“The Concerto of the Return”
(Based on Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto Opus 35 and while listening to it)
First Movement: Allegro moderato or “The Awakening”
The violin rises like a spark from the evening’s fire,
while the bow, scratching through the strings,
awakens as sunlight dances on last night’s snow.
A melody, that rips through tender skin,
dares to absorb the lingering odours
of bodies that danced between sorrow and splendour,
absorbing the silence of a self-imposed exile,
and the hush of the autumn air over the stillness of Lake Geneva.
Each note, each phrase, ascends as warriors do,
or as those who yearn for absolution but do not implore it
finding a forgiving chord, D major.
Second Movement: Canzonetta or “The Remembering”
But our thoughts often reach far down to the minor keys
and our voices tremble with the lies we’ve exploited.
The orchestra of the Tower of Babel,
with her choir of many voices, pauses and listens…
Not an instrument is heard, just the sound of many voices,
who sing of love undone and bleeding on a letter never sent…
The Tower of Babel weeps, as does her choir of many voices,
who hum and imitate the sound of leaves
pushed and pulled by autumn’s winds,
and then silence as divine grace begins to mend our broken hearts
Third Movement: The Finale or “The Rebirth”
From the marrow joy resurfaces as something fierce and irrepressible,
the essence of being alive.
The bow cuts through melancholic chords like a Cossack’s blade,
as the orchestra dreams with their feet as they dance.
Defiance!
Our bones are mended and we can dance!
Love, lust, fear, passion, and desire,
grow as does the thunder of a wild applause,
and whirl in the ecstasy of the release,
as the final chord marks a new beginning.
There is no end, just a winding road
to reach the place where one can learn
that a if a song is born of sorrow,
then from silence we are born.
So let us lift our glasses and toast to life!
C.2025, Francisco Bravo Cabrera – 04 OCT 2025 – Valencia, España
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NOTA BENE
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 (1878) is a phenomenal concerto, and one of the most popular and loved in the violin repertoire. It is known for its brilliance, lyricism, and emotional intensity. The concerto consists of three movements:
- Allegro moderato – Opens with an orchestral introduction that leads to a virtuosic violin entrance. The movement blends Romantic lyricism with technical prowess. The first movement is full of warmth and sweeping melodic lines.
- Canzonetta: Andante – The second movement is tender, and melancholic. This interlude in G minor, is a rather intimate dialogue between the soloist and orchestra. It has a wistful, song-like quality.
- Finale: Allegro vivacissimo – The finale, as it should be, is fiery. Consisting of a folk-inspired dance, it bursts forthe with energy and rhythmic vitality. It concludes the concerto in a superb manner displaying brilliance and joy.
Tchaikovsky, (Piotr Ilich Chaikovski, 1840-1893), was born in Vótkinsk, Rusia and was a composer of the Romantic Period. He was actually the first, of the many Russian composers, to make an international impression. His repertoire includes: The ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto (Opus 35), the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin.
He composed the Violin Concerto in 1878, shortly after completing his Fourth Symphony and the opera Eugene Onegin. This period followed a major emotional and psychological crisis which was his disastrous marriage to Antonina Milyukova in 1877. The marriage lasted only a few weeks and left him deeply shaken.
To recover, Tchaikovsky retreated to Clarens, on Lake Geneva (Switzerland). While there he stayed with his student, and close friend, Yosif Kotek. In that most beautiful part of the world, and with renewed creativity, and emotional healing, he wrote the Violin Concerto in just a few weeks.
Interestingly, violinist Leopold Auer, for whom the work was originally intended, rejected it as “unplayable.” The concerto was not premiered until 1881, and performed by violinist Adolf Brodsky in Vienna to mixed critical reception at first, though it later became a cornerstone of the violin repertoire.
CHEERS
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