- Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme was written between 1876-77 for cello and orchestra. The rococo theme was created by the composer (rather than drawing on extant material from the period). Tchaikovsky also created an arrangement for cello and piano.
- Variations on a Rococo Theme consists of the main theme with seven or eight variations (see below).
- The work was dedicated to cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen. Fitzenhagen made extensive edits to Tchaikovsky’s score before the work was published, including rearranging the order of the variations and eliminating the final/ eighth variation.1
- Fitzenhagen supposedly edited the piece without the composer’s consent, and while Tchaikovsky disapproved of the changes, he still allowed the work to get published.
- Tchaikovsky’s original version of the piece, with eight variations, was finally reconstructed and published nearly a century later, in 1956.2
| Tchaikovsky’s original version: Thema. Moderato assai quasi Andante–Moderato semplice Var. I. Tempo della Thema Var. II. Tempo della Thema Var. III. Andante Var. IV. Allegro vivo Var. V. Andante grazioso Var. VI. Allegro moderato Var. VII. Andante sostenuto Var. VIII e Coda. Allegro moderato con anima Fitzenhagen’s revised version: Thema. Moderato assai quasi Andante–Moderato semplice Var. I. Tempo della Thema Var. II. Tempo della Thema Var. III. Andante sostenuto Var. IV. Andante grazioso Var. V. Allegro moderato Var. VI. Andante Var. VII e Coda. Allegro vivo3 |
Sources
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Variations on a Rococo Theme: Op. 33, Original Version, edited by Thomas Kohlhase, Eulenburg, 2017.
- “Variations on a Rococo Theme,” Tchaikovsky Research (2023), accessed July 24, 2025, https://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Variations_on_a_Rococo_Theme.
- Ibid.
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