Symphony No. 5 (Tchaikovsky)

Place among Tchaikovsky’s later symphonies#

In the first ten years after graduating from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1865 Tchaikovsky completed three symphonies. After that he started five more symphony projects, four of which led to a completed symphony premiered during the composer’s lifetime. The fifth symphony was composed in 1888, between the Manfred Symphony of 1885 and the sketches for a Symphony in E, which were abandoned in 1892 (apart from recuperating material from its first movement for an Allegro Brillante for piano and orchestra a year later). As for the numbered symphonies, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 was composed between Symphony No. 4, which had been completed ten years earlier, and Symphony No. 6, composed five years later, in the year of the composer’s death.

Programme#

On 15 April 1888, about a month before he started to compose the symphony, Tchaikovsky sketched notes on the symphony in his notebook, saying it is a “total submission before fate, or … the inscrutable designs of providence.” Possibly referring to the first movement, he wrote: “Murmurs, doubts, laments, reproaches against… xxx " and on the second: “Shall I cast myself into the embrace of faith???” In sketches for the second movement, there appear to be notes written around the score; in the treble clef is written: ‘consolation,’ ‘a ray of light,’ and ‘below the reply: “No, there is no hope.”’ However, most of these sketches were rejected, and it is uncertain how much of this programme has been realised in the composition, as it is possible that some of the notes made were transferred from the fifth symphony to the Symphony in E major.

Cyclical structure#

Like the Symphony No. 4, No. 5 is a cyclical symphony, with a recurring main theme.

Music#

The work is scored for 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in A, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani (3 drums), and strings. The symphony is in four movements: The symphony displays an overall tonal trajectory of E minor to E major, which—going from a minor key to its parallel major—is a common tonal trajectory in Western classical music, most notably used by Ludwig van Beethoven in his Fifth Symphony. The recurring main theme is used as a device to unify the four movements of the symphony. This motto theme, sometimes dubbed the “fate theme” or “fate motif”, A typical performance of the symphony lasts somewhat less than 50 minutes.

I. Andante – Allegro con anima – Molto più tranquillo#

Motto Theme, mm. 1–4: : \relative c’ \time 4/4 \clef treble \key e \minor \tempo “Andante” 4 = 80 g4. g16 g a4.( g16-.) fis-. g4( e2.) b'4. b16 b c4.( b16-.) a-. b4( g2) e'4– d– c– b– a– g2. e'4– d– c– b– a– g2~ g8 Primary Theme 1 (PT1), mm. 42–50: but not until mm. 128–132 The second section develops the head motive from PT1. At bar 218 the tonality changes from D major to D minor, its parallel minor. The shifting meter (from to ), and diminished sonority (m. 261 for example ) adds to growing instability. The third section is a brief allusion to the PT2, interrupted by a fugato based on PT1. Motive X returns strongly and insistently in m. 285, going back and forth between G minor and D minor. This can be interpreted as an effort to re-establish sonority in D. The transition to recapitulation is rather abrupt, yet a use of common tone modulation can be observed. The recapitulation of this movement follows the convention of sonata form, with the coda using the primary theme material to conclude the movement.

II. Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza#

The second movement begins with the continuation of the tragic sonority in B minor, as if the movement will be in the minor dominant of the tonic of the symphony. Instead, a common chord modulation leads to a D major theme first introduced by a solo horn. Compared to the stable A section, the B section exhibits instability in many ways. , the melody is praised for its poigniant romaiticism, lyricism, and singability, whilst also requiring exceptional musicality, expression, and control of dynamics from the performer. In this movement, the motto theme appears twice:

III. Valse. Allegro moderato#

Waltz 1: : \relative c \clef bass \time 3/4 \key a \major \tempo 4 = 138 e2\pp^“Clarinet/Bassoon” e8 e f2 e8 d e r cis2->~ cis2. e2 e8 e f2 e8 dis e r cis2->~ cis4 a'2->\mf gis2->\dim fis4->~ fis f2-> e2.->~ e4\pp a2->\mf gis2->\dim fis4->~ fis f2-> e2.-> The movement ends with the texture shrinking until only pianissimo strings play a repeated cadence, which then quickens into a hemiola rhythm before six sudden fortissimo chords played by the whole orchestra.

IV. Finale: Andante maestoso – Allegro vivace – Meno mosso#

Introduction – Motto Theme: : \relative c \clef treble \time 6/4 \key e \major \tempo “Molto meno mosso” 2. = 96 4.\ffff^“Trumpets” 8 4 e,4.^“Horns” e8 e4 e fis gis a gis fis e dis cis

Critical reaction#

Tchaikovsky himself considered the ending overdone and excessive, rather than an expression of triumph over fate. After the second performance, Tchaikovsky wrote: “I have come to the conclusion that it is a failure”. Despite this, the symphony has gone on to become one of the composer’s most popular works. Tchaikovsky, despite his friends’ approval and appraisal of the symphony, remained distraught and had significant self-doubt: My new symphony was played twice in Saint Petersburg and once in Prague. I am convinced that this symphony is not a success. There is something so repellent about such excess, insincerity and artificiality. With each day that passes I am increasingly certain that my last symphony is not a successful work, and the realisation that it is unsuccessful—or perhaps that my powers are declining—is very distressing to me. The symphony is too colourful, massive, insincere, drawn out and on the whole very disagreeable … Am I indeed, as they say, written out? … If so, then this is terrible. Whether my misgivings are mistaken or not, regrettably I have concluded that the symphony written in 1888 is poorer than the one written in 1877. Possibly for its very clear exposition of the idea of “ultimate victory through strife”, the Fifth was very popular during World War II, with many new recordings of the work, and many performances during those years. One of the most notable performances was by the Leningrad Radio Orchestra during the Siege of Leningrad. City leaders had ordered the orchestra to continue its performances to keep the spirits high in the city. On the night of October 20, 1941 they played Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 at the city’s Philharmonic Hall and it was broadcast live to London. As the second movement began, bombs started to fall nearby, but the orchestra continued playing until the final note. Since the war it has remained very popular, but has been somewhat eclipsed in popularity by the Fourth and Sixth Symphonies. Critical reaction to the work was mixed, with some enthusiasm in Russia. wrote, “The Fifth Symphony is the weakest of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies, but nevertheless it is a striking work, taking a prominent place not only among the composer’s output but among Russian works in general. … the entire symphony seems to spring from some dark spiritual experience.” On the symphony’s first performance in the United States, critical reaction, especially in Boston, was almost unanimously hostile. A reviewer for the Boston Evening Transcript, October 24, 1892, wrote: Of the Fifth Tchaikovsky Symphony one hardly knows what to say … In the Finale we have all the untamed fury of the Cossack, whetting itself for deeds of atrocity, against all the sterility of the Russian steppes. The furious peroration sounds like nothing so much as a horde of demons struggling in a torrent of brandy, the music growing drunker and drunker. Pandemonium, delirium tremens, raving, and above all, noise worse confounded! The reception in New York City was little better. A reviewer for the Musical Courier, March 13, 1889, wrote: In the Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony … one vainly sought for coherency and homogeneousness … In the last movement, the composer’s Calmuck blood got the better of him, and slaughter, dire and bloody, swept across the storm-driven score.

Uses of the symphony#

“Farewell, Amanda”, written by Cole Porter for the 1949 Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn film Adam’s Rib, draws liberally from the 4th movement of Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony. It is suggested by Ian MacDonald that a fragment of the “fate” theme is quoted by Dmitri Shostakovich in his Symphony No. 7 in the “invasion” theme of the first movement. Part of the second movement was given English lyrics under the title Moon Love (a Frank Sinatra classic later featured in his 1966 album Moonlight Sinatra) and Love Is All That Matters.

Notable recordings#

• Concertgebouworkest, Willem Mengelberg (1929)
• Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Yevgeny Mravinsky (Deutsche Gramophone, 1960)
• New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein (CBS, 1960)
• London Symphony Orchestra, Igor Markevitch (Philips, 1966)
• London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mstislav Rostropovich (1977, EMI)
• Oslo Philharmonic, Mariss Jansons (Chandos, 1986)
• Wiener Philharmoniker, Valery Gergiev (Philips, 1998)
• London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski (LPO, 2012)
• Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Manfred Honeck (YouTube, 2018)
• Concertgebouworkest, Semyon Bychkov (YouTube, 2020)

Sources#

• Review by Bogdanov-Berezovsky, paraphrased from The Symphonies of Brahms and Tschaikowsky in Score, Bonanza Books, New York, 1935.
• Newspaper reviews quoted in Nicolas Slonimsky, The Lexicon of Musical Invective. Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1965.
• Hans Keller: ‘Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’, in Vol. I of ‘The Symphony’, ed. Robert Simpson (Harmondsworth, 1966).
• The Symphony by Michael Steinberg, Oxford University Press 1995
• Michael Steinberg. “Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Opus 64” at San Francisco Symphony website.

Further reading#

• Kraus, Joseph C. (Spring 1991). “Tonal Plan and Narrative Plot in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E Minor.” Music Theory Spectrum, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 21–47.
• Seibert, Donald C. (1990). “The Tchaikovsky ‘Fifth:’ a symphony without a programme.” The Music Review, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 36–45.

External links#

• • Tchaikovsky Research – Symphony No. 5