Andante Cantabile from First String Quartet, Op.17

First String Quartet is not Tchaikovsky’s first work – to be exact, it is his 17th opus, – but it is a significant piece in terms of bringing him a worldwide fame, one of the first praised by critics from abroad (Germany and France foremost). Anyone who has heard a piece won’t have to think much about what caused panegyrics from persons like Hans von Bülow and Camille Benoit – sonically it is impeccable: gift of outstanding melodist was clearly expressed even in earlier works of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, with String Quartet No.1 being no exception. A special mention deserves harmony and overall mood: First String Quartet is among those pieces that can bring you in tears with their sophisticated beauty. Here is the second movement of a piece, arranged for piano by Karl Klindworth: Andante Cantabile from String Quartet, Op.11.