Tchaikovsky: Master of Emotion

Music has been a powerful tool to evoke emotion since it was first created. Whether it

was triumphant music meant to evoke a feeling of happiness and pride or sorrowful music

meant to evoke a great sense of sadness and grief. Tchaikovsky’s is a master of evoking strong

emotion from his audience.

Tchaikovsky is most commonly known for his music written for ballets, such as The

Nutcracker, Swan Lake, or Sleeping Beauty, but he also wrote some incredible solo orchestral

works. His symphonies are all incredibly powerful and, he has also written some incredible

concerti (his first piano concerto is truly a masterpiece). What I want to look at today, however,

is his sixth symphony, named “Pathétique.” Tchaikovsky originally named the symphony a with

a Russian word that translated to passionate, but with the new French name, it was misnamed

leading to the name being changed to Pathétique. The word pathétique in french translates to

“emotionally moving, notably through demonstration or evocation of suffering.” This is fitting

considering this symphony is frequently referred to as his suicide note. Regardless of what you

know the symphony as, Tchaikovsky lives up to both names.

Although, it’s not confirmed that he died to suicide, nine days after the premiere of this

symphony, Tchaikovsky died. The official cause of death was labelled to be cholera due to the

consumption of something infected several days earlier. Tchaikovsky led a particularly

challenging life, especially considering there is lots of speculation that he was a homosexual

living in a time and place that was particularly unwelcoming to those in the LGBTQ+ community.

Now we can start to take a look at the actual music. This symphony was orchestrated

with a standard orchestration. The first movement spends most of its time in B minor, with E
minor poking it’s head in every once in a while. The secondary theme of the movement is in D

major however, so there’s a very strong feeling of push and pull between happy and sad.

Overall, the mood of the first movement is almost just angsty.

The second movement is very characteristic of the music that people associate with

Tchaikovsky. Although it spends most of the time in 5/4, it feels very much like a waltz.

Something that could be danced to. The odd timing makes it feel a little bit off however. People

tend to call this a limping waltz, as at the end of the bar it almost feels like there is a beat

missing. The overall movement feels very light and uplifting, with a slightly darker B theme.

The third movement feels like a storm. It is incredibly fast, the transitions are incredibly

abrupt and come without warning and the music is very aggressive. The music in this

movement feels very triumphant, there is a lot of play with adding a minor chord where you

would’ve expected major that ties this movement in with the rest of the symphony, but overall,

this is another light movement. This movement leaves you full of adrenaline and in a hyper

state only to be crushed by the fourth movement of the symphony.

The fourth movement is dark and melancholy almost the entire way through. I’ve spent

hours just listening to this movement alone as the emotion that he was able to pull out of me

with his composition is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. The music is slow, often quiet, but

he uses large swells to emphasize the emotion. This movement feels like someone who just

found out that the person they loved the most had passed. With lots of low melody and quiet

themes, Tchaikovsky was able to force you to feel something, and you’re instantly able to see

what was going through his head when he was writing. This piece is one of the most impactful
symphonies I have ever heard and I listen to it frequently. If you’ve never heard it before, I can’t

recommend it enough. Just make sure you have some tissues at the ready.