TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6 “Pathétique“ #SSOPlayOn

Lan Shui conducts the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Find out more about the SSO: Much conjecture has surrounded the “programme” of Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony. While working on the symphony, Tchaikovsky wrote to his nephew Vladimir Davydov that “the programme will be of a kind that will remain an enigma to all – let them guess ... This programme is saturated with subjective feeling ... while composing it in my mind I shed many tears.” Tchaikovsky at first called the work Programme Symphony, but then decided that with no declared programme to go with it, the title was a contradiction in terms. He then considered calling it the “Tragic”, but when his brother Modeste suggested “patetichesky“, the composer exclaimed, “Excellent, Modya, bravo, patetichesky!” The word was inscribed immediately on the score’s title page and taken to the publisher Jurgenson. One day later, the composer had a change of heart and asked Jurgenson to remove the word “if it’s not too late”. B