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The Folk influence On Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky

Folk means people or a group (Collins Dictionary, 2017). The folk influence has

been around for hundreds of years influencing many people in various ways

whether it be through music or traditional tales or other folk traditions. This has

often been the spark to create many new works being derived partly or fully from

these influences. When you look further into the composers who's works by

influenced by folk traditions, you see even more differences whether by basing a

whole ballet on a traditional folk tale or by using traditional songs within their music.

Two composers who have both being influenced by folk in different ways are

Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky with one influenced through traditional folk music and

another though traditional folk tales.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, Vyatka Governorate (present day

Ukraine) on 25th April 1840. His family had a long history of military service but his

parents where both trained in the arts as a necessity for entertainment during

postings (Wiley, 2009). He began piano lessons at young age and studied at the

Saint Petersburg conservatory after a short career in civil service. He was not a

member of the The New Russian School due to there attacks on his tutor Anton

Rubinstein due to his beliefs in proper music training and musical conservatism. He

however remained on good terms with most of the group who where supportive of

his music but he wanted to ensure his musical independence from them (Holden,

2009). Some of his notable works are Swan Lake, Marche Slave and the

Nutcracker. He died on 25th October 1893 in Saint Petersburg, 9 days after the

premier of his 6th Symphony.

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Tchaikovsky was greatly influenced by folk with a mixture of influences coming from

both traditional folk tales and traditional folk songs within his works. The Ballets

Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty where both based on traditional folk tales-Swan

Lake being based on an variety of different folk tales (Royal Opera House, 2015)

while Sleeping Beauty is based on the traditional folktale. The folk influence was not

just limited to his ballets and influences coming from folk tales. His 2nd Symphony

The Little Russian uses three different Ukrainian folk songs within it; Down by

Mother Volga, Spin, O my spinner and The Crane. It became a great success

upon its premier, gaining respect for Tchaikovsky from the five and led to its

nickname of The Little Russian (Holden, 2009). Marche Slave which was written

during the Serbo-Turkish war describing the Turkish oppression of the Serbs with

the Russians rallying and volunteering marching through to help the Serbs. Many

Russian and Serbian Folk tunes are heard within it. In the first section which

describes the oppression of the Serbs by the Turkish, two different Serbian folk

songs are heard "Sunce jarko, ne sija jednako" (Bright sun, you do not shine

equally and "Rado ide Srbin u vojnike" (Gladly does the Serb become a soldier).

God Save the Tsar, the Russian national anthem at the time is also heard twice, first

within the second movement solemnly and at the end emphasising the triumph of

the serbs over the turkish. Even when composing it, Tchaikovsky referred to it as his

Serbo-Russian March (Heraclides and Dialla, 2015).

One important example of folk influence on Tchaikovsky is shown within the 1812

overture. The 1812 overture was written in 1880 to commemorate Russias defence

against Napoleons Grande Arme in 1812. The defeat of Napoleon, the greatest

military commander at the time inspired a new sense of nationalist pride and many

new pieces of music where commend by the Russian Government to proclaim there
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countrys greatness (St Olaf College, 2014). The piece starts with the Russian

Hymn O Lord, Save Thy People before moving through many different themes

portraying the distress of the Russians due to the invading French. This section also

includes the traditional Russian folk dance "U Vorot, Vorot (At the gate, at my gate).

Example 1: U Vorot, U Vorot within the woodwind section (Goodmusic,2010)

Tchaikovskys folk influence is not just limited to Russian Folk tunes as you also

hear a brief fragment of La Marseillaise slowly growing louder to symbolise the

French army approaching closer and closer before a mixture of the Russian folk

tunes and La Marseillaise appear to symbolise the great fight.

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Example 2: La Marseillaise and U Vorot, U Vorot in response to each other

(Goodmusic,2010)

It is not until you hear bells and a repeat of O Lord, Save Thy People that you

realise that the Russian army has defeated the French due to god intervening and

bringing a cold destructive winter to drive away the french. In the final section, you

hear God Save The Tsar in the low brass alongside accented cannon blasts

celebrating this great victory.

Example 3: God Save the Tsar at the end of the 1812 overture (Goodmusic,2010)
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With the many folk tunes shown within the overture as well as the inclusion of God

Save The Tsar at the end, this shows a clear influence of nationalism on

Tchaikovsky. In the years after the premier of the 1812 overture, national pride in

Russia was at the highest level in decades (St Olaf College, 2014).

A direct comparison on the way Tchaikovsky has been influenced is through the

way Stravinsky has been influenced. Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was born in

Oranienbaum, a suburb of Saint Petersburg on 17th June 1882. His parents where

both from Ukraine with father being a famous bass singer. He took piano lessons as

a child but studied law at university at his parents wishes-only receiving a half

diploma in 1906 due to being unable to take his final exams (Walshe, 2001). He

studied composition with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov-a member of the new Russian

school from 1905 until his death 1908 who he considers to be a second father

(Stravinsky, 1975). Some of his notable works are the Rite of Spring, The Firebird

and the ballet Petrushka which are all known for having influences from Russian

Folk Music. He died in New York on 6th April 1971 aged 88.

Likewise to Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky was also influenced by folk in many different

ways. He had a very keen interest in Russian folklore which showed in pieces such

as his ballet, The Firebird where Russian folk tunes can be heard within it such as

such as the oboe and horn solo which opens the finale having been taken from

Rimsky-Korsakovs 100 Russian Folk Tunes published in 1876 (Jaffe, 2012). As

well, the Rite of Spring has been claimed by many musicologists to contain many

different folk tunes. Although this folk influence was something that Stravinsky

denied, he admitted that the opening Bassoon solo was derived from an anthology

of Lithuanian Folk songs (Vlad, 1971).

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Example 3: The Opening Bassoon solo from the Rite of Spring (Boosey and

Hawkes,1967)

An important piece of Stravinskys with clear folk influences is Petrushka. Petrushka

was a ballet composed in 1910. Written for the 1912 season of Ballets Russes, it

was premiered in Paris during the spring of 1912. There are Russian folk influences

throughout with the main story being based on Russian Folk material. The folk

culture of Russia was something which Stravinsky relied heavily on in order to

compete the score for Petrushka-despite the fact that the influences of Folk Music

on Russian Culture where beginning to disappear in the early 20 Century. You can

argue this influence being down to Rimsky-Korsakov.It was believed that Folk would

give rhythm, provide antiquity, richness and a remarkable state of preservation to

Russian music (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2014). Many

different Russian folk tunes appear throughout the ballet; within the First Tableau-

The Shrovetide Fair, you hear four different folk tunes, Song of the Volochobniki,

Toward Evening, in Rainy Autumn, A Linden Tree is in the Field and Song for St.

John's Eve. Within the Fourth Tableau - The Shrovetide Fair (Toward Evening), you

also hear the folk tune Down the Petersky Road.

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Example 4: The adaption of Song of the Volochobniki within the brass section

(Boosey and Hawkes,1947)

There are many ways in which Tchaikovsky and Stravinskys folk influence contrast

and differ from each other. Similarities between the two include a strong influence of

folk tales-this showing very clearly within Tchaikovskys ballets such as Swan Lake

and Sleeping beauty. Stravinsky also had an influence of folk tales which was also

shown within his ballets such as The Firebird and Petrushka. Both composers

where also very keen on using folk tunes within their works too, Tchaikovsky using

traditional folk tunes such as "Rado ide Srbin u vojnike" (Gladly does the Serb

become a soldier) to help describe storys, while Stravinsky used folk tunes such as

Song of the Volochobniki to help preserve traditional Russian Music. There are

many differences as well between the way Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky have been

influenced by folk within there various compositions. Despite the fact that both

Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky are Russian, there is a clear sense of Nationalist pride

within Tchaikovskys music with the Russian national anthem of the time, God Save

the Tsar included in two of his works, Marche Slave and the 1812 overture.

Although Stravinsky was not a very nationalist composer and didn't include national

themes such as God Save the Tsar within his works, he had a very strong interest

in Ukrainian folk elements due to his ancestry being from there and also frequently
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visiting Ukraine during his summers (White, 1979). In his house in Ukraine, He

worked on his seventeen early compositions which include Fireworks, Firebird,

Petrushka and the Rite of Spring.

(1500 words)

Bibliography:

Collins Dictonary, 2017. Definition of 'folk'. [online] Available at: < https://

www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/folk > [Accessed 10 April 2017].

Wiley,R.J., 2009. Tchaikovsky. Oxford, Oxford University Press

Holden,A., 2009. Tchaikovsky: A Biography. London, Bantam Press

Royal Opera House, 2015. The Swan Lake mystery: An amalgam of different fairytales'.

[online] Available at: < http://www.roh.org.uk/news/the-swan-lake-mystery-an-amalgam-of-

different-fairytales > [Accessed 13 April 2017].

Heraclides, A., and Dialla, A., 2015. Humanitarian Intervention in the Long Nineteenth
Century: Setting the Precedent. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Tchaikovsky, P., 2010. 1812 Overture. [score] Tewkesbury: Goodmusic.

St Olaf College, 2014. Aftershocks of 1812: Nationalism and Censorship in Tchaikovskys

1812 Overture'. [online] Available at: < https://pages.stolaf.edu/music242-spring2014/

portfolio/aftershocks-of-1812-nationalism-and-censorship-in-tchaikovskys-1812-overture/ >

[Accessed 12 April 2017].

Walsh,S., 2001. The New Grove Stravinsky. London, Macmillian Publishers

Stravinsky,I., 1975. An Autobiography. London, Calders and Boyers Ltd

Stravinsky, I., 1967. The Rite of Spring. [score] London: Boosey and Hawkes.

Jaffe,D., 2012. Historical Dictionary of Russian Music. Plymouth, Scarecrow Press

Vlad,R., 1971. Stravinsky. London, Oxford University Press

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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2014. Stravinskys Composition'. [online]

Available at: < http://petrushka.web.unc.edu/stravinskys-composition/ > [Accessed 12 April

2017].

Stravinsky, I., 1947. Petrushka. [score] London: Boosey and Hawkes.

White,E., 1979. Stravinsky The Composer and his works. Los Angeles, University of

California Press

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2014. Stravinskys Composition'. [online]

Available at: < http://petrushka.web.unc.edu/stravinskys-composition/ > [Accessed 12 April

2017].