붓꽃 독백 - 영혼을 사로잡는 울림이 있는 비창 앞에서

 

 

 

마음의 선물로 받은 귀한 하얀 장미 한송이

 

 

Tchaikovsky Symphony No 6 in B minor op 74 (비창-Pathetique)

 

 

세계에 현존하는 클래식 교향곡 가운데서 전문가들이 선정한 

가장 훌륭한 세 작품 가운데 하나에 속하는 차이콥스키 교향곡 6번

일명 <비창/Pathetique>은 1893년 10월 16일 부터 28일 까지

초연된 이후  수많은 지휘자들이 연주한 명곡이다.

 

이 곡은 차이콥스키가 죽기 바로 9일전에 초연되었다.

그 가운데서 레너드 번스타인이 뉴욕 휠하모닉과 함께 우리 도시를

방문하여 연주하던 아주 오래전 그밤을 잊을 수가 없다. 그의 열정

가득한 지휘하는 모습은 혼을 빼놓고 넋을 놓기에 충분하였었다.

 

그러나 최근 세계 클래식 세계에 혜성처럼 등장한 남미 에베주엘라가

세계에 자랑하는 시몬 볼리바르 청소년 교향악단의 박진감 넘치고

남미 특유의 라틴풍의 열정으로 가득한 살아 움직이는 비창은 그 보다

더한 감동으로 뜨거운 눈물과 함께 가슴과 영혼 깊이 다가온다.

 

베네주엘라의 소외계층 출신 청소년 단원들과 이태리 출신으로 세계

최정상을 자랑하는 역사 깊은 베를린 휠하모닉의 상임지휘자를 역임한

노 대가 마에스트로 클라우디오 아바도의 애정어린 눈빛의 교감과 더불어

손주 같은 단원들과 펼치는 스위스 루체른 음악축제에서 개최된 연주는

감동 또 감동이다.

 

이 눈부신 연주 전곡을 오늘 오후 넋을 놓고 만나는 시간을 가졌다.

세기적인 명지휘자였던 토스카니니 사위로 20세기를 대표하는 피아니스트

블라디미르 호로위츠의 모스크바 마지막 공연 이후 처음으로 몇 십년만에

감동의 눈물을 쏫기는 이 연주가 처음인 것 같다.

 

구소련 시대에 레닌그라드 휠하모닉 상임지휘자였던 예브게나 므라빈스키의

지휘의  차이콥스키 교향곡 6번 <비창>을 듣고 그 감동을 메일로 보낸 귀한

인연 한분이 계시다. 블로그 방문자 여러분들이 전혀 모르시는 분이다.

 

"선생님 !

많은 수고를 아끼시지 않으시고 보내주신 따스한 정이 듬뿍 담긴 글과

모짤트의 피아노 소나타, 므라빈스키 지휘의 차이콥스키의 6번 심포니 비창,

너무 좋아 하는 곡이라 울컥하는 마음으로 들으면서......."

 

이번에는 이분에게 그 보다 더한 감동으로 다가올 클라우디오 아바도의

지휘로 남미 베네주엘라가 세계에 자랑하는 살아 움직이는 청소년 교향악단의

연주로 된 차이콥스키 <비창/Pathetique>을 선물할 예정이다.

 

눈부신 오후 저녁 햇살을 받으면서 운전대를 잡고 운전하고 다녀오던 길

그 짙은 느낌은 아.....살아 있다는 것은 이토록 아름다운 것이구나 하는

생각을 하게 만들기에 충분하였던 순간이었다.

 

세상에는 선하고 착하고 정직하고 따듯한 가슴과 영혼으로 살아가는 순수한

영혼을 갖고 있는사람들도 의외로 오가는 인생길 교차로에서 만날 수 있다,

 

숭고한 사랑은 작은 배려에서 출발한다면 작은 것 하나도 소중히 나누는

마음과 배려 또한 그런 배려와 나누는 정신이나 가치를 받아드릴줄 아는

지혜를 갖고 살아가는 자세 더없이 소중하며 고귀하다.

 

아름다운 인연이란 서로가 만들어 가는 것이라면

서로가 서로를 인격적으로 존중하고 가시거리가 잘 지켜지고 감성과 영혼의

소통이 원할하게 잘 이루어 질때만이 가능한 일이다.

 

아름다운 곡 하나로 영혼과 영혼의 가교가 이루어지는 감동이 있다면

기적도 살아가면서 있다. 아름다운 삶과 세상은 우리부터 시작하여야

한다면 만들어 나갈 때만이 리트머스 종이처럼 더 넓게 그 아름다움이

더 큰 아름다운 세상과 삶을 만들어가는 것이다.

 

아래 전곡을 꼭 감상해보라고 강력히 권고하고 싶다.

절대로 후회하지 않을 것이다.

 

이런 아름다운 세상을 모르고 산다면 그 자체가 비극이다.

또한 안타깝고 슬픈 일이다.

 

세상의 아름다움을 모르는 것이기 때문이다.

자기가 본것이 세상의 전부라고 착각하고 살 가능성이 더 많은

세상의 이치이기 때문이다.

 

 

 

 

The Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, Pathétique is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's

final completed symphony, written between February and the end of August 1893.

 

The composer led the first performance in Saint Petersburg on 16/28 October of that year,

nine days before his death. The second performance, under Eduard Nápravník, took

place 21 days later, at a memorial concert on 6/18 November. It included some

minor corrections that Tchaikovsky had made after the premiere, and was thus

the first performance of the work in the exact form in which it is known today.

 

The first performance in Moscow was on 4/16 December, under Vasily Safonov.

 

Background

The first drafts were completed in the spring of 1891. However, some or all of

the symphony was not pleasing to Tchaikovsky, who tore up the manuscript "in

one of his frequent moods of depression and doubt over his alleged inability

to create." In 1892, Tchaikovsky wrote the following to his nephew:

 

The symphony is only a work written by dint of sheer will on the part of the composer;

it contains nothing that is interesting or sympathetic. It should be cast aside and

forgotten. This determination on my part is admirable and irrevocable.

 

In 1893, Tchaikovsky again mentions the work in a letter to his brother:

I am now wholly occupied with the new work . . . and it is hard for me to tear

myself away from it. I believe it comes into being as the best of my works.

 I must finish it as soon as possible, for I have to wind up a lot of affairs

and I must soon go to London. I told you that I had completed a Symphony

which suddenly displeased me, and I tore it up. Now I have composed a new

symphony which I certainly shall not tear up.

 

The symphony was composed in a small house in Klin, which Tchaikovsky

left on October 19, 1893. He arrived shortly thereafter in St. Petersburg for the

first performance, "in excellent spirits." However, the composer began to feel

apprehension over his symphony, when, at rehearsals, the orchestra players

did not exhibit any great admiration for the new work. Nevertheless,

the premiere was met with great appreciation. Tchaikovsky's brother Modest wrote,

"There was applause and the composer was recalled, but with more enthusiasm

than on previous occasions. There was not the mighty, overpowering impression

made by the work when it was conducted by Eduard Nápravník, on November 18,

1893, and later, wherever it was played.

Title

The Russian title of the symphony, Патетическая (Patetičeskaja), means

"passionate" or "emotional", not "arousing pity." Tchaikovsky considered calling

it Программная (Programmnaja or "Programme Symphony") but realised that

would encourage curiosity about the programme, which he did not want to reveal.

 

According to his brother Modest, he suggested the Патетическая title, which

was used in early editions of the symphony; there are conflicting accounts about

whether Tchaikovsky liked the title, but in any event his publisher chose to keep it

and the title remained. Its French translation Pathétique is generally used in French,

Spanish, English, German and other languages.

Dedication and suggested programs

Tchaikovsky's "Cross"-motive, associated with the crucifixion, himself, and Tristan, a variation of which first appears in mm.1-2 of his Pathétique Symphony Play (help·info). Tchaikovsky identified with and associated the cross-motif with "star-cross'd lovers" in general, such as in Romeo and Juliet.

 

Tchaikovsky dedicated the Pathétique to Vladimir "Bob" Davydov, his nephew.

The Pathétique has been the subject of a number of theories as to a hidden program.

This goes back to the first performance of the work, when fellow composer

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov asked Tchaikovsky whether there was a program

 to the new symphony, and Tchaikovsky asserted that there was,

but would not divulge it.

 

A suggested program has been what Taruskin disparagingly termed "symphony

as suicide note." This idea began to assert itself as early as the second performance

of the symphony in Saint Petersburg, not long after the composer had died. People

at that performance "listened hard for portents. As always, they found what they were

looking for: a brief but conspicuous quotation from the Orthodox requiem at the stormy

climax of the first movement, and of course the unconventional Adagio finale with its

tense harmonies at the onset and its touching depiction of the dying of the light

in conclusion".

 

Tchaikovsky specialist David Brown suggests that the symphony deals with

the power of Fate in life and death. This program would not only be similar to

those suggested for the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, but also parallels a program

suggested by Tchaikovsky for his unfinished Symphony in E flat. That program reads,

"The ultimate essence ... of the symphony is Life. First part – all impulse, passion,

confidence, thirst for activity. Must be short (the finale death – result of collapse).

Second part love: third disappointments; fourth ends dying away (also short)."

Instrumentation

The symphony is scored for 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets,

2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals,

tam-tam (ad libitum) and strings.

 

A bass clarinet is sometimes used to play the bassoon solo marked pppppp in

the first movement, to achieve the desired dynamic level (e.g. a recording by

the Hungarian conductor Ferenc Fricsay). In a recording of this work with the

Bavarian Radio Orchestra, a recording engineer failed to hear the string opening

of the symphony because Fricsay had them play almost inaudibly. The engineer

missed the first five bars completely but the performance (which earned the

conductor a 10 minute standing ovation) was eventually broadcast on the

anniversary of Tchaikovsky's death in 1993 by BBC Radio 3 and later released

on the Naxos label.

Structure

The symphony contains four movements

1. Adagio – Allegro non troppo (B minor – D major – B minor – B major)
2. Allegro con grazia (D major – B minor – D major)
3. Allegro molto vivace (G major – E minor – G major)
4. Finale: Adagio lamentoso – Andante (B minor – D major – B minor)

In popular culture

The second theme of the first movement formed the basis of a popular song in the 1940s,

"(This is) The Story of a Starry Night" (by Mann Curtis, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston)

which was popularized by Glenn Miller. This same theme is the music behind "Where,"

a 1959 hit for Tony Williams and the Platters as well as "In Time," by Steve Lawrence

in 1961. All three songs have completely different lyrics.

 

Excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Sixth can heard in a number of films, including

Now, Voyager, the 1997 version of Anna Karenina, The Ruling Class, Minority Report,

Sweet Bird of Youth, Soylent Green and The Aviator. It has also accompanied the cartoon

The Ren & Stimpy Show.

 

Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony has also been featured during the 2010 Winter Olympics

closing ceremony, being danced by Russia's national ballet company.

 

Provenance - Wikipedia