Search - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Eugene Ormandy, Harold Lawrence :: Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.5

Few musical connections anywhere have been as prolonged, profound or productive as that of Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Ormandy's tenure as music director, which lasted from 1936 to 1980, is unmatched in musical annals. Ormandy did not create the Philadelphia Orchestra any more than Stradivari invented the violin, but in his hands it achieved and maintained a peak of tonal perfection that no other large instrumental ensemble has ever surpassed. Virgil Thomson once likened Ormandy's system of replacing Stokowski's musicians as they left or retired, to a wine-lover replenishing his cellar. The Philadelphia Orchestra displays a particular affinity for the romantic music of the 19th century; and Tchaikovsky is among its most frequently performed and recorded composers. in Tchaikovsky. In its broad range of emotional appeal, its musical eloquence, its vivid instrumentation and its opulent sound texture, the Tchaikovsky Fifth is ideally suited for the combination of master conductor and virtuoso orchestra.The symphony is one that builds in emotional intensity; and its climax is a majestic, affirmative Finale in which the opening resigned subject of the first movement is transmuted into a marchlike paean of triumph. From the standpoint of sheer sound, it is ideally suited to wide-range recording. Its orchestration, for all its dark mood, is never heavy or thick; individual instrumental strands and colors play a prominent role, right from the clarinets which state the opening theme of resignation. The solo horn passage that opens the second movement is one of Tchaikovsky's most unforgettably beautiful melodies even though, as Cecil Forsyth points out in his famous book on orchestration, it blithely ignores the "historical usages" of the instrument by giving it a purely vocal cantilena to play. In somewhat similar fashion the entire third movement disregards tradition: how many other symphonies are there in which the customary minuet or scherzo is replaced by a waltz -- especially such an irresistible one?From whatever standpoint it is approached -- tonal color, emotional intensity, freshness of instrumentation, structural and programmatic logic -- Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony stands out among his orchestral pieces as a work that appeals to the mind as well as the heart.