Capriccio Italien

The Capriccio was inspired by a trip Tchaikovsky took to Rome with his brother Modest as respite from the composer's disastrous marriage with Antonina Miliukova. It was in Rome, however, that the observant Tchaikovsky called Raphael a "Mozart of painting." While in Rome, he wrote to his friend Nadezhda von Meck: I have already completed the sketches for an Italian fantasia on folk tunes for which I believe a good fortune may be predicted. It will be effective, thanks to the delightful tunes which I have succeeded in assembling partly from anthologies, partly from my own ears in the streets.

Capriccio Italien

The Capriccio was inspired by a trip Tchaikovsky took to Rome with his brother Modest as respite from the composer's disastrous marriage with Antonina Miliukova. It was in Rome, however, that the observant Tchaikovsky called Raphael a "Mozart of painting." While in Rome, he wrote to his friend Nadezhda von Meck: I have already completed the sketches for an Italian fantasia on folk tunes for which I believe a good fortune may be predicted. It will be effective, thanks to the delightful tunes which I have succeeded in assembling partly from anthologies, partly from my own ears in the streets.