Adagio molto in E-flat major

The Adagio molto in E-flat major, for string quartet and harp (TH 158 ; ČW 326), 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 violins, viola, cello and harp.

Movements and Duration

There is one movement: Adagio molto (E-flat major, 48 bars), lasting around 6 minutes in performance.

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 Allegro vivace in B-flat major and Allegro in C minor) is now preserved in the Klin House-Museum Archive (a¹, No. 129).

Recordings

See: Discography