NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Alan Gilbert

Tchaikovsky’s parting work?

»I can say without exaggeration that I have poured my entire soul into this symphony«, said Piotr Tchaikovsky about his famous »Pathétique«. The Russian master’s sixth and final symphony is surrounded by numerous myths. Was this his own requiem that the composer wrote shortly before his death? Is this passionate symphonic panorama of human sorrow and suffering intended as a parting work by Tchaikovsky? These suggestions certainly seem possible when you listen to the symphony’s first and, especially, its sombre final movement. But that’s to disregard the middle movements, a »disguised« waltz and a triumphal march in which the hopes and joys of life also find their place.