Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 "Pathétique"

I. Adagio, Allegro non troppo: A dark, murmuring introduction on low bassoon gives way to a restless main theme, then to one of Tchaikovsky's most famous melodies, a broad, singing tune in the strings. The movement builds to a violent climax before subsiding.

II. Allegro con grazia: A graceful waltz-like dance, but written in a lilting five-beat meter instead of the usual three, giving it a slightly off-kilter, limping charm. A more wistful middle section darkens the mood before the dance returns.

III. Allegro molto vivace: A driving march builds steadily from scurrying fragments to a full, triumphant-sounding tune. It is so emphatic that audiences sometimes applaud here, mistaking it for the finale.

IV. Finale, Adagio lamentoso: Instead of a fast, victorious ending, Tchaikovsky closes with a slow, grieving movement. A falling, sighing melody passes through the orchestra, rises once more in anguish, and dies away to nothing on low strings.

Tchaikovsky composed his Sixth Symphony in 1893, calling it his best and most sincere work. He conducted the premiere in St. Petersburg on October 28, 1893, to a puzzled reception; the symphony's unusual shape, ending quietly rather than with a big finale, left many listeners uncertain how to react. Nine days later Tchaikovsky was dead, and the symphony's despairing tone quickly became linked in the public imagination with his death, fueling decades of speculation about what he intended it to mean. His brother Modest suggested the title "Pathétique," which Tchaikovsky approved, and the symphony went on to become one of his most performed works, prized for its emotional candor and its refusal of a conventional happy ending.