Dumka, Op. 59 — Russian Rustic Scene

About this work

In the Dumka, Op. 59, Tchaikovsky does more than place a lament beside a dance. The measured Andantino melody gradually gathers ornament and momentum, so that the arrival of the Con anima feels prepared well in advance.

Repeated chords, offbeat accents and quick runs then take over. Successive accelerations thicken the texture before the slow theme reappears with a new tension and leads to a short, almost suspended conclusion.

The joins are the real work. Group the faster chords into impulses, keep the bass moving and prepare the release into the return: the sound can become lighter without letting the phrase collapse.

What the document containsDocument: the complete solo-piano PDF runs to twelve pages. The MIDI file helps trace the tempo changes and the work’s larger sections.Vassily Checkin’s LilyPond engraving for the Mutopia Project is in the public domain. LesPartitions.info also preserves the former historical edition.