''The Tempest'' (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Буря ''Burya''), Symphonic Fantasia after Shakespeare, Op. 18, is a

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ( ...

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp ...

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 ...

composed in 1873. It was premiered in December 1873, conducted by Nikolai Rubinstein. It is based on the play ''

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 ...

'' by

William 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 nation ...

. Similar in structure to Tchaikovsky's better-known ''

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 ...

'' fantasy-overture, it contains themes depicting the stillness of the ship at sea, the grotesque nature of Caliban, and the love between Ferdinand and Miranda. The love music is particularly strong, being reminiscent of the love music from ''

''. Tchaikovsky was much influenced by Shakespeare: in addition to ''Romeo and Juliet'' and ''The Tempest'', he also wrote a ''Hamlet'' overture-fantasy (1888) 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 ...

to ''

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 ...

'' (1891). 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 ...

Instrumentation

Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets (B♭), 2 Bassoons + 4 Horns (F), 2 Trumpets (F), 3 Trombones, Tuba + Timpani, Cymbals, Bass Drum + Violins I, Violins II, Violas, Cellos, Double Basses

References

External links

Tchaikovsky ResearchSheet musicArchived
21 August 2006 at The Wayback Machine
Full Score
Symphonic poems by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Music based on The Tempest 1873 compositions Compositions in F minor

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 popular ...

{{classical-composition-stub