Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5

In 1888, Tchaikovsky’s 5th symphony was premiered. It was
enthusiastically received by the audience, and by Tchaikovsky’s
friends. But Tchaikovsky’s nemesis, the critics, were not so
happy with the piece.   One utterly tore apart the symphony,
writing after a performance in Boston: "Of the Fifth Tchaikovsky
Symphony one hardly knows what to say ... The furious peroration
sounds like nothing so much as a horde of demons struggling in a
torrent of brandy, the music growing drunker and drunker.
Pandemonium, delirium tremens, raving, and above all, noise worse
confounded!” Another wrote: “Tchaikovsky appears to be a victim
of the epidemic of the Music of the Future, that in its
hydrophobia, scorns logic, wallows in torpor, and time and again,
collapses in dissonant convulsions. Of basic inspiration in these
people, who present interest at most as pathological cases, there
is very little indeed.” 


Usually this is the moment where I quote Sibelius’ brilliant: “no
one ever built a statue to a critic” line, but for once,
Tchaikovsky somewhat agreed with his critics. He wrote to his
legendary patron Nadezhda von Meck: “I am convinced that this
symphony is not a success. There is something so repellent about
such excess, insincerity and artificiality.” Though he later
changed his mind, the last movement of the symphony was always
problematic for Tchaikovsky, and its been problematic for many
performers and audience members to this day. Is the ending a
profound expression of triumph over fate? Or is it hackneyed,
over the top, and as Tchaikovsky said, excessive? Perhaps it’s
the controversy over its ending, or perhaps something else, but
ever since its premiere, Tchaikovsky’s 5th has been one of the
most dependable audience favourites around the world. Today I’m
going to take you through the genesis and the composition of this
wonderful and polarising symphony. Join us!