Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique)

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Cambridge University Press, Oct 7, 1999 - Music - 154 pages
Tchaikovsky's final symphony has fascinated generations of music lovers since its first performance just over a century ago. Professor Jackson explores sensitively and without prejudice the question of the Pathétique's program and its relation to Tchaikovsky's homosexuality and death. The book covers the work's conception, genesis, and reception, and presents an in-depth analysis of its remarkable formal structure. The reception chapter investigates the Pathétique's impact on Tchaikovsky's younger contemporaries as well as its political interpretation in the twentieth century, especially its transformation into a cultural icon of the Third Reich.

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Contents

Pathetic metaphors for sexuality and race gambling and destiny
1
Background and early reception
13
Form and largescale harmony
22
The notsosecret program a hypothesis
36
Compositional genesis the Six Romances Op 73 and the Pathetique
74
Deconstructing homosexual grande passion pathetique
83
Platonic postlude
114
Appendices
116
Notes
122
Select bibliography
147
Index
151
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