Program Notes
scored without oboes.
In an elegantly balanced slow movement, the
clarinet develops themes introduced earlier in what
undoubtedly is one of the composer’s most lyrical
adagios. Mozart exploits the instrument to its full
potential but without virtuosity or even a cadenza
– no easy task. This is music of quiet reflection, and
profoundly human.
“The middle movement really shows how the
clarinet can ultimately be like a voice,’’ Hoe said.
“You can really showcase how beautiful the
clarinet can sound.’’ Soloist and orchestra come
back into the light with a lively rondo in 6/8 time,
but not without the clarinet offering a lament in
the contrasting key of F sharp minor. The final
movement, then, seems to balance happiness and
sadness, mirth and melancholy, one masking the
other as if Mozart wanted us to decide on a mood
for ourselves. Above all, Hoe said, the music tells
a story.
“It’s a very approachable for an audience because
it takes you on a journey,’’ she said. “And it’s been a
journey for me to figure out what I want to do with
it and make it my own. I’m still working on that.’’
PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
SYMPHONY NO. 6, OP. 74 “ PATHETIQUE”
Duration: ca. 46 minutes
“Without exaggeration, I have put my entire soul
into this symphony,’’ Tchaikovsky wrote after
completing his Symphony No. 6. “I have never felt
such self-satisfaction, such pride, such happiness,
as in the consciousness that I am really the creator
of this beautiful work.’’
It would be his last. Just over a week after its
premiere in October 1893, Tchaikovsky died, having
drunk a glass of unboiled water during a cholera
outbreak in St. Petersburg (Russia, not Florida).
The Pathetique – his symphony of suffering, of
pathos – would become his requiem, a last will
and testament of a composer whose music comes
directly and unabashedly from the heart.
Tchaikovsky has never been viewed as herculean,
much less heroic, in the sense of Beethoven or
Mahler. His brand of romantic expression is more
about vulnerability, of personal pain, of sentiment
and sensitivity. Along with a supreme technique
and gift for melody and orchestral color, his emotionalism
is a powerful tonic that makes the concertos,
THE FLORIDA OR 44 CHESTRA | 2019-2020
ballet scores, tone poems and last three symphonies
central to the orchestral repertoire.
Tchaikovsky’s final work remains popular for another
reason: Its resilience. It stands up to most any
interpretation, to any choice of tempo, to any exaggeration.
No wonder it’s among the most recorded
of all symphonies; no two performances are alike,
and the best are nothing less than gut-wrenching.
After a performance of the Pathetique with the New
York Philharmonic, conductor Leonard Bernstein
stepped off the podium, white faced, and said, “I
have been on the brink.’’
The first movement opens from the depths, the
strings barely audible as a mournful bassoon rises
from below. More and more instruments slowly join
the dirge, adding color as the pace quickens, hints
of a main theme, then unleashes a tempest. After
a brief struggle, Tchaikovsky lets loose one of his
most ardent melodies. It doesn’t last. An outburst
by the brass begins a descent into chaos, followed
by a brief return to song, then quiet.
The second movement, a waltz with five beats per
measure, takes the place where a slow movement
would normally reside. An exhilarating scherzo
follows, a triumphant march where the woodwinds,
and the clarinet in particular, exploit the music’s
energy and colors to the fullest. Don’t be surprised
to hear applause from the audience after the
rousing finish.
Tchaikovsky concludes with a lament, making it the
first major symphony to end in a slow movement.
Listeners will hear a quote from the opening
movement and two arresting climaxes. But the
mood is one of profound despair, and as the music
winds to a close, it grows weaker and more solemn,
the trombones and tuba finally running short of
breath, then the bassoon, before the last notes of
the orchestra fade into darkness.
“You really feel this is his last piece, a farewell to
the world,’’ said TFO Music Director Michael Francis.
“There’s a very clear narrative throughout. It’s an
extraordinary work of drama and pain on a level of
honesty we haven’t heard before.’’
Program notes © 2019 by Kurt Loft, a freelance writer
and former music critic for The Tampa Tribune.