Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' was the inspiration for two works by

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

: the overture-fantasia ''Hamlet'', Op. 67, and

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

for the play, Op. 67a.

Overture-Fantasia, Op. 67

Tchaikovsky wrote the ''Hamlet'' overture-fantasia, Op. 67, between June and 19 October 1888, overlapping the scoring of his Fifth Symphony. The idea of a ''Hamlet'' overture had first occurred to Tchaikovsky in 1876, as outlined in his plans in a letter to his brother Modest. At that time, he conceived it in three parts: : 1. Elsinore and Hamlet, up to the appearance of his father's ghost : 2. Polonius (scherzando) and Ophelia (adagio), and : 3. Hamlet after the appearance of the ghost. His death and Fortinbras. However, by 1888 he had altered these notions. The actor Lucien Guitry asked him to write some

for a production of Shakespeare's play, to which Tchaikovsky agreed. The planned performance was cancelled, but Tchaikovsky decided to finish what he had started, in the form of a

concert overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which were ...

. There is no musical enactment of the events of the play, or even a presentation of the key characters. The work adopts the same scheme he used in his other Shakespeare pieces, the fantasy-overture ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' (1869, revised 1870 and 1880) and the symphonic fantasy ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' (1873), in using certain characteristics or emotional situations within the play. The essence of the work is the brooding atmosphere depicting Elsinore, but there is an obvious love theme, and a plaintive melody on the oboe can be seen to represent Ophelia. What makes "Hamlet" unique from other works of Tchaikovsky fantasy is the lack of a structural development. The standard form of this music has an exposition, a development, and concludes with a recapitulation. Tchaikovsky did not clearly emphasize a development section in "Hamlet." The ''Hamlet'' overture-fantasia was dedicated to

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

, whom Tchaikovsky had met in Leipzig in early 1888 on the same occasion that he met

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

. He described Grieg as "an extraordinarily charming man". The Symphony No. 5 was premiered on 17 November 1888, and the ''Hamlet'' overture-fantasia had its first performance a week later, on 24 November. Both performances were in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, and Tchaikovsky conducted both of them. While ''Hamlet'' was not a great success, it still received a better initial reception than the symphony did, but it has subsequently assumed a lower profile in Tchaikovsky's works. Excerpts from the score were used in the 2005 ballet ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, Анна Каренина, p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Tolstoy called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial in ...

'', choreographed by

Boris Eifman Boris Eifman (Борис Яковлевич Эйфман; born 22 July 1946) is a Russian choreographer and artistic director. He has done more than fifty ballet productions. Biography Eifman was born in Rubtsovsk, Siberia, where his engineer ...

Incidental music, Op. 67a

Lucien Guitry again asked Tchaikovsky to write

for ''

''. This time, it was for a benefit production on 21 February 1891 at the

Mikhaylovsky Theatre The Mikhailovsky Theatre () is one of Russia's oldest opera and ballet houses. It was founded in 1833 and occupies a Brulleau-designed building on 1, Arts Square in Saint Petersburg. It is named after Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia. S ...

, and it was to be Guitry's farewell performance. Tchaikovsky started work on the incidental music on 13 January, but found it difficult. He was exhausted from completing '' The Queen of Spades'', which had premiered to a triumph in December 1890. Also that month, his patroness

Nadezhda von Meck Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck (; 13 January 1894) was a Russian businesswoman who became an influential patron of the arts, especially music. She is best known today for her artistic relationship with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, supporting him fin ...

had severed her connection with him. He was also suffering an affliction of the right hand. For these reasons he had cancelled his conducting engagements in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

and

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, and retired for rest and recuperation to Frolovskoye. For the overture, he used the earlier stand-alone ''Hamlet'' overture-fantasia Op. 67, but in a shortened form. In the 16 other numbers, as well as writing some new music, he also used material from the incidental music to ''

The Snow Maiden ''The Snow Maiden: A Spring Fairy Tale'' ( rus, Снегурочка–весенняя сказка, Snegurochka–vesennyaya skazka, a=Ru-Snegurochka.ogg) is an opera in four acts with a prologue by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composed d ...

'', Op. 12 (1873), from the ''alla tedesca'' movement of the Third Symphony (1875), and from the ''Elegy for Ivan Samarin'' (1884). The writing was finished by 3 February. Tchaikovsky travelled from Moscow to attend the performance in Saint Petersburg. He enjoyed the performance for the acting, but he never thought much of the music he had produced, and refused permission for it to be used in a later production in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Sources

* Alexander Poznansky, ''Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man'', pp. 485, 492, 494, 523, 525 * John Warrack, ''Tchaikovsky'' pp. 214, 217-218, 244. * ''Groves’ Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 5th ed.

External links

*
Tchaikovsky Research– Overture-Fantasia

Tchaikovsky Research – Incidental music

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamlet (Tchaikovsky) Incidental music Concert overtures Orchestral compositions by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphonic poems by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Music based on Hamlet 1888 compositions 1891 compositions Music with dedications Overtures by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Fantasias (music)