Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 33
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, Russia, in 1840 and died in St. Petersburg in 1893. He composed his Rococo Variations in 1876, and it premiered in Moscow the following year with Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, cello and Nicolai Rubinstein conducting. The score calls for solo cello, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, and strings.
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Rococo is a term appropriated from architecture, implying a light, ornate style that stresses a somewhat frivolous elegance in contrast with the massive edifices of the Baroque.  Its application to music has never been well-defined, but it is sometimes used to describe the 18th-century music lying between the Baroque and Classical periods;  perhaps a more descriptive word for such music is galant.
Tchaikovsky often turned to musical forms of the past—he knew well the scores of Mozart—particularly when the muse left him and he sought refuge in a musical idiom that he considered “purer” than his own.  From a practical standpoint, he felt that such earlier styles could teach him much about form and structure, which he felt were weak points in his own compositions.
Though one can find countless minuets and other 18-century forms in the music of Tchaikovsky, his musical personality and romantic lyricism would never be mistaken for music of an earlier era.  Such is the case with his Rococo Variations for cello and orchestra.  Its stately theme is indeed galant, but the seven variations, while lighter in tone than much of his music, show the unmistakable harmonic and melodic invention of the 36-year-old composer.
The Rococo Variations most closely approach their 18th-century inspiration in the matter of orchestration.  Where Tchaikovsky’s symphonies often employ heavyweight effects, the Variations are much lighter on their feet, even dainty, and more reminiscent of his ballet music.  The solo part is technically challenging and has the bravura of a showpiece, but it resides within a work that is most notable for its infinite grace and charm.