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Don Quixote

(Дон кихот)

Comic musical picture (Op. 87) by Anton Rubinstein, arranged for piano duet (1871).

Catalogue References TH 180 ; ČW 412
Date January 1871
Key C major
Tempo/Section Listing Allegro non troppo (C major)
Instrumentation Piano duet (4 hands)
Autograph Location Lost
First Publication Saint Petersburg: V. Bessel, 1871
Average Duration 22 minutes
Notes The ‘comic musical picture’ for orchestra Don Quixote (Op. 87) by Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (1829–1894), was written in 1870, based on the story El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha (1605–15) by Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616). It was first published by Bessel the following year, simultaneously with Tchaikovsky's arrangement for piano duet

History

Made by Tchaikovsky in 1871 in Moscow, at the request of the publisher Vasily Bessel. The arrangement was mentioned in a letter from the composer to Bessel of 25 November/7 December 1870: “Regarding Don Quixote, it seems that only the parts have been sent to me. Until the full score is in my hands, I cannot set about the arrangement” [1], and in another letter on 9/21 January 1871: "I would have carried my promise regarding Don Quixote a long time ago, if it had been possible. But for some reason the score was sent to Rubinstein, and he gave it straight away to a copyist to write out the parts... Today I. finally received the full score; I must warn you that there is at least two weeks' work involved before it will be ready. The arrangement of Don Quixote is very difficult. besides which I have plenty of other things to do" [2].

The arrangement was published in 1871 by Vasily Bessel.

From: Музыкальное наследие Чайковского (1958), p. 491
English text copyright © 2006 Brett Langston

Notes:
  1. Letter 216 to Vasily Bessel, 25 November/7 December 1870.
  2. Letter 225 to Vasily Bessel, 9/21 January 1871.

This page was last updated on 12 February 2013