Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, Op. 24

Program notes

About the Work

Eugene Onegin, based on Alexander Pushkin’s verse novel, is Tchaikovsky’s best-loved opera. He called it “lyrical scenes” rather than an opera. It was first performed by students of the Moscow Conservatory in 1879, and it soon became the cornerstone of Russian opera. The story follows Tatyana, a young country girl who pours out her heart in a letter to the aloof, worldly Onegin, only to be coldly rejected. Years later he meets her again, now a married princess in St Petersburg society, and falls desperately in love with her, too late.

The Polonaise opens the third act. The scene is a grand ball in a St Petersburg palace, and the aristocracy parade in a stately procession to the polonaise, a Polish dance that had long since become the ceremonial dance of the Russian court. Onegin has returned from years of travelling and wanders among the guests, bored and alone, before he sees Tatyana transformed.

Tchaikovsky, the great ballet composer, gives the scene all the glitter and grandeur it needs. The Polonaise has become a popular concert piece on its own. With its proud rhythm and sweeping melodies, it is a festive way to end the evening. It shows another side of the composer from the struggle of the Fifth Symphony: Tchaikovsky the master of spectacle and the orchestral painter of Imperial Russia.

What to Listen For

The piece begins with a burst of fanfares on the brass, as if announcing the arrival of the guests. Then the polonaise rhythm takes over: a stately triple time with a characteristic, emphatic accent. Listen for the dignified main tune in the full orchestra, full of pride and swagger, and for a lighter, more lyrical middle section that gives the dancers a moment of grace. The opening music returns in full splendour, and the piece ends in a blaze of brass and percussion that captures the grandeur and polish of aristocratic society.