Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky's strength is melody and orchestral colour, and his forms are built to display them. His sonata expositions often set a driven first subject against a long, singing second subject, and his developments work by repeating a fragment louder and higher until it breaks rather than by taking it apart. He knew this was not Germanic method and said so; the aim is emotional trajectory, not argument.
The Sixth Symphony, finished nine days before he died in 1893, changes the plan in two ways that matter. The third movement is a march that builds to a full-orchestra ending so conclusive that audiences often applaud there. Then the finale, instead of being fast, is slow and ends with the music sinking to nothing in the lower strings. Ending a symphony with a slow, quiet movement was close to unheard of.
The finale also hides a trick in the scoring: the descending main melody is not played by any single instrument. First and second violins alternate notes so that neither part is the tune, and only the combined sound produces it. This is why the movement can sound different from one recording to another depending on where the violins are seated.
What to listen for
- The second subject: a long melody that keeps unfolding, usually on strings, in contrast to the agitated first subject.
- Sequences that climb: the same short figure repeated a step higher each time until it reaches a climax.
- In the Sixth, the false ending at the close of the third movement, then the slow finale.
- The finale's opening theme, split between the two violin sections so that neither plays the melody alone.
Source: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky