SYMPHONY NO. 4 IN F MINOR - FINALE (TCHAIKOVSKY)
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY'S NO. 4 IN F MINOR WAS WRITTEN BETWEEN 1877-1878. HE INCORPORATES A FAMOUS RUSSIAN FOLK SONG 'IN THE FIELD STOOD A BIRCH TREE' AS ONE OF ITS THEMES. PERFORMED DURING MY SOPHOMORE YEAR IN THE TMEA TEXAS ALL STATE CONCERT BAND.
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Story behind the song
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36, was written between 1877 and 1878. The symphony's first performance was at a Russian Musical Society concert in Saint Petersburg on February 10, 1878, with Nikolai Rubinstein as conductor.
The finale of this symphony is generally judged by its success in rounding off the symphonic cycle into a cohesive whole. Tchaikovsky here repeats the "Fate" motif which opened the piece. The reprise of "Fate" is highly artificial and, compared with a strict cyclic form, is not really effective. Neither does it give any resolution to the psychological tensions of the other three movements. However, it could be said to appeal to the patriotic and heroic feelings of his aristocratic listeners. This would place it in line with the finales of Tchaikovsky's three earlier symphonies as an apotheosis in Imperial style.
The symphony is in four movements:
1.Andante sostenuto - Moderato con anima - Moderato assai, quasi Andante - Allegro vivo (F minor)
The symphony opens with horns and bassoons sounding a loud A-flat in octave unison. After a descending line by the bassoon and low brass, the woodwinds and trumpets join with a higher A-flat. As the music solidifies into large, slow syncopated chords, Tchaikovsky unleashes the musical equivalent of lightning bolts: two short fortissimo chords, each followed by a long measure of silence. As the music ebbs away, the woodwinds hint at the main melody, which is properly introduced by the strings at the Moderato con anima. (The score at this point is marked "In movimento di Valse", as it is written in 9/8.) The melody develops quite rapidly. Much later in the movement, the same A-flat is played by the trumpets. This movement is marked by continual introductions of the Fate Motive, the A-flat phrase. The motive serves as a separation between each section of the sonata-allegro form. At around twenty minutes in length in some performances, this is one of the longest symphonic movements by Tchaikovsky. It is also just short of the length of the remaining movements combined.
2.Andantino in modo di canzona (B flat minor)
This movement is introduced by the melancholy melody of the oboe. The music's impassioned climax is a reminder of the grieving phrases that dominated the opening movement.
3.Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato - Allegro (F major)
Strings play pizzicato throughout this movement. They are joined by the woodwinds later when an oboe's long, high A signals the start of the A-major Trio section. Later, the brass instruments come in, playing very quietly and staccato. The three groups (strings, woodwinds, and brass) are the only groups that play; there is no percussion in this movement except for the timpani, as in the previous movement. It ends quietly with pizzicato strings.
4.Finale: Allegro con fuoco (F major)
Here Tchaikovsky incorporates a famous Russian folk song, "In the Field Stood a Birch Tree", as one of its themes. In this movement, a hint of the A-flat of the first movement is present about halfway through, with the 'lightning bolts' being a lot louder, with cymbals added.