Fatum (Tchaikovsky)

History#

Tchaikovsky started the symphonic poem Fatum between late September and early October 1868. He put the work aside to devote his attention to the touring Belgian soprano Désirée Artôt, with whom he had fallen in love (or so he thought). They discussed marriage, and planned to meet again in the summer of 1869 in Paris to develop their plans. She then left for Warsaw to continue her tour with her opera company. Tchaikovsky completed the outline of the work by 21 October/2 November, and completed the scoring in December 1868. although it is not certain that this was Tchaikovsky’s idea, or that he was even familiar with those verses. Fatum was performed again in Saint Petersburg on 17/29 March at the ninth concert of the Russian Musical Society, conducted by Balakirev. However, the second performance was not the popular success the first performance had been. Balakirev wrote to Tchaikovsky: Your Fatum has been performed in St. Petersburg reasonably well … There wasn’t much applause, probably because of the appalling cacophony at the end of the piece, which I don’t like at all. It is not properly gestated, and seems to have been written in a very slapdash manner. The seams show, as does all your clumsy stitching. Above all, the form itself just does not work. The whole thing is completely uncoordinated…. I am writing to you with complete frankness, being fully convinced that you won’t go back on your intention of dedicating Fatum to me. Your dedication is precious to me as a sign of your sympathy towards me—and I feel a great weakness for you. M. Balakirev—who sincerely loves you. Other critics also referred to its artistic unevenness. By now, both Tchaikovsky and Désirée Artôt had had a change about their intended marriage. Neither advised the other of this, but he was nevertheless shocked when he learned through a third party (Nikolai Rubinstein) that she had married another man, the Spanish baritone Mariano Padilla y Ramos, in September 1869. Tchaikovsky’s favourable view of Fatum had also changed - he had come to regard it as a failure. He destroyed the manuscript in the 1870s and it was not performed again or published in his lifetime. He did, however, re-use the lyrical theme from Fatum in the duet for Natalia and Andrei in Act IV of his opera The Oprichnik, but transposed from A-flat major to D-flat major. In 1896, after Tchaikovsky’s death, the score was reconstructed from the original orchestral parts and published by Mitrofan Belyayev with the posthumous opus number 77. The piece has a duration of around 14 minutes. It has received a number of recordings.

Performance history#

Performances of Tchaikovsky’s Fatum, during and after his life. * Moscow, Russian Empire: 27 February 1869, conducted by Nikolai Rubinstein (premiere) * Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire: 29 March 1869, conducted by Mily Balakirev (Saint Petersburg premiere) * London, Great Britain: 28 October 1899, conducted by Henry Wood at Queen’s Hall

Instrumentation#

The music is scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets in B, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets in F, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, triangle, tam tam, harp and strings.

External links#

• • Tchaikovsky Research