≈ History ≈ {based on materials from Tchaikovsky-Research.net} Tchaikovsky wrote his Symphony No. 1 - "Winter Daydreams" - just after he accepted a professorship at the Moscow Conservatory. His brother Modest claimed the piece cost Tchaikovsky more labor and suffering than any other. Tchaikovsky started writing in March 1866. Work proved sluggish, and he suffered from insomnia and pains in his head. Tchaikovsky sought the opinion of his former teachers Rubinstein and Zaremba. Both men were negative. Tchaikovsky persevered and completed the symphony before the conservatory's Christmas break. Even with the insisted changes, the older maestros still disapproved of the symphony on the whole; however, they passed the adagio and scherzo as "fit for performance". The two movements were played at an RMS concert in St. Petersburg on February 23, 1867, with no success. Tchaikovsky was thoroughly disillusioned. He discarded almost all the revisions. The final premiere of the first version finally took place in Moscow on February 15, 1868, but achieved a cold reception. The symphony would have to wait 15 years for its next performance and underwent some revisions. The premiere of the second version took place in Moscow on December 1, 1883, and was a success. In spite of the difficulties which beset No. 1, it always remained one of Tchaikovsky's favourite works. Tchaikovsky wrote later to Nadezhda von Meck: "In many respects it is very immature, although fundamentally it is richer in content than many of my more mature works". ≈ Music ≈ No. 1 proved to be a personal favorite among Tchaikovsky's symphonies, as the piece with its finely wrought introduction and elegant Scherzo enables us to see the composer before his eventual rise to fame. Tchaikovsky freely confessed that he could not write within the rules of Western sonata form, and "Winter Dreams" forced him to realize he would have to work "around the rules". Tchaikovsky titled the slow movement "Land of gloom, land of mists", and the Adagio becomes an isolated moment of prolonged reflection among its lively surroundings. The piece opens with a melancholic prelude for the strings, a subdued soundscape possibly suggesting a northern landscape completely devoid of movement. There is no formal resolution of this introduction, as the entrance of the flute {1:32} suddenly breaks the tranquility. Tchaikovsky in his primary theme, first presented by the oboe with charming support from flute|bassoon {1:41}, attains perfection: the melody - gently balancing between a pastoral lament and a birdsong - is serene and calming yet vaguely gloomy in its heartfelt progression. Thereinafter, the Adagio becomes a freely constructed sequence of variations, quite similar to Ruhevoll from Mahler's No. 4. The second theme de facto continues the previous material and acts as a tempo di mezzo between the statement of the main melody, as the primary material is transferred from violas|flute to the violins|bassoon over a series of charming turns from the oboe|clarinet {3:10}. The winds provoke another melodic break {3:52} that ultimately gives way to the second statement of the theme {4:11}, as the cellos engage in a warm-toned rendition of the melody below the constant figurations of the violins and the long tones of the winds. As a welcome surprise, the final measures are extended in a luminous cadenza-like coda that touches upon both themes {5:20} before the tempo di mezzo is fully restated {6:25}. The music once again begins to gradually stall before a tremolo in the strings {7:30} introduces the final iteration of the theme {7:38}. The final version underlines the darkness that has been contained in the music from the onset, as the horn, initially accompanied by the flutes, moves through a distinctly morose rendition of the theme over a gradual crescendo in the remaining forces, ultimately culminating in a grandiose statement of the final measures of the melody {8:31}. The melody, however, is not allowed to be completed, as an urgent series of ascents from the the violins|violas {8:56} provokes a sudden silence {9:16}. There is no formal resolution, as we revert with little modulation to the prelude {9:39}, the piece moving to its somewhat traditional but suitably restrained conclusion {10:16}. While obviously a youthful work, the Adagio, above all, reveals the strengths of Tchaikovsky's particular art and the true depth of his melodic invention. ≈ Score ≈ The sheet of the symphony is readily available on IMSLP: http://petrucci.mus.auth.gr/imglnks/usimg/f/fc/IMSLP00677-Tchaikovsky_symphony_no_1-2.pdf ≈ Recording ≈ After agonizing over several versions, I ultimately returned to the version that introduced me to the symphony: the 1991 rendition of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Field under Neville Marriner that was recorded by Capriccio for a complete set of Tchaikovsky's symphonic works. Hope you'll enjoy and a Happy New Year to all of you!

• published: 31 Dec 2014
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