Schubert Tchaikovsky Mozart Müller-Schott

When Tchaikovsky wrote Variations on a Rococo theme for cello and orchestra in the winter of 1876-1877, he was still teaching at the music conservatory in Moscow. One of his colleagues was the German cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen (1848-1890), who was also a composer alongside his teaching. Tchaikovsky invited his colleague, who was younger by eight years, to give his opinion on the composition, and in the autumn of 1877 Fitzenhagen performed the world premiere of the Variations in Moscow, as they had been written out by Tchaikovsky himself.

When the work was about to be printed, something strange had happened: Fitzenhagen had made a number of changes; he had both crossed out notes by the composer, added his own, and changed the movements around! The sequence of events varies slightly according to different sources, but what seems certain is that the publisher wrote to Tchaikovsky expressing his concern about the changes - in a language which did not shed a very flattering light on Fitzenhagen.

Tchaikovsky chose to allow the changes, a decision he arguably regretted. He later expressed irritation about Fitzenhagen’s meddling, but as the years went by, he seems to have accepted them. Ten years later he even let the cellist review another work for cello and orchestra, Pezzo Capriccioso. The revised version of the Variations was a success: after a performance in Wiesbaden in 1879, Franz Liszt himself is said to have generously praised the composition: Fitzenhagen quotes the legendary composer as remarking, “Finally a piece of real music!”

Until the 1950s, Fitzenhagen’s version was the only available one. Then a revised version based on analyses of the original manuscript was published. This version has also been recorded several times. Still, Fitzenhagen’s version and sequence of movements is still the most widely used, and it is this version you will hear in the concert, played by a German star cello player of our own time, Daniel Müller-Schott.

Tchaikovsky was a great admirer of Mozart, and drew inspiration from his idol in the Variations. The theme is not from the Rococo era, but is written by the composer in Rococo style. The term “Rococo” is not usually used when describing Mozart’s music, but lies close to it nevertheless in terms of time and ideas. Following the Variations the stage will be set for one of Mozart’s own masterpieces: Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major, written in 1788. The concert will start with Schubert’s unfinished Symphony No. 8.