The Little Rifleman: Difference between revisions

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'''''The Little Rifleman''''' (Стрелочек) ([[TH]] 197 ; [[ČW]] 436) <ref name="note1"/> is a Russian folk song on which Tchaikovsky devised a humorous canon with friends in December 1882. Its origins were described shortly afterwards in a letter from [[Sergey Taneyev]] to [[Anton Arensky]]:
'''''The Little Rifleman''''' (Стрелочек) ([[TH]] 197 ; [[ČW]] 436) <ref name="note1"/> is a Russian folksong on which Tchaikovsky devised a humorous canon with friends in December 1882. Its origins were described shortly afterwards in a letter from [[Sergey Taneyev]] to [[Anton Arensky]]:


{{quote|"After dinner, we occupied ourselves with writing a canon on a theme, given to us by [[Laroche]]: "''The Little Rifleman''". He was sure that it would be hard to come up with a canon in any interval other than the octave [...] I responded that it was not so difficult, and straight away wrote a canon within a few seconds [...] This prompted Pyotr Ilyich to join the contest, and for his part he offered up a remarkable canon in no time at all [...] The whole canon was immediately performed by [[Laroche]] and Tchaikovsky. [[Laroche]] couldn't think of anything; on his bit of paper he had only written a clef and 2 flats" <ref name="note2"/>.}}
{{quote|"After dinner, we occupied ourselves with writing a canon on a theme, given to us by [[Laroche]]: "''The Little Rifleman''". He was sure that it would be hard to come up with a canon in any interval other than the octave [...] I responded that it was not so difficult, and straight away wrote a canon within a few seconds [...] This prompted Pyotr Ilyich to join the contest, and for his part he offered up a remarkable canon in no time at all [...] The whole canon was immediately performed by [[Laroche]] and Tchaikovsky. [[Laroche]] couldn't think of anything; on his bit of paper he had only written a clef and 2 flats" <ref name="note2"/>.}}

Latest revision as of 10:27, 11 April 2023

The Little Rifleman (Стрелочек) (TH 197 ; ČW 436) [1] is a Russian folksong on which Tchaikovsky devised a humorous canon with friends in December 1882. Its origins were described shortly afterwards in a letter from Sergey Taneyev to Anton Arensky:

"After dinner, we occupied ourselves with writing a canon on a theme, given to us by Laroche: "The Little Rifleman". He was sure that it would be hard to come up with a canon in any interval other than the octave [...] I responded that it was not so difficult, and straight away wrote a canon within a few seconds [...] This prompted Pyotr Ilyich to join the contest, and for his part he offered up a remarkable canon in no time at all [...] The whole canon was immediately performed by Laroche and Tchaikovsky. Laroche couldn't think of anything; on his bit of paper he had only written a clef and 2 flats" [2].

Tchaikovsky's score has not been preserved [3].

Notes and References

  1. Entitled "Little Archer" in ČW.
  2. Letter from Sergey Taneyev to Anton Arensky of 14/26 December 1882, quoted in Музыкальное наследие Чайковского. Из историй его произведений (1958), p. 471.
  3. Taneyev's note of the main theme (B-flat major, 4 bars) is preserved in the Klin House-Museum Archive (в1, No. 398).