Symphony no. 4 in F minor, op. 36

Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony arose from a period of intense inner struggle. In a letter, the composer wrote that work was the only salvation from spiritual anguish. The symphony became the first Russian work in the genre to be compared with Beethoven’s idea of a journey ‘from darkness to light’. Its 1878 Moscow première divided opinion, yet the music’s conflict between oppressive fate and the human will has ensured its lasting power.