Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major

Tchaikovsky idolized Mozart, drawing constant inspiration from the elegance and emotion in his music. The Variations on a Rococo Theme, composed in 1877, are suffused with a Mozartian spirit, harking back to what Tchaikovsky viewed as the more courtly, civilized manners of the 18th century. Scored for solo cello and a moderately sized orchestra, the eight Variations begin with a delicately traipsing gavotte-like theme on the cello. They are predominantly light and graceful in tone, often recalling the world of Tchaikovsky’s ballets. The single minor-key variation, with its keening cello melody, is an obvious highlight, as is the dashingly brilliant coda that brings the work to a conclusion. The Variations were dedicated to cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, who cut one variation and reordered the others. Tchaikovsky fumed at his interventions, but it’s Fitzenhagen’s version that is still most often heard today.