Tchaikovsky
www.tchaikovsky-research.net

TH 171

Maria-Dagmar

Мария-Дагмара

Orchestral arrangement of the polka for piano, by Alexandre Dubuque (1866).

• Arranged for orchestra by Tchaikovsky, 1866.

• Scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (B-flat), 2 bassoons, 4 horns (F), 2 trumpets (F), 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, military drum, cymbals, side drum, violins I, violins II, violas, cellos, double basses.

History

This orchestration is believed to date from the autumn of 1866, when preparations were taking place for the marriage of the heir to the throne to the Danish Princess Dagmara.

No information survives concerning work on this composition. It is known that Tchaikovsky was acquainted with Alexandre Dubuque in 1866, as Nikolai Kashkin recalled that he was delighted by his piano playing [1].

From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), p. 496
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston

Notes:

1. See N. D. Kashkin, Воспоминания о П. И. Чайковском (1896), p. 48 [back]