Like his Fourth Symphony, Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony begins with a 'Fate' motif that returns to haunt all three later movements.
Performer Biography
The London Philharmonic Orchestra, featured on this recording, was founded in 1932 by Sir Thomas Beecham and has been the Resident Symphony Orchestra at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall since 1992.
Performer Biography
Vladimir Jurowski, the conductor on this album, made his international debut in 1995 at the Wexford Festival and his Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut in the same year.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Tchaikovsky described his Fourth Symphony as dominated by the idea of Fate, which 'hangs above your head like the sword of Damocles, and unwaveringly, constantly poisons the soul'.
Compositional Technique
The Scherzo of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony features a unique instrumental effect where the strings play pizzicato throughout the movement.
Compositional Technique
The finale of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony incorporates a Russian folksong called 'In the fields there stood a birch tree' as a subsidiary theme.
Composer Biography
Tchaikovsky wrote most of his Fourth Symphony in 1877, a year of intense emotional crisis, an impossible marriage, and a suicide attempt.
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