Chamber Symphony #1 in D Major after P. I. Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet, Op. 11 (2018), a transcription

I. Moderato e semplice
II. Andante Cantabile
III. Allegro non tanto
IV. Allegro giusto

Orchestra: 1 flute, 1 oboe, 1 B-flat clarinet, 1 bassoon, 2 horns, timpani, strings
Commissioned by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Duration: 28 minutes

I have always been a great admirer of Tchaikovsky’s music and his brilliant orchestration, and so it was a real pleasure for me to explore this string quartet and his style of orchestration more generally. I studied many of his great works to understand certain “Tchaikovsky-isms,” and I also studied works written in close proximity to the quartet to understand hallmarks of that earlier style.

A transcription of this nature presents certain challenges, not the least of which is that this small orchestra was not a medium that Tchaikovsky himself worked in. The chord voicings and doublings he commonly used with a larger orchestra were a little harder to extrapolate from this ensemble. One clue for me, however, turned out to be Tchaikovsky’s love of Mozart. Although Tchaikovsky didn’t entirely respect the classical sound when he arranged Mozart’s music in his Suite No. 4 (Mozartiana), there are enough clues to show what Tchaikovsky loved in that clean sound world, and that was an important key for me. I think this early string quartet does translate quite well into a symphonic form, and I was so delighted to be involved.

—Christopher Theofanidis