Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Orchestra
- Composed
- 1877
- Duration
- 20'
- Publisher
- Public Domain
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About this piece
Tchaikovsky's first work for cello and orchestra, written between December 1876 and January 1877 for his Moscow Conservatory colleague Wilhelm Fitzenhagen and scored for a small Classical orchestra of paired woodwind, two horns and strings. Fitzenhagen checked and altered the cello-and-piano draft, then went further, reordering the variations, cutting the eighth and rewriting the solo part; Jurgenson protested but Tchaikovsky let it stand ('Let it stand as it is', he told Brandukov in 1889). Fitzenhagen premiered his version in Moscow in November 1877 and it remained the only one known until Kubatsky reconstructed the original (theme and eight variations) in the 1956 Complete Collected Works; both are on IMSLP. Wikipedia notes its Classical form reminiscent of 18th-century composers such as Mozart.
Technical overview
Fitzenhagen rewrote the solo part extensively, inserting passages and altering tempos; his version is the one most cellists learn. Both versions last about 20 minutes.