Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

THE STORY

As a recent graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky catapulted into professional life by assuming a professorship at the newly established Moscow Conservatory in 1866. And yet, despite early success, by 1877 Tchaikovsky was haunted by his poor financial choices, the strains of teaching, and a nagging inner turmoil surrounding his personal life.

The dates of composition of the Fourth Symphony overlap with Tchaikovsky’s hasty marriage to his acquaintance Antonina Milyukova. Despite misgivings, he stumbled headfirst into the marriage—certain that fate was driving him forward. Doomed language pervades his explanation of the Fourth Symphony to his patron, Nadezhda von Meck: “this is Fate, that inevitable force which checks our aspirations towards happiness ere they reach the goal…There is no other course but to submit and inwardly lament.” Whether one chooses to accept Tchaikovsky’s programmatic explanation or not, the Fourth Symphony remains an early marker of his development into the premier composer of Russian romanticism he was to become.

LISTEN FOR

• The striking brass motive that opens the work—Tchaikovsky identifies the recurrence as “indefatigable Fate reminding us once more of its presence”
• The passionate lyricism of the Andantino, introduced at the outset by the solo oboe and finding full expression in the lush string writing
• The Scherzo’s playful variety of instrumental textures—Tchaikovsky was excited to produce this “quite new orchestral effect,” where pizzicato strings comprise the entire first section
• Tchaikovsky’s quotation of the Russian folk tune “In the Field a Little Birch Tree Stood,” which occurs after the bombastic first theme

INSTRUMENTATION

Piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, strings

Notes on the music by Andrew Moenning