Orq. Nac. Russa - Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovsky

Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovsky

Ciclo Grandes Orquestras Mundiais - Gulbenkian: 16 de Março de 2004, Coliseu dos Recreios.
Orquestra Nacional Russa e Coro Gulbenkian,
Mikhail Pletnev (maestro)

Sites:
deccaclassics.com (biografia e obra)
iclassics.com - Sinfonia no. 4 (discografia)
karadar.com (biografia e obra)
mpg.de - Sinfonia no. 4 (biografia e obra)
classical.net (obra)
d-vista.com (vida e obra)
geocities.com (vida e obra)
tchaikovsky.host.sk - Sinfonia no. 4 (vida e obra)
zetnet.co.uk - Sinfonia no. 4 (obra)
ipl.org - the late romantics (biografia)
classical-composers.org (obra)

The Fourth Symphony was begun in May 1877, two months before the composer´s disastrous and short-lived marriage. He and his wife parted after a few months, but at the same time another woman entered his life, though no romantic attachment was involved: the wealthy widow Nadezhda von Meck settled an annuity on him that freed him from financial worries. Their relationship was almost wholly carried on in letters, and yet it was close. It was she to whom the Symphony was dedicated and to whom the composer confided his programme. The first movement, after the "fate" motif, is in sonata form with a wistfully swaying first theme presented by the strings. Its somewhat waltzlike character is shared by the haunting second subject, introduced by the clarinet. But, as Tchaikovsky wrote, "pitiless destiny awakes us . . . we founder in its nothingness", and the tension implicit from the start mounts to a terrifying climax as the "fate" motif is thundered out once again. It is to be heard again even more threateningly before this beautiful yet disturbing movement ends, and indeed a note of despair is unmistakable.

The Andantino that follows is marked "Canzonetta" ("like a song") and brings a gentler mood. Here "memories come crowding back and it is sweet to recall one´s youth . . . it is at once melancholy and delicious to plunge into the past". A beautiful oboe melody is accompanied by plucked strings, and it returns after a contrasting and more lively middle section. Plucked (pizzicato) strings are the main feature of the brilliant Scherzo, which the composer called "visions after drinking wine . . . a drunken peasant, a street song, soldiers marching in the distance". The vivid Finale includes a Russian folk song melody called "A birch tree stood in a field" that begins with four repeated note. "If really you cannot find joy within yourself, look for it among others . . . look how happy they are", wrote the composer. "But Fate is still there and calls you to heel", he added: and sure enough, the dramatic call reappears menacingly, although it is not allowed to overwhelm the merrymaking.