Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4

What are you going to listen to?

A Slavic romantic program. From the Czech Republic come Smetana's joyous overture and Suk's fiery Fantasy. Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony fits right in with his melancholy Russian soul, though he manages to put a nice positive spin on it.

Czech village

Bedřich Smetana began his career as an ardent Czech nationalist, writing patriotic songs and even standing on the barricades in Prague during the revolution of 1848 to resist the troops of the Austrian ruler. But in his later years, he let his patriotism shine through music above all, first with a dramatic opera The Brandenburgers in Bohemia from which he even won a prize. Then he sought refuge in the lighter genre with his folkloric opera The Sold Bride. It was a comedy, almost a farce, entirely in the form of the German Singspiel, but with much appealing music in the style of Czech folk music. It would become, after a somewhat hesitant beginning at its premiere in 1866, one of Smetana's greatest successes. Already the overture puts you in a cheerful mood and, with its cheerful Bohemian folk melodies, immediately moves you into the atmosphere of a cozy Czech village where the comedy is set.

Son-in-law of Dvořák

Josef Suk learned the craft of composing from none other than Dvořák, whose daughter he also later married. In addition, he was one of the most famous violin virtuosos of his time, which, however, gave him less opportunity to compose. Actually, it is surprising that among his compositions there are only a few works in which the violin plays a leading role. He never wrote a true violin concerto, although the Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra comes pretty close. It is an elaborate one-movement work, in which the soloist can indulge in every possible virtuoso tour. In addition, it is also a true fantasy. Suk does not allow himself to be constrained by all kinds of forms and structures, but lets his inspiration run wild in a great stream of romantic melodies in a variety of tempi. But that, however, is superficially considered. A closer look reveals four basic melodies that sound regularly in various variations. What makes it even more exciting is that those themes are composed of a number of minor motifs making them quite closely related. Thus, in what initially sounds like a free-fighting fantasy, Suk creates a wonderful unity in which all the lines come together as a colorful pattern.

Get yourself together

Two women were of enormous influence on Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's life. Positive was the friendship with Nadezhda von Meck who was his great support and companion materially as well as spiritually. Although, at her request, they never actually met, their extensive correspondence speaks of a warm friendship. Downright negative was his relationship with his student Antonina Milyukova. To quell all the rumors about his homosexuality, he married her out of the blue. Of course, it ended in a fiasco and they were divorced after only six months. It gave the composer's already not very strong nervous system a serious blow, from which he recovered only slowly. It was precisely at this time that he wrote his Symphony No. 4 , which bears witness to this difficult time. It is sometimes called Tjsaikovsky's "symphony of fate. It immediately presents itself in the trumpet signal in the first bars, which recurs regularly as a leitmotif and cannot be supplanted even by some lighter melodies here and there. In the slow movement, Tchaikovsky sees himself as an old man passing his life by. But then fate is not so bad. There follows a scherzo with mere pizzicatos. He sees himself with a good glass of wine in hand in which, somewhat tipsy, he dispels the gloom with more cheerful thoughts. It succeeds excellently. The finale is of a jubilant mood, in which Tchaikovsky indulges in an almost overconfident exuberance. 'Get yourself together and don't say that everything in the world is only doom and gloom. Joy is a simple but great force.' Even a Last return of the fate motif of the beginning cannot dispel the bliss.

Kees Wisse