Symphony No. 1
Winter Daydreams
A young composer's vision of the Russian winter, its landscapes and moods rendered as reverie. Beneath the frost lies restless ambition and the strain of a first great effort.
This was Tchaikovsky's first symphony, begun in March 1866 shortly after he left the St. Petersburg Conservatory to teach in Moscow. It cost him dearly. He drove himself into insomnia and nervous collapse, and a doctor warned that he stood close to a breakdown. His former teachers Anton Rubinstein and Nikolai Zaremba rejected the score, and only two movements were heard at first. Nikolai Rubinstein finally gave the complete work in Moscow in February 1868, where it was warmly received. The symphony is dedicated to him.
The score carries a pictorial idea rather than a strict program. The first movement is titled Dreams of a Winter Journey, and the slow movement bears the inscription Land of Desolation, Land of Mists, suggesting cold expanses and drifting fog. The music is lyrical and folk-tinged, with light woodwind writing that owes something to Mendelssohn, especially in the graceful scherzo. Trombones and tuba are held back until the finale, which opens in gloom before turning to a broad G major close built on Russian melody. For all the trouble it caused him, Tchaikovsky kept a lasting affection for it, calling it a sin of his sweet youth.
Movements
Recordings coming soon
The individual movements will be uploaded here.