The Seasons: February (Carnival)

Piotr Ilitch Tchaïkovski · Level 5 (Advanced) · Romantic · Piano

From The Seasons Op. 37a (1876), twelve musical pictures, one for each month. D major, 2/4, 169 bars (about 5 minutes), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment. The left hand makes wide leaps: look at the landing note in advance and move early, without rushing the rhythm. For chords, shape the hand in the air before landing, all notes together. Start hands separately in Wait mode, then put hands together at a slow tempo before speeding up gradually.

More pieces by Piotr Ilitch Tchaïkovski

• Swan Lake: Neapolitan Dance (piano arrangement)
• The Seasons: January (O 37,1)
• The Seasons: August (Harvest)
• March of the Wooden Soldiers (Op. 39 No. 5)
• Morning Prayer (Op. 39 No. 1)
• Old French Song (Op. 39 No. 16)
• Swan Lake, swan theme
• Winter Morning (Album for the Young Op. 39 No. 2)

Source : Mutopia Project · Public Domain