Description
February, "Carnival," from The Seasons, Op. 37b. The set was commissioned by a St Petersburg monthly, one piece per issue, each with a Russian poem as its epigraph. February belongs to Maslenitsa, the week before Lent when butter and pancakes see the winter out — the noisiest week in the Russian year.
In duple time, a theme suggesting the din of the fair keeps returning over a springing rhythm. The middle section changes key and settles briefly before the noise pulls it back. At over four and a half minutes it is one of the longer pieces in the set, with some 1,800 notes.
It is rated intermediate, but the length is hard to manage. With the theme returning so often, playing it identically makes the festivity monotonous: vary the volume and colour at each return and draw a clear difference against the middle section. Keep the springing rhythm without striking it — not losing that lightness is what keeps the crowd alive.
Twelve piano pieces Tchaikovsky composed in 1875-76, each depicting a month of the Russian year in music.
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Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was Russia's foremost Romantic composer, achieving worldwide fame through ballets such as Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. His style blends Western compositional technique with Russian melodic warmth, and his pedagogical piano collection Children's Album remains a beloved favorite. This site includes 7 of his works, including pieces from that collection and The Seasons.
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