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Reevaluating Perceptions Of Tchaikovsky’S Pathétique Symphony, Jacob R. Leonowitz

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B minor (“Pathétique”) was welcomed only lukewarmly at its 1893 premiere. Among other things, audiences were confused by Tchaikovsky’s atypical choice of a slow and lamenting final movement to conclude the symphony. The mysterious circumstances surrounding Tchaikovsky’s death only days after the Pathétique’s premiere spawned rumors that the composer had committed suicide after years of struggling with his homosexuality. The public consequently embraced the work with new understanding, perceiving it as a “musical suicide note.” Primary sources, however, including the composer’s brother and Xeniya Davydov, provided accounts relating to the end of Tchaikovsky’s …