View source for Symphony No. 1

Tchaikovsky's '''''Symphony No. 1''''' in G minor, [[Op.]] 13 ([[TH]] 24 ; [[ČW]] 21), subtitled '''''Winter Daydreams''''' (Зимние грезы), was composed and orchestrated between March 1866 and February 1868, and revised in spring 1874.

==Instrumentation==
The Symphony is scored for an orchestra comprising piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in A, B-flat), 2 bassoons + 4 horns (in E-flat, F), 2 trumpets (in C, D), 3 trombones, tuba + 2 timpani, cymbals, bass drum + violins I, violins II, violas, cellos, and double basses.

==Movements and Duration==
There are four movements:
<ol style="list-style-type: upper-roman;">
<li>''Daydreams of a Winter Journey'' (Грезы зимнею дорогой). Allegro tranquillo (G minor, 723 bars)</li>
<li>''Land of Gloom, Land of Mist'' (Угрюмый край, туманный край). Adagio cantabile, ma non tanto (E-flat major, 168 bars)</li>
<li>''Scherzo'' (Скерцо). Allegro scherzando giocoso (C minor, 441 bars)</li>
<li>''Finale'' (Финал). Andante lugubre (G minor) — Allegro moderato (G major, 610 bars) <ref name="note1"/></li>
</ol>
A complete performance lasts around 45 to 50 minutes.

==Composition==
===Original Version (1866-68)===
: ''To hear a virtual performance of the symphony's original version, see "[[First Thoughts]]".

Little is known about the early history of the First Symphony. According to the composer's biography, work was begun on the Symphony in March 1866 <ref name="note2"/>, and the first reference by Tchaikovsky himself to the Symphony appears in his letter to his brother [[Anatoly]] of 25 April/7 May 1866: "At 11 o'clock I either give a lesson until 1 or sit over my symphony (which, by the way, is going sluggishly) ... I always return home at midnight; writing letters or the symphony, and reading for a long time in bed. I've been sleeping atrociously lately ... My nerves have been utterly upset again for the following reasons: 1) a lack of success in composing the symphony; 2) [[Nikolay Rubinstein|Rubinstein]] and Tarnovsky, who, noticing that I'm nervous, try to frighten me all day by various means; 3) the unshakeable thought that I'll soon expire without even managing to successfully finish the symphony" <ref name="note3"/>.

In the summer of 1866, Tchaikovsky set off for a dacha near [[Peterhof]], where he continued working on the Symphony. Here in early/mid-June he began the instrumentation of his new work, as referred to in his letter to [[Aleksandra Davydova]] on 7/19 June: "I've already started to orchestrate the symphony; my health is as good as it can be; except the other day I didn't sleep the whole night because I worked far too long, and then I was tormented by fits" <ref name="note4"/>.

According to [[Modest Tchaikovsky]], the composer did not like to recall the summer that he spent in [[Peterhof]]: "the reason was his G-minor symphony, called by the title ''Winter Daydreams''. No other work cost him such effort and suffering... Despite painstaking and arduous work, its composition was fraught with difficulty, and while pressing ahead with the symphony, Pyotr Ilyich's nerves became more and more frayed. As a result of this exceptionally hard work he began to suffer from insomnia, and the sleepless nights paralyzed his creative energies. At the end of July all this erupted into a terrible nervous attack, the like of which he never experienced again during his lifetime... The most distressing symptoms of this illness were dreadful hallucinations, which were so frightening that they resulted in a feeling of complete numbness in all his extremities". The dread of these nervous attacks recurring was such that "all his life he abstained from working at night. After this symphony, not a single note from any of his compositions was written at night" <ref name="note5"/>.

The difficult time Tchaikovsky endured while working on the Symphony did not influence the composer's working methods. In 1875 Tchaikovsky wrote to [[Modest Tchaikovsky]]: "Do you really believe that anything worthwhile comes without toil and effort?... Remember back in 1866 how frayed my nerves became at Myatlev's dacha through smoking too much because of my symphony, which wouldn't come out — that's just the same. Even now when things are difficult I smoke vast quantities of cigarettes and confine myself to my room, before coming around to formulate a basic motif. On the other hand writing can sometimes be terribly easy; ideas simply fly around one after another... But when this isn't the case, one must still be able to impel oneself to work" <ref name="note6"/>.

According to [[Modest Tchaikovsky]]'s recollections, because of his ill-health "Pyotr Ilyich was unable to finish the symphony in its entirety during the summer. Nevertheless, before returning to [[Moscow]], he decided to show the symphony as it stood to [[Anton Rubinstein|A. G. Rubinstein]] and [[Zaremba|N. I. Zaremba]], in the hope that it would be performed in one of the Russian Musical Society concerts in [[Saint Petersburg]]. But instead he was sorely disappointed; the symphony was judged very harshly and was not approved for performance... The professors' authority was so great that Pyotr Ilyich bowed down before them and took the symphony to [[Moscow]] with the intention of revising it" <ref name="note7"/>.

On 8/20 November 1866 Tchaikovsky wrote to [[Anatoly Tchaikovsky]]: "The [[Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem|overture]] for [[Mariya Fyodorovna|Dagmara]] is completely finished [...] I'm now busy revising the symphony..." <ref name="note8"/>. Although it was reworked to make it "fit for inclusion in the programme of a symphony concert", the [[Saint Petersburg]] professors approved only the Adagio and Scherzo. Both movements were given trial performances, before the whole Symphony was heard for the first time in [[Moscow]] on 3/15 February 1868. 

There is disagreement among scholars as to whether the version performed in February 1868 constitutes a "second version" of the Symphony, or whether it was simply the final stage of a compositional process begun in March 1866. Nevertheless, Tchaikovsky remained dissatisfied, and subsequently revised the work in 1874 to produce the final definitive version of the Symphony.

===Revised Version (1874)===
During the spring of 1874, Tchaikovsky revised the Symphony for its publication by [[Pyotr Jurgenson]]. Thematic notes for this version are contained in one of the composer's sketchbooks, between sketches for the [[String Quartet No. 2]], completed in January 1874, and the opera ''[[Vakula the Smith]]'', which suggest this task was carried out sometime during the first half of 1874.

For this version he wrote a new second subject for the first movement, and made some cuts and minor changes to the remaining movements <ref name="note9"/>. These changes were inserted into a manuscript score of the 1866-68 version of the Symphony.

Tchaikovsky gave a detailed account of his reworking of his First Symphony, and publication of the full score, in a letter to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]] of 15 April 1886:

{{quote|It was written in 1866. On [[Nikolay Grigoryevich]]'s advice I made some changes to it before the performance, and it was performed in this form in 1868. But then I decided to subject it to a fundamental revision. However, I didn't carry out this intention until 1874. In 1875, on my birthday, you presented me with a printed copy of the score as a surprise. I was touched by your thoughtfulness, but was most dissatisfied with the numerous errors which spoiled the edition. But mistakes aside, the symphony was printed correctly, i.e. with the changes that I made in 1874. Then it wasn't played until 1883. Before the performance, [[Albrecht]] sent the score to me at [[Kamenka]]. I noted many mistakes, and during rehearsals [[Erdmannsdörfer]] found many more, but everything was performed correctly. Then you thought to publish a new piano arrangement of the symphony, and commissioned [[Langer]] to fix the blunders. He did this with [[Kashkin]]'s help, and showed it to me (during rehearsals for ''[[Mazepa]]'', i.e. at the end of '83 and beginning of '84).}}

{{quote|''What's become of all this: i.e. the full score with [[Erdmannsdörfer]]'s and my corrections, and the parts, checked at rehearsals, and the piano arrangement — has it sunk into the waters?''. Now, around a month ago, you asked me for the alterations which I'd made to the 1st symphony. I explained to you that there was nothing to be altered, and that the score had been printed in 1875 with the ''alterations'', but there were only corrections of printing errors by myself and ''[[Erdmannsdörfer]]''. Now what do I see? You've sent [[Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov|Ivanov]] <ref name="note10"/> the 1st symphony with the passages stuck into it that I destroyed during my fundamental reworking; i.e. all the abominations I threw out, you have now painstakingly restored. And where did these discarded passages come from? Who's trying to annoy me? And why did you send parts that somehow are incompatible with the symphony in its current version, and which don't correspond with the symphony either in its original form or the later one...?}}

{{quote|Therefore, in order to fully clear up the state of affairs regarding my long-suffering symphony, I repeat:

1) The ''full score'' represents the symphony as it ought to be, except that it contains countless errors.

2) There should be verified parts, i.e. those from which [[Erdmannsdörfer]] peformed the symphony in 1883. I don't know where they are, but evidently they're not the ones you've now sent to [[Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov|Ivanov]]. 

3) The arrangement was done very badly, and printed with a swarm of gross errors. This was all re-done and corrected in 1883 and '84. I don't know where that corrected copy is either.

4) The handwritten sheets, inserted into the copy that you sent to [[Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov|Ivanov]], are ''essentially rubbish'', which I threw out during my reworking in 1874, and how and why you restored them is utterly incomprehensible to me. This is all very upsetting to me, because I love this symphony very much, and I very much regret that it's endured such a tragic existence. <ref name="note11"/>.}}

In spite of the difficulties which beset this Symphony, it always remained one of Tchaikovsky's favourite works. In the aforementioned letter to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]] of 15/27 April 1886, Tchaikovsky wrote: "I like this symphony very much, and deeply regret that it's had such an unhappy existence" <ref name="note12"/>. At the time of its performance in 1883, Tchaikovsky wrote to [[Karl Albrecht]] that: "Despite all its huge shortcomings, I still nourish a weakness for it, because it was a sin of my sweet youth" <ref name="note13"/>, and sometime later to [[Nadezhda von Meck]]: "I don't know if you are familiar with my composition. In many respects it is very immature, although fundamentally it is still richer in content than many of my other, more mature works" <ref name="note14"/>.

==Subject==
Tchaikovsky left no explanation as to the sub-titles he gave to the Symphony, Winter Daydreams, and to the first two movts, ''Daydreams of a Winter Journey'' and ''Land of Gloom, Land of Mist''. It is possible that he originally envisaged a programmatic element in the work which may not have survived into the completed version.

==Performances==
The Scherzo was first performed separately in [[Moscow]] on 10/22 December 1866, at the fifth Russian Musical Society concert, conducted by [[Nikolay Rubinstein]], but without success, according to [[Modest Tchaikovsky]] <ref name="note15"/>.

In [[Saint Petersburg]] on 11/23 February 1867, at the ninth Russian Musical Society concert, conducted by [[Anton Rubinstein]], both the Adagio and the Scherzo were performed. 

The first complete performance of the symphony took place in [[Moscow]] on 3/15 February 1868 at the eighth Russian Musical Society concert, conducted by [[Nikolay Rubinstein]], and met with an enthusiastic reception <ref name="note16"/>. "My symphony had great success, particularly the Andante and Scherzo" <ref name="note17"/>.

That seems to have been the only complete performance of the original version of the Symphony, although the Adagio seems to have been played at a concert in the Bolshoi Theatre, [[Moscow]], on 16/28 March 1870, conducted by Eduard Merten.

The 1874 version of the Symphony was performed for the first time on 19 November/1 December 1883 in [[Moscow]], at the fifth Russian Musical Society concert, conducted by [[Max Erdmannsdörfer]] <ref name="note18"/>. Other notable early performances included:

* [[Saint Petersburg]], 2nd Russian symphony concert, 22 October/3 November 1886, conducted by Georgy Dütsch
* [[New York]], Carnegie Hall, Philharmonic Society concert, 26 January/7 February 1896, conducted by Anton Seidl
* Bournemouth, Winter Gardens, 25 September/8 October 1900, conducted by Dan Godfrey
* [[London]], Queen's Hall, 14/27 August 1902, conducted by Henry Wood.

==Publication==
The revised version of the symphony was published by [[Pyotr Jurgenson]] in [[Moscow]] in 1875. However, when this version came to be performed for the first time in 1883, a number of mistakes were discovered in [[Jurgenson]]'s published score. On 17/29 October 1883, the composer complained to [[Karl Albrecht]]: "Taking the score in my hands, I was appalled by the large number of printing errors and the general form in which the volume was published. I set to work on the sizeable corrections, but I did not have time to do this properly... I've reviewed the first two movements quite thoroughly, but the remaining two only perfunctorily" <ref name="note19A"/>. As well as correcting the errors in the published score, Tchaikovsky made changes to phrasing and dynamic markings, and to some of the orchestral detail. The corrected edition was described as "Nouvelle édition revue et corrigé par l'auteur", although the full score retained the original plate number and number of pages as the first edition:

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed sortable" width=100% align=center style="font-size: 90%"
|-
!colspan=5 align=center|[[Jurgenson]]'s editions
|-
|width=10% align=center|'''No.'''
|width=25% align=center|'''Description'''
|width=20% align=center|'''Arranger/Editor'''
|width=10% align=center|'''Issued'''
|width=35% align=center|'''Notes'''
|-
| 2519
| Orchestral Score
| —
| 1875
| First edition. Advertised in ''Signale für die musikalische Welt'' (November 1875), No. 58, p. 925.
|-
| 2519
| Orchestral Score
| —
| 1888
| New (corrected) edition. Advertised in ''Signale für die musikalische Welt'' (September 1888), No. 46, p. 733.
|-
| 2520
| Arr. for piano 4 hands
| [[Eduard Langer]]
| 1875
| First edition. Advertised in ''Signale für die musikalische Welt'' (November 1875), No. 58, p. 925. Replaced by No. 6397.
|-
| 6397
| Arr. for piano 4 hands
| [[Eduard Langer]]
| 1884 <ref name="note19"/>
| Second edition. Replacing No. 2520.
|-
| 13624
| Orchestral Parts
| —
| 1888
| Advertised in ''Signale für die musikalische Welt'' (September 1888), No. 46, p. 733.
|-
| 21683
| Arr. for solo piano
| Konstantin Chernov
| 1898
| Dated approximately from the edition number.
|-
| 27752
| Arr. for 2 pianos 8 hands
| [[Eduard Langer]]
| 1903
| Advertised in Hofmeister's ''Musikalisch-literarischer Monatsbericht'' (August 1903), p. 379.
|}

[[Mackar]] & Co. also acted as [[Jurgenson]]'s agents in France and Belgium for all editions of the symphony after 1891.

The symphony's full score was published in volume 15А of Tchaikovsky's ''[[Complete Collected Works]]'', edited by Semyon Bogatyrov (1957), including appendices containing passages from the original version that Tchaikovsky later discarded.

==Autographs==
Tchaikovsky's original autograph score has been lost, but a copyists' manuscript in which the composer marked his changes for the 1874 revision has survived, and is preserved in the {{RUS-Mcm}} in [[Moscow]] {{TOW2|simfoniya-no-1-zimnie-gryozy|(ф. 88, No. 55)}}.

A printed edition of the score of the First Symphony (1874), containing inserted pages by a copyist restoring the altered passages from the 1868 version, is preserved in the archive of the {{RUS-KLč}} in [[Klin]] <ref name="note20"/>.

A complete set of orchestral parts, with Tchaikovsky's notes and corrections, is preserved in the library of the [[Moscow]] State Conservatory (No. 433/1–97). This seems to have been prepared in 1866 for performances of the symphony, and incorporates the composer's revisions up to 1874.

==Recordings==
{{reclink}}

==Dedication==
The printed edition of the symphony carries an inscription to [[Nikolay Rubinstein]], virtuoso pianist and founder of the [[Moscow]] Conservatory.

==Related Works==
A significant portion of the music in Tchaikovsky's First Symphony was borrowed or re-used in other works. 
* The introduction (bars 1–20) and coda (bars 157–168) to the second movement use a theme from the overture to ''[[The Storm]]'' (1864).
* The Scherzo is an orchestral transcription of the third movement from the [[Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor]] (1865), transposed down a semitone, and with a new short introduction, trio and coda.
* The Finale's opening (bars 1–63) and conclusion (from bar 431) were re-used in the [[Cantata for the Opening of the Polytechnic Exhibition]] (1872).

In the finale of the Symphony (from bar 126), Tchaikovsky used the folksong «Я посею ли, млада-младенька». In his memoirs, [[Nikolay Kashkin]] wrote: "At the start of his career, Tchaikovsky readily made use of folksongs, for the finale of his First Symphony he chose the song «Цвели-цветики». Unfortunately, this song had become greatly corrupted in the form in which it was well-known in the towns and cities; when Pyotr Ilyich eventually learned that it was not authentic, he was greatly embarrassed, and turned to various experts on Russian song — for example [[Prov Sadovsky|P. M. Sadovsky]] and [[Aleksandr Ostrovsky|A. N. Ostrovsky]] — who had learned many popular songs by heart; however, they only knew the town version of the song as it appeared in the symphony" <ref name="note21"/>.

The song named by [[Kashkin]] so far has not been traced, either in written records or in publications. Even so, [[Vasily Prokunin]]'s collection of 1872 — edited by Tchaikovsky as [[65 Russian Folksongs]] — records a song «Я посею ли, млада-младенька цветиков маленько» (No. 39), which is very similar to the theme of the finale of the First Symphony. The possibility cannot be excluded that this itself is a variant of the song «Цвели-цветики» referred to by [[Kashkin]]. Evidently the song «Распашу ли я, млада-младенька», mentioned by [[Taneyev]], also appears to be a variant of the song used by Tchaikovsky.

==External Links==
* {{imslpscore|Symphony_No.1,_Op.13_(Tchaikovsky,_Pyotr)|Symphony No. 1}}

==Notes and References==
<references>
<ref name="note1">Bar numbers apply to the 1874 version. The movements in the 1866-68 version lasted for 786, 176, 441 and 608 bars respectively.</ref>
<ref name="note2">{{bib|1900/35|Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского ; том 1}} (1900), p. 272.</ref>
<ref name="note3">[[Letter 92]] to [[Anatoly Tchaikovsky]], 25 April/7 May 1866. Tchaikovsky was then sharing an apartment with [[Nikolay Rubinstein]].</ref> 
<ref name="note4">[[Letter 95]] to [[Aleksandra Davydova]], 7/19 June 1866.</ref> 
<ref name="note5">{{bib|1900/35|Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского ; том 1}} (1900), p. 248.</ref> 
<ref name="note6">[[Letter 384]] to [[Modest Tchaikovsky]], 6/18 January 1875.</ref> 
<ref name="note7">{{bib|1900/35|Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского ; том 1}} (1900), p. 248–249.</ref> 
<ref name="note8">[[Letter 96]] to [[Anatoly Tchaikovsky]], 8/20 November 1866. The "Dagmar overture" was the [[Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem]].</ref> 
<ref name="note9">Tchaikovsky wrote a completely new second subject in the first movement (bars 133–190, 518–547, 594–618), made some small cuts in the second and fourth movements, and simplified parts of the Finale (bars 57–63 and 382–430).</ref>
<ref name="note10">In the spring of 1886, at the time of Tchaikovsky's visit to [[Tiflis]], [[Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov]] wanted to perform the First Symphony. However, the performance did not take place, because [[Jurgenson]] sent him the wrong materials (full score and orchestral parts), which did not correspond to the authorised version. For more on the "[[Tiflis]] misunderstanding", see also Tchaikovsky's [[Letter 3078]] to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 21 October/2 November 1886.</ref> 
<ref name="note11">[[Letter 2931]] to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 15/27 April 1886. See also [[Letter 3074]] to [[Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov]], 11/23 October 1886, and [[Letter 2368]] to [[Karl Albrecht]], 17/29 October 1883.</ref> 
<ref name="note12">[[Letter 2931]] to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 15/27 April 1886.</ref> 
<ref name="note13">[[Letter 2368]] to [[Karl Albrecht]], 17/29 October 1883.</ref> 
<ref name="note14">[[Letter 2392]] to [[Nadezhda von Meck]], 15/27 November 1883.</ref> 
<ref name="note15">{{bib|1900/35|Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского ; том 1}} (1900), p. 262–263.</ref> 
<ref name="note16">{{bib|1900/35|Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского ; том 1}} (1900), p. 272–273.</ref> 
<ref name="note17">[[Letter 113]] to [[Anatoly Tchaikovsky]], written between 12/24 and 17/29 February 1868. In the manuscript copy of this letter (the original being lost), [[Modest Tchaikovsky]] changed "Andante and Scherzo" to "Adagio". See also {{bib|1896/17|Воспоминания о П. И. Чайковском}} (1896), p. 54.</ref> 
<ref name="note18">See [[Letter 2391]] to [[Modest Tchaikovsky]], 14/26 November 1883; [[Letter 2394]] to [[Nadezhda von Meck]], 23 November/5 December 1883; [[Letter 2931]] to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 15/27 April 1886.</ref>
<ref name="note19">See [[Letter 2931]] to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 15/27 April 1886.</ref>
<ref name="note19A">[[Letter 2368]] to [[Karl Albrecht]], 17/29 October 1883.</ref>
<ref name="note20">This represents the copy Tchaikovsky complained about in [[Letter 2931]] to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 15/27 April 1886, which was discovered in 1949. See Daniel Zhitomirsky, {{bib|1950/58|Ранняя редакция «Зимних грезы»}} (1950).</ref>
<ref name="note21">See {{bib|1896/17|Воспоминания о П. И. Чайковском}} (1896), p. 35–36.</ref> 
</references>
[[Category:Symphonies]]