The album cover features an aquatint titled "Death and Bonaparte 1814" by Thomas Rowlandson, depicting Napoleon with Death on a cannon.
Performer Biography
José Serebrier, the conductor on this album, was hailed by Leopold Stokowski as 'the greatest master of orchestral balance' at the age of 22.
Recording & Production
The conductor, José Serebrier, created a new, idiomatic orchestration of Tchaikovsky's Andante cantabile for string orchestra specifically for this recording.
Compositional Technique
Fatum has an unusual form, far removed from the typical sonata form used in most single-movement works of its time, and possesses the spontaneity of an improvisation.
Composition History
Tchaikovsky destroyed the scores of Fatum after a negative reception in St. Petersburg, and the work was never performed again during his lifetime.
Composition History
Tchaikovsky's symphonic fantasia Fatum was given a late opus number (Op. 77) after his death, when the work was rediscovered and added to his catalogue.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The symphonic fantasia Fatum is an early expression of Tchaikovsky's lifelong preoccupation with the concept of fate, a theme that recurs in many of his works.
