(2007)
instrumentation:
3(III=picc).2.3(III=bcl).2—4.3.3.1—timp.perc(3)—harp—cel—strings
duration: 7:00

Program note

This work was composed in response to the most specific and unusual orchestral commission I have ever received. Conductor Lawrence Golan conceived the idea to commission a work to be entitled Tchaikovsky 6.1, intended specifically to be performed in concert immediately following the Tchaikovsky Sixth Symphony, the “Pathétique.” His conception was that the new work, though not intended to be in the style of Tchaikovsky, would share some musical material with the Sixth Symphony, so as to be intrinsically connected to it. As the Sixth Symphony famously ends with music which slowly dies away, with the contrabasses playing a repeated note suggesting a fading heartbeat and perhaps the composer’s own death, Golan’s conception was that the new work might begin with this music, and eventually close with more optimistic music which might suggest a resurrection. I found such a specific concept both intriguing and daunting as I set about the task of attempting to realize it. Particularly daunting was the notion of composing music that would be so intimately connected with a work which is one of the most well-known examples of the late Romantic symphony. When keeping company with such a beloved masterwork, it’s almost impossible not to suffer by comparison!

I settled on a structure which would pay homage to the Tchaikovsky Sixth Symphony through musical quotation, though the quotes are altered in significant ways. Tchaikovsky 6.1 does indeed begin with music derived from the end of the “Pathétique,” but with this twist: it is the last page of Tchaikovsky’s score, but played “backwards,” so to speak. The order of the notes is literally reversed: what had descended now ascends; what had faded away now grows in strength. This leads to a sonority which is clearly not of Tchaikovsky’s sound-world (though related to it)—a chord which introduces my new musical material, calling for instruments which are not present in the “Pathétique”: glockenspiel, vibraphone, harp, and celesta. A series of woodwind solos follows, presenting the main musical motive. As the musical interval of the perfect fourth is quite important in the Sixth Symphony, I chose this interval as the principal one of the new motive as well. Harp, celesta, percussion, and strings evoke a “dreamy” sound-world under these woodwind solos. This leads to the central section of the work, in which I quote “the big tune” from the “Pathétique,” the beautiful and famous melody from its first movement. Here I attempted to suggest a dream or memory of that melody, which fades in and out, played by a solo clarinet, accompanied by harp, celesta, a small group of strings, and unusual effects from the percussion section. (I hope Tchaikovsky would forgive me this fanciful re-orchestration!) After a short comment from the brass, the woodwind solos return in a new tonality. This leads to a return of the earlier bell-like sonority, which in turn leads to the final section of the work. A timpano repeats a single pitch (perhaps a newly vigorous heartbeat?), and the brass take up a series of perfect fourths, which suggest the earlier woodwind motive, but gradually evolve into a fanfare-like figure. This leads to the work’s climax, in which Tchaikovsky’s “big tune” returns, but now played in triumphant fashion in the bass instruments of the orchestra, while above it the fanfare figure brings the work to its conclusion.