Did composer Tchaikovsky struggle with proper form?

Comments ( 5 )

1. John says

   The introduction to his first piano concerto doesn’t appear to have anything to do with the rest of the piece.

   Overall, I am not very learned on the topic, although I would say about the 6th symphony that people clapping after the 3rd movement is quite deliberate: the fourth movement is so moving (pathetique) that it feels inappropraite to clap after it, so people clap after the 3rd instead, as it is similar to the final movement of standard symphonic form. I’ve never been to a live concert of the work, though, so I can’t comment further.

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2. suhwahaksaeng says

   I can make a few comments both ways.

   I don’t think Tchaikovsky wrote very good development sections.
   In my opinion, the development section in his Fourth Symphony is a gosh awful mess.

   In the Pathetique Symphony, the first movement ends quietly after the exposition and restarts loudly for the development.
   This sometimes startles the audience.

   His movements in the ternary form are nice.
   In the slow movement of the Fourth Symphony and in the slow movement of his piano concerto,
   he introduces a figure in the middle section and continues that figure while restating the first section.
   He probably borrowed that idea from the slow movement in Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata.

   The last movement from his piano concerto is in the ABABA form, which doesn’t seem to have a name.
   But so is the Chopin G major nocturne.
   I’m not saying that that’s good or bad–just a little unconventional.

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3. erstwhile says

   Tchaikovsky never struggled with form. True, some symphonies are more coherent than others, but all seven of them are extremely fine works in their own right.

   @James: I know it’s difficult for you, but Mozart composed other pieces, not just your beloved 40th symphony.

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4. Dave U says

   @ James
   Scott Adams said: “You can never underestimate the stupidity of the general public.”

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5. James says

   I’ve attended live performances of his “Pathetique” symphony (No. 6 in Bm, Op. 74) and also listened to several broadcasts of live performances during which a perceptible proportion of the audience applauded after the third movement, thinking that the symphony was over. Consider that indirect evidence of Tchaikovsky’s problems with form; it’s difficult to imagine an audience thinking that a Mozart or Brahms symphony was over when it wasn’t.

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