Tchaikovsky composed his Fourth Symphony following his disastrous marriage to Antonina IvanonovaMilyukova. In a letter to his patron Nadezhda von Meck, the composer wrote, "The introduction is the seed of the whole Symphony: This is fate: that fateful force which prevents the impulse to happiness from attaining its goal, which jealously ensures that peace and happiness shall not be complete and unclouded." Through the torment came one of Tchaikovsky's greatest works. We listen to it performed by the New York Philharmonic. Leonard Bernstein conducts.
Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony
