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Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony

Page history last edited by Bruce 12 years, 1 month ago

 

Back to the life of Tchaikovsky

 

Look at Tchaikovsky's Compositions

 

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Here is a look at the 4 movements of the 4th symphony.  You will see the main themes of each movement and some notes and questions about the music.

 

Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony1.pdf 

 

 

Read in Tchaikovsky’s own words what he said about his 4th Symphony.

 

You asked me whether there is a definite programme to this symphony? Usually in respect of a symphonic work I would answer: none whatsoever. And indeed, this is the answer in to your question. How can one put into words the intangible feelings which one experiences, when writing an instrumental work without a definite subject? This is a purely lyrical process, and essentially a musical unburdening of the soul in music. similar to the way in which a poet expresses himself in verse... In our symphony there is a programme, i.e. it is possible to express in words what it is trying to say, and to you, and only to you, I am able and willing to explain the meaning both of the whole and of the separate movements. Of course. I can do this only in a general way.

 

The introduction is the seed of the whole symphony, undoubtedly the main idea:

  

This is fate: this is that fateful force which prevents the impulse to happiness from attaining its goal, which jealously ensures that peace and happiness shall not be complete and unclouded, which hangs above the head like the sword of Damocles, unwaveringly, constantly poisoning the soul. An invincible force that can never be overcome—merely endured, miserably.

 

The gloomy and hopeless feelings become more inflamed and intense. Is it not better to escape from reality and to take refuge in dreams:

 

O joy! Out of nowhere a sweet and gentle day-dream appears. Some blissful, radiant human image hurries by and beckons us away:

 

How wonderful! How distant now sounds the obsessive first theme of the allegro! Gradually the soul is enveloped by daydreams. Everything gloomy and joyless is forgotten. There it is, there it is—happiness!

 

No! These were merely daydreams, and Fate wakes us from them:

 

And so all life is an unbroken alternation of harsh reality with swiftly passing dreams and visions of happiness... No haven exists... Drift upon that sea until it engulfs and submerges you in its depths. That, roughly, is the program of the first movement.   

 

Watch and listen to an excerpt of the 1st movement.  Listen for the french horn playing the FATE theme at the very beginning.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-c1LLZaVCA 

 

The second movement of the symphony expresses another phase of sadness. This is that melancholy feeling which comes in the evening when, weary from one’s toil, one sits alone with a book—but it falls from the hand. There come a whole host of memories. It is both sad that so much is now past andgone, yet pleasant to recall one’s youth—both regretting the past, and yet not wishing to begin life over again. Life is wearying. It is pleasant to rest and look around. Memories abound. Happy moments when the young blood boiled, and life was satisfying; there are also painful memories, irreconcilable losses. All this is now somewhere far distant. It is both sad, yet somehow sweet to be immersed in the past.

 

The oboe introduces the THEME of the 2nd movement, followed by the strings playing the melody.  Listen to the beauty and sadness that Tchaikovsky writes into the music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN7oFdFqtB4

 

The third movement expresses no definite feeling. It is made up from capricious arabesques, of elusive images, which can rush past in the imagination after drinking a little wine and feeling the first phases of intoxication. The spirit is neither cheerful, nor yet sad. Thinking about nothing, giving free rein to the imagination, which somehow begins to paint strange pictures. Amid these memories there suddenly comes a picture of drunken peasants and a street song ... Then, somewhere in the distance, a military procession passes. These are completely disparate images which rush past in the head during sleep. They have nothing in common with reality; they are strange, wild, and disjointed.

 

Listen to the strings playing PIZZICATO (plucking the strings) in this lighter movement of the 4th Symphony. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LErQfuDFGuI

 

The fourth movement: if within yourself you find no reasons for joy, then look at others. Go among the people. See how they can enjoy themselves, surrendering themselves wholeheartedly to joyful feelings. Picture the festive merriment of ordinary people. Hardly have you managed to forget yourself and to be carried away by the spectacle of the joys of others. than irrepressible fate again appears and reminds you of yourself. But others do not care about you, and they have not noticed that you are solitary and sad. O. how they are enjoying themselves! How happy they are that all their feelings are simple and straightforward. Reproach yourself, and do not say that everything in this world is sad. Joy is simple, but powerful. Rejoice in the rejoicing of others. To live is still possible.

 

Well, this is all that I can explain about the symphony. Of course, this is vague and incomplete. But a basic quality of instrumental music is that it cannot be subjected to detailed analysis. "Where words end, music begins". as Heine remarked... This is the first time in my life that I have attempted to put musical thoughts and images into words, and I cannot manage to do this properly. I was extremely depressed during the winter when writing the symphony, and it rather echoes my feelings at that time... They remain, in general, memories of most terrible and dreadfully difficult times."

 

The Finale of the symphony employs the Russian folk-song "In the Field a Birch Tree Stood" (Во поле береза стояла) or "The Birch Tree."

 

Listen for "The Birch Tree" melody and how many times you hear it.  Do you also hear the FATE theme return?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLHj-eekdNU

 

It is interesting to note that sometime later. in reply to a critical letter from Sergei Taneev, Tchaikovsky wrote: "As to your remark that my symphony is programmatic, then I am in complete agreement. I do not understand why you consider this to be a defect. I fear the opposite situation—i.e. that I should not wish symphonic works to flow from my pen that express nothing. and which consist of empty playing with chords. rhythms and modulations. My symphony is, of course, programmatic, but the programme is such that it is impossible to formulate in words. Such a thing would provoke ridicule and laughter. Ought not a symphony, which is the most lyrical of all musical forms, express everything for which there are no words. but which the soul wishes to express and cries out to be expressed? Is it naive to imagine that the idea of the symphony is very clear, and can generally be understood without a programme? In essence my symphony imitates Beethoven's Fifth, that is, I was not imitating its musical thoughts. but the fundamental idea... Furthermore, I’ll add that there is not a note in this symphony (that is, in mine) which I did not feel deeply. and which did not serve as an echo of sincere impulses within my soul. A possible exception is the middle of the first movement, in which there are contrivances, seams, glued together—in a word, artificiality."

 

All his life, Tchaikovsky retained a love for this symphony. At the end of 1878. he wrote: "I adore terribly this child of mine; it is one of only a few works with which I have not experienced disappointment." Ten years later, when referring to the symphony, he wrote "it turns out that not only have I not cooled towards it, as I have cooled towards the greater part of my compositions, but on the contrary, I am filled with warm and sympathetic feelings towards it. I don’t know what the future may bring, but presently it seems to me that this is my best symphonic work."

 

On 6/18 November 1878, Tchaikovsky wrote to Nadehzda von Meck: "Our symphony is being printed." However, it was not until June 1879 that he checked the proofs of the full score and piano arrangement. In August that year, Taneev’s arrangement for piano duet was issued. The full score did not appear in print until early September 1880.

 

The symphony is dedicated to Nadehzda von Meck—on the title page is the inscription: "Dedicated to my best friend". 

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