Tchaikovsky had variations on his mind near the end of 1873; he wrote these six pieces "on a single theme" shortly after completing the big theme-and-variations sequence in his Op. 19 set of piano pieces. The theme here is not so much a full melody as a motif based on a rising and falling fourth, preceded by a little turn.

The first item, Allegro moderato, is a Praeludium in G-sharp minor. The material is distinctively Russian, and is sometimes presented antiphonally by the left then right hand. Second is a fugue in the same key, with the main theme making one last grand statement in bass octaves before the quiet major-mode ending. The third piece abandons all sense of structure; it's an errant Impromptu in C sharp minor, beginning with a halting Allegro molto rife with right-hand triplets. A calmer, syncopated section briefly holds sway until the earlier material returns with its own cadenza and fade-out.

The fourth piece, a funeral march, is a long, A-flat minor obsession with the set's germinal motif. Unexpectedly, the central section turns flashy with unrelenting octave sequences. The fifth piece, still in the same key, turns the motif into a mazurka with a skipping trio that comes back briefly at the end. The sixth piece, at last, bursts into the major mode; it's a substantial, technically difficult scherzo full of loud climaxes and strong rhythms, aside from a more gently undulating, cantabile middle section.



© All Music Guide