Composition date: 1876-77.

For cello and small orchestra: paired woodwinds, two horns, and strings. The theme is Tchaikovsky’s own stylisation, not a quotation from an eighteenth-century work.... Read more

Composition date: 1876-77.

For cello and small orchestra: paired woodwinds, two horns, and strings. The theme is Tchaikovsky’s own stylisation, not a quotation from an eighteenth-century work. Dedicated to Wilhelm Fitzenhagen. His performing edition changes the variation order and omits one of the composer’s eight variations; recordings exist of both this edition and the restored original.

The original version contains an orchestral introduction, a theme (Moderato semplice), eight variations and a conclusion. Fitzenhagen’s version has seven variations in a different order, so the variation numbers in the two versions do not correspond.

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