Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Part 1)

About this episode

This episode explores Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony, discussing its emotional depth and the criticism faced by the composer.

The great and somewhat controversial conductor Leopold Stokowski said this about Tchaikovsky: "His musical utterance comes directly from the heart and is a spontaneous expression of his innermost feeling. It is as sincere as if it were written with his blood." I couldn't agree more with Stokowski, because I think he hits on a word that has made Tchaikovsky's music so powerful to almost every audience that encounters it: sincere. Tchaikovsky's music is so profoundly moving because you feel as if there is no gap between the music and Tchaikovsky's emotions. It's as if he is earnestly speaking to you through his music. But paradoxically, this ability that Tchaikovsky had made him a punching bag of critics and cynics throughout his career and even into today. Even though Tchaikovsky remains one of the most popular composers in the Western Classical canon, his name is still not treated with the respect of a composer like Beethoven or Brahms or other luminaries. I understand that, but I also think Tchaikovsky's skills as a composer are extremely underrated, which brings me to Tchaikovsky's 6th and final symphony, nicknamed the "Pathetique." Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony essentially…

People in this episode

Host: Joshua Weilerstein

Topics covered

• Tchaikovsky
• symphony analysis
• classical music
• emotional expression
• music criticism

Keywords

• Tchaikovsky
• Symphony No. 6
• Pathetique
• classical music
• emotional expression
• music analysis
• symphonic form

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony, Pathetique

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