In August, 1877, Tchaikovsky wrote to his patroness, Nadezhda von Meck: “Our symphony has made a little progress….(The first movement) is very complex and long; furthermore it is, in my opinion, the best movement. On the other hand the three other movements are very simple and it will be great fun orchestrating them.”

By December he wrote: “Never before have any of my orchestral works cost me so much labor…but it seems to me that this symphony is an exceptional piece and the best thing I’ve done up to the moment.”

Completed on January 7, 1878, the Fourth Symphony was dedicated “to my best friend.” Nicolas Rubinstein conducted the first performance on February 10, 1879 in Moscow.

“You ask me whether this symphony has a definite program,” he wrote to von Meck. “Generally I reply to questions of this nature in the negative…. However, our symphony has a program; at least it is possible for me to sketch out in words what the music is intended to express…naturally only approximately.”

The brass fanfare in the introduction, Tchaikovsky wrote, “represents fate, the mighty force which hinders our striving after happiness.” The balance of the opening movement deals with “the whole of life…an endless alternation of dreadful reality, fleeting visions and joyful dreams.”

The second movement represents “another phase of longing. It is the melancholy feeling which comes upon us towards evening when we sit alone, weary after our day’s work.” The third movement presents “fleeting ideas like those which run through our minds when we have had a glass of wine, and feel the lightheadedness which is the first step towards intoxication.”

The fate motive returns in the finale, but is subdued. Tchaikovsky wrote: “When you have no cause for happiness yourself, look at others. Move among crowds…. There are degrees of happiness, great and simple. Find contentment in the happiness of others, and life becomes bearable.”

~ Program Notes by Charley Samson, copyright 2024.