Boris Tchaikovsky: Youth Quartets. The Experience of Discovering the Unknown Scores

This article is the first to examine the scores for two violins, viola, and cello composed in his youth by one of the greatest Russian composers of the twentieth century, Boris Alexandrovich Tchaikovsky (1925–1996). These ensemble scores, discovered after Tchaikovsky’s death, have never been published or included in reference or encyclopedic directories, including the authorized list of works. They are not sketches or drafts of unfinished pieces, but rather complete works written between 1940 and 1945. The Lento (1940) and the Scherzo (1941) have survived as manuscript scores; the single-part Quartet for two violins, viola, and cello (undated) exists in the composer's transcription for piano in four hands; and the Quartet for two violins, viola, and violoncello in three parts (1943–1945) is preserved in the form of a manuscript score and a complete set of parts. These works are less reminiscent of scholastic exercises and more clearly show the recognizable characteristics of Tchaikovsky’s mature instrumental style: the linear and graphic asceticism of the texture; the embodiment of polytembral and orchestral ideas through a homogeneous chamber ensemble composition; and the virtuosity of “timbre optics”, which allows for the transformation of not only the perspective positions of the instrumental lines but also the characteristic timbre focus. Tchaikovsky considered the quartet genre to be one of the most confessional, revealing all the subtleties of his tonal mastery. These early ensemble works broaden our understanding of the etymology of his chamber-instrumental thought and, more generally, the origins of his artistic style. This article reflects the research and first posthumous performances of Tchaikovsky’s early quartets, undertaken under the auspices of the Terra Musica International Creative Workshop.