(Mis?)Interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony “Pathétique”

by Preston Griffith

Just days before his death on November 6, 1893, Tchaikovsky premiered his Sixth Symphony “Pathétique” in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This symphony would become known as his greatest, yet most pessimistic work, and the composer himself stated that he loved the Sixth Symphony “as I have never loved any of my other musical offspring.” Tchaikovsky’s death provoked wide speculation about the symphony and its “autobiographical” nature, namely raising questions about his nephew Vladimir Davidov, to whom the symphony was dedicated. The public knew of Tchaikovsky’s homosexuality, and scholars such as Dr. Timothy Jackson have brought forth compelling evidence to suggest that Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony was about a forbidden love between the composer and his nephew Vladimir, also known as “Bob.” However, Tchaikovsky never confirmed these claims and said of the symphony, “let them guess…The programme itself will be suffused with subjectivity.”

Jackson hypothesizes that the Sixth Symphony is about Tchaikovsky’s incurable homosexual disease, and that this homosexuality is a sin that will be punished with eternal damnation. Tchaikovsky fell in love with his nephew Bob Davydov when Bob was a child and played with him constantly whenever he spent time with family. In the nineteenth century, prepubescent children were considered pure and angelic beings and seen as androgynous. With this idea in mind, people were more accepting of a love for such a being, although in the current age this would be considered pedophilia. Jackson wrote that many musical ideas within Tchaikovsky’s symphony pointed out this pure, lighthearted relationship that Tchaikovsky felt towards his nephew Bob Davidov.

Tchaikovsky’s Christianity influenced his view of homosexuality and created great suffering for the feelings he had regarding Bob. The chaotic aspects of Tchaikovsky’s symphony depict the condemnation he and Bob experience in hell for their homosexual relationship. Jackson even mentions that Tchaikovsky arranges notes in such a way as to represent the cross, and he and Bob are crucified and unredeemed for their sins. Chord resolution represents an embrace with Bob. High and low registers blending together could also represent an embrace, but an embrace of the damned because the notes continue to descend together once they meet.  The militaristic March represents homosexual nonconformism, and the Adagio Lamentoso represents a punishment such as death for their homosexual crimes. There are also motives that sound like audible sighs that express Tchaikovsky’s anguish that he feels.

Forbidden love was a common theme in many works such as Bizet’s “Carmen” and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony no. 1. The forbidden love in these works referred to interracial relationships that were taboo at the time. Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 6 had this same kind of theme, but audiences knew this forbidden love to be homosexual in nature. That is, Tchaikovsky’s love for his nephew Bob Davidov. Tchaikovky’s death shortly after the premier, his dedication to Bob, as well as the overall tragic sound of the symphony contributed to the idea that this was the case. 

One critic and scholar, Poznansky, believed that Tchaikovsky was a happy person and that the homosexual narrative was wrong. David Brown in his book “Tchaikovsky, The Man and his Music” thought that the Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 6 was “his most tragic and, in the end, most pessimistic work”, but he also agreed with Poznansky and said that Tchaikovsky could be thought of as a happy person.  Indeed, Tchaikovsky wrote to Nadezhda von Meck years before that “In a happy situation I can produce a piece that is imbued with the most gloomy and hopeless feelings.” Therefore, although the symphony has a tragic character, one could argue that Tchaikovsky was not necessarily a pessimistic man himself.

Whereas Jackson describes Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony in terms of his homosexual relationship with Bob, David Brown takes a neutral perspective. For the first movement of the symphony, marked Adagio, he described it as “unobtrusive” and “contrasted, yet not inappropriately lightweight.”  The music gains power and energy and reaches a “cataclysmic climax” that leads to a ffff chord and then quickly fades to pp. In an especially memorable quote, Brown says that “the symphony’s opening idea is converted into a solemn, measured theme beneath which Fate stalks on pizzicato strings.”

The second movement, Allegro con grazia, could be interpreted as a ‘Valse’, but different from the normal kind. Instead of three beats to a bar, this movement has five, which feels like 2+3. Brown calls it a “limping waltz”, but the continuous flow and beautiful legato theme can convince the listener otherwise. The form seems to be modeled after the classical minuet and trio, as in the symphonies of Mozart who Tchaikovsky idolized. The third movement, Allegro molto vivace, is a fast and inventive movement where audiences might expect to hear a slow movement. Brown states that this movement has an “unbroken consistency of style and absence of easily recognizable ‘punctuation points.’ Perhaps in Jackson’s view this movement could be said to be a futile escape from homosexuality. The militaristic march is contained within this movement and gives it added force and momentum. Jackson would agree with Brown who states that the movement contains “an ending that suggests not resignation, but only oblivion.”

The fourth movement Finale Adagio Lamentoso, has beginning material that Brown says shows “the active side of grief, the shock and despair.”  The accented but beautiful strings that quickly fade away sound like cries of anguish filled with strong emotion. Brown describes the opening: “This music is seemingly poised and controlled, no longer manifesting the pang of an initial shock but, instead, the ache that lingers and lingers…”  The music continues to swell to a climax and then seems to spiral out of control with an abrupt silence. It then returns to the beginning material and the movement continues as before with another crescendo and a descending passage, but this time becoming faster and then dragging as if to illustrate a truly weary and hopeless man in despair. Brown says that at the end, “the final bars are founded on what I have called the music of inner apprehension.”

In conclusion, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 6, one of his true masterpieces, has been popularly described as an autobiographical work about the composers forbidden homosexual relationship with his nephew Bob Davidov. Tchaikovsky’s death shortly after the first public performance, his dedication to Bob, and the obviously emotional and tragic sound of the symphony seem to confirm this claim. Jackson upholds this view, but David Brown has a more neutral view of the work. Jackson’s perspective, although popular, could be said to be a biological fallacy, because Tchaikovsky was never able to explain the symphony’s program and purposely kept it a mystery. Ultimately, in this author’s opinion, Brown put it best with this quote:

“It is the experience, as each of us individually hears it, that matters.  And do we need the programme (even Tchaikovsky’s programme?) to enjoy this musically? I think not. Only functional music dutifully written to a set scenario (most film music, for instance) requires such knowledge.”

 Perhaps it is best to “guess” like Tchaikovsky originally said.

Bibliography

Brown, David. Tchaikovsky: The Man and His Music. New York: Pegasus Books, 2007.

Jackson, Timothy L. Tchaikovsky: Symphony no. 6 (Pathétique). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Tchaikovsky Research contributors. Symphony No. 6 [Internet]. Tchaikovsky Research, 2020 Jan 8, 19:04 UTC [cited 2020 Apr 30]. Available from: http://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/index.php?title=Symphony_No._6&oldid=74492.