This paper analyzes Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture (1869, revised 1870 and 1880) as a defining example of 19th-century Romantic orchestral music. Drawing primarily on Grout and Palisca's A History of Western Music, the paper examines five musical elements: the narrative use of sonata form, the work's function as a programmatic overture, tone color and tonality, timbre, and texture. Together, these elements demonstrate how Tchaikovsky subordinated classical structure to storytelling, producing a work that is Romantic both in its subject matter — the thwarted love of Shakespeare's protagonists — and in its musical character: fantastical, idealistic, and emotionally expansive.
One of the most celebrated works of the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) is his Romeo and Juliet Fantasy (first composed in 1869 and subsequently revised in 1870 and 1880). In this composition, Tchaikovsky adapted Shakespeare's tragedy of thwarted adolescent love into the sonata form (Grout & Palisca 584). Although the play that inspired this musical work is often described as tragic rather than Romantic in its orientation, Tchaikovsky's interpretation of the tale is a clear example of the Romantic style of 19th-century orchestral music.
Five elements must be analyzed to understand and illuminate the Romantic nature of this composer's work. First, one must consider the narrative, "storytelling" use of the sonata form in the Fantasy. Second, one must consider the way in which the sonata was conceived by the composer as an Overture — a work that provides a summary or miniature of a larger story or musical work. Third, the tone color of the music must be analyzed. Fourth and fifth, the timbre and texture of the work must also be examined to understand the opulent quality of the music that renders it characteristic of the Romantic period during which Tchaikovsky composed.
According to the musicologist E.T.A. Hoffmann, the Romantic period of Western music was characterized by the "fantastic, idealistic, and marvelous." He states that such qualities are associated with the "romance, a medieval tale or poem about heroes or events written in one of the languages descended from Latin" (cited in Grout & Palisca 563). Tchaikovsky's choice to use the story of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as the title of his Fantasy underlines the importance of Romantic thought in the orchestration of the composition.
Rather than simply expanding upon or working within sonata form — defined as "an ambitious work in several movements for one or two solo instruments" — Tchaikovsky renders the form subservient to the story. The focus of the piece is not to create a mood, nor simply to create a dance (even though the story of Romeo and Juliet did later become a ballet). Rather, the story of Romeo and Juliet is what is paramount, and the fact that the sonata form traditionally focuses upon two instruments is used to explicate this. The story is about two lovers at odds with each other, and the nature of two opposing yet complementary elements helps bring forth elements of the narrative, rather than the piece simply conveying a single mood through different movements. The music and the story of Romeo and Juliet are Romantic both in the sense that the subject is love, and because the music focuses on the fantastic, idealistic, and marvelous nature of the story and its lovers, rather than rendering musical elements in a classically perfect fashion.
The sonata, interestingly enough, originated as a dance before it became a standard structure of chamber or orchestral music. Originally, sonata music had to be lively yet changeable enough to incorporate a number of elements allowing dancers to exhibit different techniques. The Fantasy contains a range of tempos and pitches that together illustrate the story of the young lovers, making it representative of the overture form. It illustrates how the Fantasy is a narrative, storytelling work — creating, in musical miniature, the entire story and the evolution of the two lovers as characters.
The piece begins with an introduction, opening quietly with the solemn character of Friar Laurence. The next stage creates a contrast between the vivid depiction of street brawls between the feuding families and the tragic love of the young couple. Finally, the work ends with a similar solemnity. The changes across the different sections and structure of the work help tell the tale.
The tone color, or tonality, of the music is critically important to the piece. Because the work attempts to portray the characters of Romeo and Juliet — first alone, then together, then after suffering has matured them — the pitches of the piece also underscore this Romantic emphasis. The tonality seems to shift from the heady notes that signify the adolescence of the characters, to the richer, more joyous and complex textures of the romance, and then to the wildness of the fight that results in Mercutio's death and Juliet's feigned suicide.
"Shifting tonality mirrors characters' emotional journey"
"Timbre conveys joy and excitement despite dark themes"
"Instrumental interplay structures the narrative arc"
Tchaikovsky is both a great composer of music and a great storyteller in the language of music. Although narrative has fallen out of fashion in modern works, his Romeo and Juliet Fantasy can still be enjoyed for what it is: a sublime example of the Romantic movement in music that was to reach even greater heights in his later compositions.
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