Fate and emotion in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4

Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No.4"

The description of Tchaikovsky's inspiration for his "Symphony No.4" seems very alien, from the point-of-view of a modern reader. The idea that "Fate" is a kind of living, palpable force that can thwart human happiness, no matter how hard one tries, goes against the American stress upon the power of positive thinking and self-empowerment. It reflects the composer's Romantic obsession with the irrational forces of nature, and his tragic view of the doomed nature of the artist and humanity. Likewise, the composer's highly idealized view of peasant life reflects his Romantic view of 'the pastoral' life of peasants as a simpler, better people unaware of the hideous nature of fate. His sense that poorer people have fewer cares and concerns than wealthier people seems insensitive at best, and fundamentally misguided at worst.

However, the composition itself transcends Tchaikovsky's stated intentions and the conceptions of the era when it was created. The contrast between the stately and solemn horns and the lighter melodies can also represent anything the listener wants, a sense of impending doom or that a calamity may be coming, or even just a feeling of depression within the listener's soul. It reminds the listener of the need to chase these feelings away with comforting thoughts. The one assumption our own age shares with Tchaikovsky's Romantic Age, perhaps, is the importance of the individual and the need to change's one's emotional state from within to cope with a crisis. Unlike Classical pieces, there is no expected progression and very clear form to the symphony.