TCHAIKOVSKY'S SWAN SONG

I don't know why, but with winter's lament dying away at last and the warm rays of spring sunshine beginning to thaw the thin layer of ice that still covers the surface of many ponds, I am suddenly reminded of Tchaikovsky and I play his music night and day.

Tchaikovsky, who was born in May and died in November, lived in a cold, very cold land. He nevertheless produced some of the best, the most beautiful, the most haunting music ever heard. The warmth that invades my soul when I listen to his symphonies is surely reminiscent of spring emerging out of the coldness of winter. There is nothing, absolutely nothing in the world of music, that compares with the sad theme that grips you from about minute 5 of the "pathetique", his Symphony nº6. The crescendo that builds up quickly in the third to fourth minute of the first movement suddenly turns into a desperately slow, agonising, lead-in to what, in my very humble opinion, must rate as the most romantic theme ever. I like to think of it as Tchaikovsky's Swan Song, performed, and conducted by him, for the first time just a few days before his death. Beauty, to be truly appreciated, must somehow be combined with sadness.

Here is the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, directed by Mariss Jansons, at the 2004 London Proms, performing that particular part of the First movement. (Posted by exponentu on youtube) Do listen to it; I'm sure you'll enjoy it.