Peter Tchaikovsky, The Sick Doll, Op 39, 7
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
This melancholy piece perfectly captures a child’s loving distress over an ailing toy. Bringing out the melody can be challenging since it is bit disjointed. Keeping the left hand soft, however, will help with this. Tchaikovsky writes long phrases of uneven lengths in this piece. Using dynamics to shape lines will help listeners to be engaged with the melody. Teachers may have to explain the meaning of tenuto signs since they occur often.
Author[]
Caroline Krause, Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates Fellow