Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36: Andantino
Piotr Illyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
When Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky composed the first important Russian symphonies in the same year (1866), their achievement seemed to be an important symbolic step in defining a national musical identity. Rimsky’s symphonies are now rarely heard, but those of Tchaikovsky’s are performed, the final three (Nos. 4-6) being especially popular. The Fourth Symphony (1878) is a powerful, dramatic work, exhibiting the great extremes of emotional expression so characteristic of Tchaikovsky.
Marked In Modo Di Canzone (“in the manner of a song”) the slow movement is quite Russian in character, with folksong-like melodies in which a handful of notes are repeated and extended in a plaintive, pleading manner. This is heard in the opening theme, given to a bassoon, passed on to the cellos, followed by a richly-textured contrasting melody in the strings. After swelling to a climax, the initial theme returns in the violins, decorated by a Scherzando counter-melody in the upper winds, rounded out by the return of the fuller sonorities of the contrasting theme. Unexpectedly the tempo quickens, and a march-like tune appears in then clarinets and bassoons, also typically “Russian” in its melodic contours. After the dark and pessimistic tone of the first part of the movement, this is brighter and spirited, soon reaching a fullness of sonority and emotional expressivity.
The music settles back to a return of the opening section, the principal theme now in the violins over a Pizzicato accompaniment, with a dance-like overlay of filigree patterns in the winds. The contrasting theme is heard again, leading to a Coda in which the principal theme is heard for a last time in the bassoon, the music passing into silence.
GPYO concert
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