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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13, TH 24, ČW 21 “Winter Daydreams“ (with Score) Composed: 1866-68 rev. 1874 Conductor: Riccardo Muti Orchestra: New Philharmonia Orchestra 00:00 1. Daydreams on a Winter Journey: Allegro tranquillo (G minor) 11:23 2. Land of Gloom, Land of Mist: Adagio cantabile ma non tanto (E-flat major) 22:23 3. Scherzo: Allegro scherzando giocoso (C minor) 30:19 4. Finale: Andante lugubre – Allegro moderato – Allegro maestoso (G minor) Tchaikovsky was extremely sensitive and self-critical, often revising well-crafted works or destroying or attempting to destroy them. Though he completed the First Symphony in August of 1866, he made a second version of it before the end of that year. Still not fully satisfied with it, he revised it once more, in 1874. Tchaikovsky himself nicknamed the symphony “Winter Daydreams“ and even gave the subtitles “Dreams Along a Wintry Wayside“ to the first movement and “Land of Desolation, Land of Mists“ to the second. Marked Allegro tranquillo, the opening movement does have a dreamy quality about it, despite its generally lively manner and occasionally muscular sonorities. The ensuing panel (Adagio cantabile ma non tanto) is mesmerizing in its gentleness and melodic flow, both of which invoke tranquil wintry images -- no blizzards or wind here, but lots of snow outside and glowing logs in the fireplace inside. The lovely main theme, first heard on oboe, is one of the composer's most attractive creations from his early career. In the following Scherzo (Allegro scherzando giocoso), Tchaikovsky used material from the Scherzo of his 1865 Piano Sonata in C sharp minor. The mood is subdued in this movement, but the music is upbeat, especially in the buoyant trio. Tchaikovsky actually foreshadows the night music of Mahler near the close of this Scherzo, when the solo cello wittily takes up the main theme. The finale, marked Andante lugubre -- Allegro maestoso, has much of the winter about its glacial pacing and barren writing in the opening. The main Allegro section brings the most vigorous and colorful music in the symphony. The energetic main theme is one of the composer's most joyous creations and the orchestration throughout this movement is brilliantly realized. The first movement and the finale, as in several symphonies from the German tradition, show thematic links, and in general the work marked an auspicious beginning for a composer who would fuse Western symphonic logic with distinctively Russian subjectivity and gloom. This work was once neglected but is now performed and recorded with much greater frequency. A typical performance of the First Symphony lasts between 40 and 45 minutes. ()
