Tchaikovsky, P.I.: Symphony No. 4 / Serenade in C Major / Elegy in Honour of Ivan Samarin

Featuring

Neeme Järvi
Göteborgs Symfoniker
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Tchaikovsky believed that instrumental music, by its very nature, cannot be fully analyzed or explained, stating, "Where words cease, music begins."

Composition History

Tchaikovsky's Elegy in Memory of I. V. Samarin was originally a "grateful greeting" composed for the 50th stage anniversary of actor and professor Ivan V. Samarin, who was still alive at the time.

Recording & Production

This Hybrid SACD recording uses a 5.0 surround sound configuration, aiming to reproduce the natural sound of a concert venue with all five channels recorded using the full frequency range.

Performer Biography

The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1905, was appointed the National Orchestra of Sweden in 1997 due to its role as an ambassador of Swedish music and its high artistic level.

Compositional Technique

For his Serenade for Strings, Tchaikovsky explicitly stated a preference for a large string orchestra, writing in the score's preface, "The larger the string orchestra, the better will the composer's desires be fulfilled."

Composition History

Tchaikovsky composed his Serenade for Strings in C major, Op. 48, three years after his Fourth Symphony, describing it as a "carefree expression of happiness."

Performer Biography

Neeme Järvi, the conductor on this album, was born in Estonia in 1937 and won first prize at the conducting competition at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome in 1971.