Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony dates from 1877–1878, the same time as Onegin. The composer’s letters reveal that he was fully aware his new work marked a milestone in his career. ‘I am very pleased with this symphony – it’s undoubtedly the best that I’ve written, […] an exceptional work’. In March 1878 he provided a detailed description of the work at the behest of his patron and friend, Nadezhda von Meck. ‘The introduction [to the first movement] is the seed of the whole symphony, undoubtedly the main idea […] This is fate […].’ Sounded by the horns, the ‘fate motif’ returns over and over again at the key boundaries of the form, which is why the immense opening movement assumes a crucial binding role, in particular since it returns in the finale. Beginning with the famous oboe solo, the B-flat-minor slow movement has the subtitle ‘Andantino in modo di canzone’. The main section of the F-major Scherzo is played by the strings in pizzicato throughout; the A-major (middle section) is played by winds only. (Tchaikovsky speaks of drunken peasants singing and a distant military parade). After this chamber music-like movement, the full orchestra erupts with shrill cymbals and triangles. The main theme of the movement is the Russian folk song ‘In the Field a Birch Tree Stood’.