This made him unpopular amongst some of them – in particular, the Mighty Five: a group of Russian composers who, like Tchaikovsky, admired Western music but wanted to produce specifically Russian art music rather than relying upon older European styles.
I've decided to create an analysis of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies, focusing particularly on how he incorporated his Slavic background into his compositions, while also charting Tchaikovsky’s development as a composer.
Enjoy.
In writing a programme symphony I feel as if I were a charlatan, cheating the public by giving it worthless paper instead of good coin.
Symphony No. 1 in G minor ‘Winter Dreams’
Symphony No. 2 in C minor ‘Little Russian’
[1] ‘Little Russia’ was the name given to the Ukrainian region before the twentieth century.
[2] Glinka is generally considered to be the founder of Russian opera.
Symphony No. 3 in D major ‘Polish’
Symphony No. 4 in F minor
‘Fate’ Motif
Symphony No. 5 in E minor
Alice-and-the-Red-Queen sensation, of running faster and faster while remaining rooted to the spot.
Symphony No. 6 in B minor ‘Pathétique’
Bibliography
Brown, David. Tchaikovsky: A Biographical and Critical Study Volume I the Early Years (1840-1874) (London, 1978).
Brown, David. Tchaikovsky: A Biographical and Critical Study Volume II the Crisis Years (1874-1878) (London, 1982).
Brown, David. Tchaikovsky: A Biographical and Critical Study Volume III the Years of Wandering (1878-1885) (London, 1986).
Burkholder, J. Peter, Grout, Donald Jay and Palisca, Claude V. A History of Western Music (New York, 2010).
Keller, Hans. ‘Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-93)’, in Robert Simpson (ed.) The Symphony 1: Haydn to Dvořák (Great Britain, 1996).
Plantinga, Leon. Romantic Music (New York, 1984).
Schonberg, Harold C. The Lives of the Great Composers (Great Britain, 1998).
Zajaczkowski, Henry. Tchaikovsky’s Musical Style (London, 1987).
Sheet Music
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il’yich. Symphony No. 1 in G minor (Leipzig, Ernst Eulenberg, 1910).
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il’yich. Symphony No. 4 in F minor (New York, Dover Publications, 1979).
Recordings
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies and Orchestral Works, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi, (Bis – X5 Music Group, Released 2011).