Tchaikovsky Piano Trio, Op. 50

In 1880, Tchaikovsky wrote to his benefactress

"it is torture for me to have to listen to a string trio or a sonata of any kind for piano and strings"

 However, a year later Tchaikovsky had composed his first and only piano trio.

In preparation to tackle this piece when I return to Brandeis in the fall, I have been thinking about what the general ideas are in the first movement. I will use the Heifetz (violin) - Rubinstein (piano) - Piatigorsky (cello) recording.

Almost immediately the cello expresses the first theme which is then carried over to the violin. All the while the piano sets the backdrop of a foreboding scene. I picture two lovers on a ship trying to stay afloat against unrelenting currents.

At 00:31 Tchaikovsky's genius shines with a repeated motif that slightly changes on the last repeat (at 37s) to suddenly change the dialogue. Then in the subsequent passage, the piano takes over the melody and the cello provides the tumultuous backdrop and the whole dialogue repeats between the piano and violin.

At 2:00 a surprising break occurs in the music. Could it be another character? Or maybe we are listening to the internal monologue of his love for her? Whatever the case, there seems to be confusion and quick judgements being made that builds up with anger and rage that is completely taken over by the piano at 2:43.

At 2:54 emotions dissipate and the piano seems to sigh and relax into a new theme. When the other voices join, I picture a dialogue between the cello (him) and the violin (her). As if suddenly he controls his anger and rage in her presence. She eventually takes over at 3:20 and commands the stage with the support of the piano.

Finally at 3:38, we enter her mind and her recollections of their past together. The piano sets the stage by introducing her and the violin picks up her voice. I picture the cello's participation in the melody as a memory of times they shared. 4:07 transitions into violin and cello versus piano. This might suggest how (in her mind) they used to stay together against any adversity. As her thoughts die down going into 5 minutes, the theme changes yet again.


Remember that these interpretations are purely personal. Each person listening is capable of having their own vision for the music. My thoughts here barely scratch the surface of Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio. I hope you will find a little inspiration and maybe a different mindset when listening to classical music.




Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Trio_%28Tchaikovsky%29
http://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Trio,_Op.50_%28Tchaikovsky,_Pyotr%29
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZG5uVC7s-4

Amateur Instructors

How do we assess pricing?

As a rising senior at Brandeis University studying Economics while playing violin on the side, I find myself with more and more violin lesson requests. A little about my mindset:

• I am in no way a professional musician or even considering myself to be one.
• I choose to play violin for fun.

 When I get lesson requests to teach violin, I try to determine what is a "fair" price both for myself and for the student. During the school year, I taught basics and fundamentals to two beginner students in third grade at $10/hr. My peers, parents, and friends urged me to raise the rate, but I did not think my commitment made a higher price worth it.
Throughout the semester, however, I found it to be more enjoyable to teach the student who was more genuinely interested in learning violin. It didn't matter at all to me that I was getting only $10 since it made me happy that the student wanted to learn. On the other hand, I would have wanted to impose a higher rate to teach the other student since my job was seemingly 'harder'.

These considerations make it difficult to determine how to price instruction. A violin teacher of mine from the New England Conservatory Preparatory School once said, "pay what you think is fair". Should this be from the perspective of the student and parent or should it be from the point of view of the teacher's time and their personal accomplishments?