Blows dealt by fate

If one is searching for an extra-musical heading under which to bracket the content of the Symphonies Nos. 4, 5 and 6 by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, one cannot really avoid the word "fate". Personal fate, to be exact. Thus his Symphony No. 4 (1876-78) was a frank confession straight from the soul, a subtle psychological portrait printed on paper. In a letter to his patroness, Nadezhda von Meck, he talked of "fate, this disastrous power, which prevents our urgent desire for happiness from achieving its objective". After this, a further 11 years passed before Tchaikovsky attempted to compose another "purely" symphonic work – his Symphony No. 5. Here again, the "concept of destiny" very clearly determined the musical processes: however, here it was rather more a poetic idea, a guiding principle, rather than an established musical programme for the listener.
Soon after completing his Symphony No. 5 in 1888, Tchaikovsky began work on his next one. In 1890, the complete withdrawal of Nadezhda von Meck from their unusual relationship signified yet another blow for the composer, who was becoming increasingly lonely and isolated. In 1893, he completed his sketches for his Symphony No. 6 in only 12 days, scoring it during the following four weeks. Tchaikovsky had pointed out the programmatic core of the symphony to the dedicatee of the work, his beloved nephew Vladimir Davidov, as follows: "During my trip to Paris in December 1892, I came up with the plan for a new symphony. This time, it will be a programme symphony: however, its programme is to remain a mystery to all [...] It is drenched with my innermost essence: while composing it in my mind, I was constantly shedding bitter tears [...] In form, this symphony will offer much that is new, inter alia, the Finale will not be a noisy Allegro, but quite the opposite, an extremely lengthy and expansive Adagio." However, Tchaikovsky finally decided against a clearly defined programme, and transferred his mind-set to the musical absolute, with a true feeling for drama. On October 18, 1893, he gave the première of the work; but to his great bitterness, the symphony was only moderately successful. "Neither the orchestra nor the audience could I convince that this is my best work, and that I will never write anything better than this symphony." Nine days later, he was dead. The Pathétique had become his requiem. In its despair, it portrays the tragic finale of a massive oeuvre.
Undoubtedly, the strongly intense effect of the symphony has been further increased by its title – Pathétique – which was proposed by Tchaikovsky's brother Modest the day after the première, as well as the sudden and, to this day, unexplained death of the composer; thus, the tragic pathos is the subject of even greater attention. Thanks to its formal structure – the first movement in sonata form, the two middle ones in dance movement, and a finale that subsides into Hades – the work is unique in the history of the symphony. In its abrupt mood changes, sudden outbursts and manic orchestral scoring, it provides a psychological profile of the composer, who was known to be plagued by self-doubt. The leaden Adagio introduction (bassoon motif) is condensed in the Allegro non troppo to form the main theme, after which it is apparently worn down in between the ecstatic intensifications of the central movement, until the movement finally ebbs away in silent melancholy. The ensuing Allegro con grazia feels like a weightless dream in 5/4 time, however, its elegance appears to be distorted. The Allegro molto vivace that links the scherzo to the march is unique among European symphonies. Intensification follows intensification, the rousing theme hammers into the ear of the listener right up until the grand stretto. For the first time, Tchaikovsky refrains from a triumphant final intensification in a finale (Adagio lamentoso): indeed, he permits his swan song to fade away, following two huge waves of intensification of an ominously descending theme, into an abyss of apathetic hopelessness – a disastrous leave-taking turned into music. During the second performance of the work, various gripping scenes took place, as the audience was now aware of the tragic relationship between the artist's life and the work.
The Capriccio italien, Op 45 demonstrates the other side of Tchaikovsky's nature, containing laughter, ease, and joy. He drafted the work during a stay in Rome in 1879/80, in the interim period between his symphonies nos. 4 and 5, and completed it in Kamenka in May 1880. The duration of the work is approximately 15 minutes, and it is constructed in the form of a suite, in which the movements flow on into one another. The Capriccio is introduced by fanfares, whose music is derived from the last post of the Italian army, followed by a popular national melody. The woodwinds then play a catchy Neapolitan folk-song, and subsequently the entire orchestra joins in. This is alternated with a rousing tarantella, with the Capriccio gaining increasingly in momentum, until it undergoes a final intensification in the full glow of the orchestra, within the whirl of the tarantella.

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