtext editions.
Technical overview
Brandukov was asked to ‘put the final touches to the cello part’ and Fitzenhagen to mark it; most of the solo part in the autograph score is in Brandukov’s hand. The sources give no further technical detail.