Noctave
The piece
The Seasons are twelve pieces, one for each month, which Tchaikovsky published throughout 1876 in the music magazine Nouvellist in St Petersburg; each comes with a few lines of verse. For June, the lines are by Pleshcheyev and invite us down to the shore, where the waves will kiss our feet. The barcarolle, a boatman’s song, rocks here in G minor, brightens into G major, livens up in a short Allegro giocoso in triple time, and then the song comes back.
The melody lies in the middle register, between a bass and chords that you must keep softer than the tune. When the theme returns, the left hand adds a second voice that answers it: balance the two lines like a duet, so that neither covers the other. About twenty chords are rolled: spread them from bottom to top without dragging. The Allegro giocoso asks for crisp forte chords instead, then the calm must come back at once. Throughout, keep a tempo that sways without stopping.