The symphony Tchaikovsky composed just before his Fifth marked a very different direction for the composer. Unlike his previous symphonies, the composer immersed himself in the concept of program music for his Fourth Symphony, providing a narrative that centered on the abstract notion of fate. He took this idea to its apex in his following work: the unnumbered Manfred Symphony (1885), based on Byron’s epic poem. By the time of his Sixth Symphony, composed in 1893, Tchaikovsky had backed off from the idea of a specific program, writing the work according to an intensely personal narrative that scholars have struggled to decipher. 

Composed in the summer of 1888, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony is sometimes said to occupy a kind of “middle ground,” caught in the interstices of an overt program and a more personal agenda. Tchaikovsky’s preoccupation with fate is manifest in many of his compositions—not only the Fourth and Manfred symphonies but also the operas Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades—and his Symphony No. 5 is no exception. In his compositional journal, Tchaikovsky identified the opening and recurring themes of the Fifth as “complete resignation before Fate.” The symphony opens with a slow introduction, its dark, brooding theme gradually becoming the central theme of the first movement. The introduction continues to reverberate in the ensuing Andante, whose horn melody later appeared in the 1939 Tin Pan Alley hit, “Moon Love.” The third movement is a waltz, rather than the traditional scherzo. Despite the minor-mode version of the Fate theme that occasionally emerges in the finale, the symphony concludes on an overtly triumphant note—an ending that some critics, including Tchaikovsky himself, considered insincere or even crude. 

After the Fifth Symphony’s second performance, Tchaikovsky wrote, “I have come to the conclusion that it is a failure.” Despite its creator’s negative assessment, the symphony became one of Tchaikovsky’s most beloved works—particularly during World War II, when it was frequently programmed and recorded. One of the most noteworthy performances took place during the Siege of Leningrad, during which city leaders ordered the Leningrad Radio Symphony Orchestra to boost morale by continuing their concerts. On October 20, 1941, the orchestra performed the Fifth Symphony at the city’s Philharmonic Hall, also broadcast live in London. Although it was widely reported that bombs began to strike the city during the concert, the orchestra continued playing until the symphony’s very last note.