Overview of the piece

April: The Snowdrop

Here the publisher chose the poem by the same poet as March, Apollon Maikov, and I'll read it to you:

"The blue pure snowdrop flower. And near it last snow drops the last tears over the past griefs and first dreams of another happiness."

So spring month, April, is arriving. It's finally here, and we can certainly hear it in the piece.

Structure of the Piece

April, like March, is written in a three-part form, also known as ABA form.

• First Part:

  • The first 24 measures consist of three long phrases, each eight measures long.

• Second Part:

  • Contains 33 measures.

• Third Part:

  • Includes 27 measures and repeats the first part almost identically, but it's shorter.

Some people say it has a bit of a cadential conclusion, but it's really tied together with the third part. We won't delve into such details.

The Mood

There's a beautiful mood here, which is very hard to convey on the surface.

• It may seem like a simple piece:
  • Right hand: Melody
  • Left hand: Chords (Accompaniment)

But this combination creates an illusion; it's not an easy thing to convey the feeling of arrival, of spring.

A European Perspective

This is a very European notion. In the United States, we have a beautiful fall that is long and not as cold as it is, for example, in Russia. However, there tends to be no spring; we have a long winter followed by summer.

Our listeners and audience in Europe know there's a unique fragrance of spring, a beautiful experience we usually have in April. I think Tchaikovsky really portrayed it beautifully.

You can almost hear the wind, the little breeze in the left hand, and the excitement of nature waking up. Of course, the snowdrop, in Russia, is a symbol of spring; it's a flower that emerges from the snow. So, I think the poem here is very symbolic.

Historical Context

However, again considering what was occurring in the late 19th century, we experience winter and snowstorms. There's a famous saying:

"It's as surprising as the snowstorm in the spring."

We have that D minor middle section with passages that remind us almost of the howling of the wind or possibly some spring rains. It brings a quite different character to the piece.