Symphony Pathétique

Symphony Pathétique Op. 74, Tchaikovsky August 15, 1893: Tchaikovsky was able to send his nephew a follow-up report: The symphony . . . is progressing. I am very pleased with what is in it, but I am not completely satisfied with the orchestration. It seems to take shape not quite as I had imagined. I shouldn’t be surprised if my symphony gets abusive notices and little appreciation; I am used to this. But I am confident in considering it the best and, above all, the “most genuinely sincere“ of all my works. I love it as I have never loved any of my other musical offspring. Among the lyric and dramatic elements of the first movement, Tchaikovsky quotes a motif from the Russian Orthodox service for the dead