MUSIClassical notes: Tchaikovsky Sérénade mélancolique Op 26

The Sérénade mélancolique in B-flat minor for violin and orchestra, Op. 26 (Russian: Меланхолическая серенада), was written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in February 1875. It was his first work for violin and orchestra, and was written immediately after completing the Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor. The piece was dedicated to Leopold Auer on its publication by P. Jurgenson in February 1876, but Auer did not premiere it. It was first performed by Adolph Brodsky on 16/28 January 1876, at the seventh symphony concert of the Russian Musical Society in Moscow. Auer seems to have been the first to play it in Saint Petersburg, on 6/18 November 1876. Two years later, Tchaikovsky was offended by Auer's criticisms of, and refusal to perform, the Violin Concerto in D major written for him, and he withdrew that dedication. The Concerto was premiered by the same Brodsky who had premiered the Sérénade mélancolique. At that time, Tchaikovsky chose to also withdraw the dedication to Auer of the Sérénade, although it was impossible to remove his name from the edition then being printed by Jurgenson.

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