Tchaikovsky’s Sixth: Symphony of Passion
Laurie Shulman, Program Notes Annotator
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Symphony in D Major, K. 320
James Lee III | Clarinet Concerto (World Premiere) with Anthony McGill
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Symphony No. 6 in B minor, “Pathétique”
Symphony in D Major, K. 320
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (VOLF-gahng ah-mah-DAY-us MOH-tsart)
Born 27 January 1756 in Salzburg, Austria
Died 5 December, 1791 in Vienna, Austria
Orchestration: two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings
The traditional number of symphonies ascribed to Mozart is 41; however, more than a dozen additional works he called symphonies were extracted from other works. Six of them came from his multi-movement serenades, from which he would cherry-pick three or four movements, grouping them as independent compositions for orchestra. That is the case for this D major symphony, called ‘Posthorn’ because it comprises movements 1, 5, and 7 from the ‘Posthorn’ Serenade, completed in August 1779 in Salzburg. (The serenade took its nickname from the trio section of its second minuet, which included a posthorn solo. Neither minuet was included in Mozart’s derivative symphony.)
Posthorn
a valveless brass instrument used to signal the arrival or departure of the mail
Together, these three movements trim the serenade’s full length of 40-plus minutes to a succinct 19 minutes. Their grand scale and virtuosic writing anticipate Mozart’s mature symphonies, going beyond the sheer entertainment value customary in serenades of the day. The symphony opens with a majestic slow introduction preceding a brisk, confident allegro. Mozart’s Andantino surprises us with its dark character. Cast in D minor, it is tinged with melancholy and operatic gestures. A well-constructed sonata form, it repeats each of its two halves. Mozart lifts the mood with a bright fanfare to herald his finale. Cheerful and upbeat, it delivers the quasi-military, ceremonial character associated with D major.
Andantino
in a manner that is more lighthearted than Andante and, in most cases, quicker
Sonata Form
a type of composition in three sections
Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra
James Lee III
b. 1975
Orchestration:
James Lee III is a composer to watch. Currently Professor of Music at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Lee holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Michael Daugherty, William Bolcom, and Bright Sheng. He was also a composition fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, working under the tutelage of Michael Gandolfi. Lee was the winner of a Charles Ives Scholarship and the Wladimir Lakond Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His music has been widely performed by orchestras and chamber music series throughout the USA. Between now and early April, Lee will have his music performed by the Augusta Symphony, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Louisiana Philharmonic, Mississippi Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Hamburg Symphony. His works have also been heard in South America, Cuba, and Russia.
He has graciously provided the following introduction to his new Clarinet Concerto.
My concerto for clarinet and orchestra is in three movements and is inspired by common challenges that humanity faces. In the early twenty-first century, there is much polarization and anxiety present in society and the first movement of this concerto musically comments on this fact, as can be imagined from the title Negotiating Uncertainty. The music fluctuates between moments of agitation, harmonic instability, and hints at peace and calm. Movement two, Night Lament, serves as a song of lamentation with rising figures that aspire towards a hopeful future.
The last movement, Morning’s Joy, is inspired by Psalm 30:5 in which it is stated “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” This final movement begins with music meant to evoke a joyful anticipation of positive and welcomed resolutions to the sadness of the second movement. The subsequent conversations between the clarinet and orchestra continue until the music ends with an exuberant expression of happiness.
Symphony No. 6 in B minor, “Pathétique”
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Pee-ter I-leech Chai-KOV-skee)
Born 7 May, 1840 in Votkinsk, Viatka District, Russia
Died 6 November, 1893 in St. Petersburg, Russia
Orchestration: three flutes; oboes, clarinets, bassoons in pairs; four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani and strings
Sudden death and the scent of scandal
Tchaikovsky composed his sixth and final symphony, the “Pathétique,” in 1893, the last year of his life. He conducted the premiere in St. Petersburg only eight days prior to his sudden death, reportedly from cholera. That circumstance added greatly to the renown of the “Pathétique” Symphony. Its immediate posthumous influence was magnified by Tchaikovsky’s widespread popularity during his lifetime and by the scent of scandal surrounding rumors that his sudden death had been a suicide.
Audiences and musicians have always loved this work. All the characteristics that we value most highly in his music are present in the “Pathétique”: splendid, imaginative orchestration; drama; memorable, delicious themes; superb development, and sweeping emotive power.
Emotionally the Sixth Symphony is taut throughout. Some relief is provided by the second movement Valse, but its deceptive 5/4 meter disturbs the balance even here. (The unusual meter is a distinctly Russian touch; 5/4 time is fairly common in Russian folk music.) The third movement merges scherzo with march. Tchaikovsky’s elfin opening has little chance against the forceful militance of the secondary idea.
In French, pathétique means touching the emotions, full of pathos, rather than the “pathetic” of the direct English cognate. Tchaikovsky’s heart-rending Adagio is the sound of a tortured soul. From its opening, anguished string chorale, we hear a composer who is inconsolable, mired in sorrow and despair. In the final analysis, the “Pathétique” is a deeply moving work, reaching a level of tragedy in its finale that places it among the most profound musical utterances.
Mysterious & Controversial Death
The most ironic death in the history of Russian/Soviet music has to be the simultaneous passing of Sergei Prokofiev and Joseph Stalin on 5 March, 1953.
The most controversial is more likely Tchaikovsky’s, in November 1893, supposedly from cholera after drinking tainted water – or was it?
Four doctors treated Tchaikovsky: the brothers Vasily and Lev Bertenson, and two of Lev Bertenson’s assistants. As court physician to the Czar, Lev Bertenson had prestige, clout, and a wealthy clientele – but little experience with cholera, a disease generally associated with the lower classes.
The controversy surrounding Tchaikovsky’s final illness arises in part from the contradictory reports of his brother Modest and the physician Vasily Bertenson. Some of the discrepancies pertained to symptoms, others to timing. Tchaikovsky was internationally famous and one of Russia’s most distinguished personages. Rumors swirled about the circumstances of his illness and death, including hints of scandal and suicide.
In the late 1970s, the Soviet musicologist and biographer Alexandra Orlova set forth the theory that Tchaikovsky had been accused of inappropriate advances toward the nephew of a Russian count. The boy’s uncle wrote a letter to the Czar, accusing Tchaikovsky. Because homosexuality was a criminal offense under Czarist law, the composer would have been subject to grave consequences, including exile to Siberia and forfeiture of property and rights.
The situation was doubly perilous because Tchaikovsky was a graduate – albeit three decades earlier – of St. Petersburg’s School of Jurisprudence. The Czar’s expected reaction to the accusatory letter risked disgrace to the School as well as to the composer. Orlova asserted that Tchaikovsky’s former classmates convened an impromptu court of honor and decreed that Tchaikovsky must take his own life in order to preserve the dignity of the institution.
Not surprisingly, this scenario is controversial. Its proponents include the distinguished British Tchaikovsky scholar and biographer David Brown; its challengers are led by the Russian-born biographer Alexander Poznansky. We may never know precisely what happened, but the story suggests a shattering subtext to the Sixth Symphony: a coded message of despair and desolation from the hand of a man who led a tortured life. It is food for thought when auditing the Pathétique, an undeniably personal work.
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