It feels so incongruous, giving a music history lesson, but present it I must, in order to give due to Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his Symphony No. 6, titled "Pathetique" (pronounced path-a-teek). There are a number of classical composers, Tchaikovsky among them, that speak to my soul. I've written about Johannes Brahms, whose music I can almost always identify and Tchaikovsky's music is a soul-equal for me.
As first-year, university music major, I went to my Big Ten University with some talent, desire and a great determination, but lacking in a body of knowledge about music and its history. Arriving at school, my ears were opened to a "brave new" musical world and they quickly soaked in the brilliance of Baroque, the decorum of the Classical Period, the lushness of the Romantic Period and the avant guard nature of Twentieth Century music. In a word, I was a sponge, and I absorbed information that will stay with me until I listen to my last notes.
Early on, in Music Literature, a listening assignment drew my attention to Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony, Pathetique, and I was hooked........for a lifetime. Hooked enough, that I desperately searched for organ transcriptions of the work so the organ major who was to play for Capt. SO's and my wedding could play portions of No. 6 as a recessional. Just the other day, my public radio classical station played the Pathetique Symphony and, once again, I was transported to another place and time - calmed and comforted by Tchaikovsky's gorgeous music. How ironic it was then, that the announcer came on at the conclusion of the symphony and gave the "Grace Notes" story about how Symphony No. Six was Tchaikovsky's last work, a work that was not well-received, its "public" failure perhaps contributing to the composer's death just days after he conducted the premier of the work. If only Peter Ilyich could have lived long enough, into the future, to learn that his Pathetique Symphony is one of his most beloved works today.
Far from the Anglicized word, "pathetic", his Symphony No. 6, Pathetique, lives on, bringing peace, tranquility and joy to people such as moi. Thank you, Peter.
End of music history lesson.
Ancora imparo
