2015 Program Notes, Book 2 |
39
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
signs of approaching the door of the mental ward in which, still legally married to him,
she died in 1917) was a confirmation of his belief in the inexorable workings of Fate in
human destiny. He later wrote to Mme. von Meck, “We cannot escape our Fate, and
there was something fatalistic about my meeting with this girl.” The relationships with
the two women of 1877, Mme. von Meck and Antonina, occupy important places in the
composition of this Symphony: one made it possible, the other made it inevitable, but
the vision and its fulfillment were Tchaikovsky’s alone.
After the premiere, Tchaikovsky wrote to Mme. von Meck, with great trepidation,
explaining the emotional content of the Fourth Symphony: “The introduction [blaring
brasses heard immediately in a motto theme that recurs several times throughout
the Symphony] is the kernel, the chief thought of the whole Symphony. This is Fate,
the fatal power that hinders one in the pursuit of happiness from gaining the goal,
which jealously provides that peace and comfort do not prevail, that the sky is not free
from clouds—a might that swings, like the sword of Damocles, constantly over the
head, that poisons continuously the soul. This might is overpowering and invincible.
There is nothing to do but to submit and vainly complain [the melancholy, syncopated
shadow-waltz of the main theme, heard in the strings]. The feeling of desperation and
loneliness grows stronger and stronger. Would it not be better to turn away from reality
and lull one’s self in dreams? [The second theme is begun by the clarinet, with trailing
sighs from the rest of the woodwinds.] Deeper and deeper the soul is sunk in dreams.
All that was dark and joyless is forgotten....
“No — these are but dreams: roughly we are awakened by Fate. [The blaring brass
fanfare over a wave of timpani begins the development section.] Thus we see that life
is only an everlasting alternation of somber reality and fugitive dreams of happiness.
Something like this is the program of the first movement.
“The second movement shows another phase of sadness. How sad it is that so much
has already
been
and
gone
! And yet it is a pleasure to think of the early years. One
mourns the past and has neither the courage nor the will to begin a new life. One is
rather tired of life. One would fain rest awhile, recalling happy hours when young blood
pulsed warm through our veins and life brought satisfaction. We remember irreparable
loss. But these things are far away. It is sad, yet sweet, to lose one’s self in the past.
“There is no determined feeling, no exact expression in the third movement. Here
are capricious arabesques, vague figures which slip into the imagination when one
has taken wine and is slightly intoxicated. Suddenly there rushes into the imagination
the picture of a drunken peasant and a gutter song. Military music is heard passing in
the distance. There are disconnected pictures which come and go in the brain of the
sleeper. They have nothing to do with reality; they are unintelligible, bizarre.
“As to the finale, if you find no pleasure in yourself, look about you. Go to the people.
See how they can enjoy life and give themselves up entirely to festivity. The picture of a
folk holiday. [The finale employs the folk song
A Birch Stood in the Meadow
, presented
simply by the woodwinds after the noisy flourish of the opening.] Hardly have we had
time to forget ourselves in the happiness of others when indefatigable Fate reminds us
once more of its presence. The other children of men are not concerned with us. How
merry and glad they all are. All their feelings are so inconsequential, so simple. And do
you still say that all the world is immersed in sorrow? There still
is
happiness, simple,
naive happiness. Rejoice in the happiness of others—and you can still live.”
©2015 Dr. Richard E. Rodda
