Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13 "Winter Dreams"

The symphony carries the subtitle "Winter Dreams," and Tchaikovsky gave the first two movements their own descriptive titles.

I. "Dreams of a winter journey": A wistful flute and bassoon melody opens over light, chugging strings, evoking travel through a snowy landscape. The music alternates between this restless motion and warmer, singing string themes.

II. "Land of gloom, land of mist": A slow, songful movement built around a long oboe melody, later taken up by the strings, that feels like a wide, empty view across snow-covered ground.

III. Scherzo: Allegro scherzando giocoso: A quick, light movement built from a waltz Tchaikovsky had written earlier, with crisp, dancing rhythms and a gentler trio section at its center.

IV. Finale: Andante lugubre, Allegro maestoso: The finale opens slowly and darkly before turning to a folk song, "The Flowers Bloomed," which Tchaikovsky develops with increasing energy. The symphony ends in a bright, triumphant G major, the same key as the somber opening now transformed.

First-time listeners can listen for the return and transformation of that opening folk tune at the very end, a satisfying payoff after a somber start.

Tchaikovsky wrote his First Symphony in 1866, soon after taking a teaching post at the new Moscow Conservatory. The work cost him considerable effort and, by his own account, affected his health during its composition. He revised it more than once before settling on the version now performed. Its premiere took place in Moscow in 1868 under Nikolai Rubinstein, and it was well received. Tchaikovsky later said he retained a particular fondness for this symphony despite its immaturities, seeing in it the sincerity of a young composer finding his voice. It remains the earliest of his symphonies to hold a place in the regular orchestral repertoire.