So I have to learn Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony-- his "Pathetic" Symphony so called because it is depressing-- and very angry. It is angry because it changes mood suddenly, tempo, range, and has many atonal passages. The first violin lives half the time up in 7th position and has many "weird" scale passages that start low and make their way up to said position. So, yes, I do have my hands full playing wise....But am I ready for all those emotions?
Well, at 11pm, when I shut the lights off and decided to put some critical ears to the music while trying to sleep, I became aware that some music is meant for the conscious midday and not when one wants to unwind.
Let's think about the history of the man at this time. Was this not his last or close to his last symphonic effort? Was he not willed by the Powers that be into killing himself in a "dignified" way because of certain relationships and not being Russian enough? Did he not eventually succumb to arsenic poisoning when he felt he could no longer exist respected? Well, this is what I read. But, would he not put this into his music?
Of course.
But what may have taken him a few months to compose and concoct with all of his anguish and hatred towards the public that he so wanted to please (or it could have just been toward his contemporaries), cannot be fully digested or even hinted at when one is not ready to accept it. Put a fire suit on me, allow me some guard rails, and keep the tea coming-- that is how one listens to Tchaikovsky! Just playing catch up!
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