This form will enable you to retrieve information on some or all of the musical works of Peter Tchaikovsky.  Make your selections in the form below:

Select which types of music to search for:
All Music Categories
Ballet   Chamber   Concerto   Musical Jests
Opera   Orchestra   Other Theatrical Music
Other Theatrical   Piano (Duet)   Piano (Solo)
Religious   Theatrical   Transcriptions/Arrangements
Unknown   Vocal (Multi-Voiced)   Vocal (Solo)
Exclude Student, Superceded, Fragmentary and Lost Works

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Exclude descriptive, historical “notes” from search results.  (Checking this will make the results text shorter and therefore easier to examine for visitors who don’t need background information about the compositions.)

 


NOTES ABOUT THE DESCRIPTIONS FOUND IN THIS WEB SITE

The vast majority of historical information found in the “Notes” about the various works, are quoted verbatim from Chaikovskii: Life and Letters by Modeste Tchaikovsky, translated by Rosa Newmarch, published 1906 by John Lane Company.  Little has been modified from Appendix A of that work, which is labeled “Chronological List of Tchaikovsky’s Compositions from 1866-1893.”  What little has been done has been limited to punctuation changes, alterations to clarify matters which were not at issue when the book was published (e.g., “composed in the seventies” has been changed to “composed in the 1870s”), and substitution of English-language versions of titles in descriptions that cross-referenced another work by a non-English-language equivalent.  (The non-English-language equivalent remains cross-referenced as an alternate title in that work’s principal listing.)

Descriptions in Chaikovskii: Life and Letters were supplemented in several respects.  That work failed to provide opus numbers for several works that have them, so those numbers have been incorporated here.  Facts not provided by the 1906 book supplement those that are; paragraphs consisting of substantive new remarks are credited to this web site’s creator (where he has supplied them).  Lesser remarks are not so credited, but those tend to be confined to brief remarks about developments that had not yet happened when the John Lane Company published its book.  Anyone reading here about a reconstruction done in the 1940s or completed in 1956 should know that the 1906 appendix could not have conveyed these facts, and, therefore, readers shouldn't question that these remarks have been incorporated by the later author.  No author other than this web site’s creator served as intermediary for the 1906 text, of which this author was working from a 1906 copy.

Tchaikovsky by Herbert Weinstock, published 1946 by Alfred A. Knopf, was the source of the “Music Category” information.  Although the “Catalogue of Works” in that book included much other information, there was little that was not duplicated elsewhere.  Descriptive information on this web site that is not quoted verbatim from Chaikovskii: Life and Letters typically is paraphrased from several sources, mostly inset booklets included with compact-disc editions of recordings of Tchaikovsky work.

The principal area in which Chaikovskii: Life and Letters was supplemented was that of student works and student-era works of Tchaikovsky.  These were ignored in his brother’s chronology and are little available (even when they survive).  The second area in which the 1906 source was supplemented was in English translation of song titles.  That book’s translator, Rosa Newmarch, stated in a footnote, “As several English versions exist of many of Tchaikovsky’s songs, and some of these so-called translations have not even titles in common with the original texts, it is less misleading to keep to the German titles.—R. N.”  As wise as her decision may be, the operator of this web site believes that its principal users are conversant in English, and therefore English translations are provided.  Users are warned that titles may be inexact or non-exclusive.

 

How to Search For a Difficult-to-Find Work

The “title” field lists only the main title of a work published as a whole.  Where a portion of a work became known apart from the larger work of which it is part, the user seeking it needs to look in the “Notes” about the larger work.  Should the user not know the opus number, season or full-work title, a full search of the composer's works should be made on the main page; on the “results” page, the user should employ the “Find” function within the browser to locate occurrences of the title of the sub-work.  For example, “None But the Lonely Heart” has become a popular tune by Tchaikovsky, yet it is part of the “six songs” compilation Opus 6.  It is under that number and title that this work is listed.  Once the user determines that the work he seeks is part of opus 6, further investigation may be possible in other resources.

 

The works of Peter Tchaikovsky searchable database website
© 2007 David P. Hayes