Adagio in F major

The Adagio in F major, for wind octet (TH 160 ; ČW 330), was written in 1863 or 1864 as an exercise while Tchaikovsky was a student in Anton Rubinstein's composition classes at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.

Instrumentation

Scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets (in B-flat), bass clarinet (in B-flat).

Movements and Duration

There is one movement: Adagio (F major, 52 bars), lasting around 3 minutes in performance.

To hear a virtual performance of the piece see "First Thoughts".

Publication

The work was published for the first time in 1967 in volume 58 of Tchaikovsky's Complete Collected Works, edited by Irina Iordan.

Autographs

Tchaikovsky's manuscript score (which includes the Agitato and Allegro in E minor) is now preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a¹, No. 125).

Recordings

See: Discography