Symfoni nr 1

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is one of music history’s preeminent melodists. While admittedly borrowing freely from folk music, he also had a unique ability to make the notes his own, to arouse the listener to empathy, movement and joy.

In 1865, at the age of 25, he was appointed Professor of Music Theory at the Moscow Conservatory. The following year he enjoyed a major success when one of his overtures was performed, spurring him on to begin work on his first symphony. Still teaching during the day, he composed frenetically through the night while chain-smoking. This workload led to a breakdown but in February 1867 the work was finally finished. Symphony No. 1, also known as Winter Daydreams, is liberatingly simple in structure. The main theme of the first movement is reminiscent of swirling snowflakes or a sleigh ride winding through a glittering snowy landscape. The slow second movement is built around a single yet incredibly beautiful theme, which is introduced by the oboe after two minutes. This melody conveys a timeless sense of nostalgia and might just as easily have been written by Elton John in the 1970s. This is followed by a merry and majestic scherzo and a finale that begins melancholically before concluding in jubilant optimism.