The Symphony No. 6 in B minor , Op. 74, also known as the Pathétique Symphony , is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 's final completed symphony , written between February and the end of August 1893. The composer entitled the work "The Passionate Symphony", employing a Russian word, Патетическая ( Pateticheskaya ), meaning "passionate" or "emotional", which was then translated into French as pathétique , meaning "solemn" or "emotive".
101-478: The composer led the first performance in Saint Petersburg on 28 October [ O.S. 16 October] of that year, nine days before his death. The second performance, conducted by Eduard Nápravník , took place 21 days later, at a memorial concert on 18 November [ O.S. 6 November]. It included some minor corrections that Tchaikovsky had made after the premiere, and was thus the first performance of
202-692: A municipal division , the Town of Klin is incorporated within Klinsky Municipal District as Klin Urban Settlement . The town is best known as the residence of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , whose house, the Tchaikovsky House-Museum , is open to visitors as a museum. It was here that the composer wrote his last major work, the 6th symphony , or the "Pathetique". Among several churches, the most noteworthy are
303-591: A European great power . It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia , and the subsequent Russian Empire, from 1712 to 1918 (being replaced by Moscow for a short period of time between 1728 and 1730). After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow. The city was renamed Leningrad after Lenin's death in 1924. It was the site of the siege of Leningrad during
404-465: A brief but conspicuous quotation from the Russian 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". Countering this is Tchaikovsky's statement on 26 September/8 October 1893 that he was in no mood to write any sort of requiem. This
505-537: A composer and professor of Slavic languages and literature at UC Berkeley and "an expert on homosexuality in pre-Soviet culture", wrote in the gay literary magazine Christopher Street in 1988 that in 1941 a musician friend of his youth called Alex, who had spent several months associating with the painter Pavel Tchelitchew , told him an oral tradition that Tchelitchew had heard from the composer's brother Modest , told to him by Tchaikovsky himself. According to this, what Karlinsky himself calls "poorly remembered hearsay",
606-532: A fortress at the mouth of the Neva River in 1611, which was later called Ingermanland . The small town of Nyen grew up around the fort. Before the 17th century, this area was inhabited by Finnic Izhorians and Votians . The Ingrian Finns moved to the region from the provinces of Karelia and Savonia during the Swedish rule. There was also some Estonian , Karelian , Russian and German population in
707-403: A letter to his nephew "Bob" Davydov: Now, on my journey, the idea of a new symphony came to me, this time one with a programme, but a programme that will be a riddle to everyone. Let them try and solve it ... The programme of this symphony is completely saturated with myself and quite often during my journey I cried profusely. Having returned, I have settled down to write the sketches and the work
808-400: A naming act that established an official spelling; even in his own letters he used diverse spellings, such as Санктьпетерсьбурк ( Sanktpetersburk ), emulating German Sankt Petersburg , and Сантпитербурх ( Santpiterburkh ), emulating Dutch Sint-Pietersburgh , as Peter was multilingual and a Hollandophile. The name was later normalized and russified to Санкт-Петербург. A former spelling of
909-496: A new general plan was outlined, whereby the city should expand to the south. Constructivism was rejected in favour of a more pompous Stalinist architecture . Moving the city centre further from the border with Finland, Stalin adopted a plan to build a new city hall with a huge adjacent square at the southern end of Moskovsky Prospekt , designated as the new main street of Leningrad. After the Winter (Soviet-Finnish) war in 1939–1940,
1010-591: A new plan in 1737. The city was divided into five boroughs, and the city centre was moved to the Admiralty borough, on the east bank between the Neva and Fontanka . It developed along three radial streets, which meet at the Admiralty building and are now known as Nevsky Prospect (which is considered the main street of the city), Gorokhovaya Street and Voznesensky Avenue . Baroque architecture became dominant in
1111-480: A popular 1798 Beethoven piano sonata also known as The Pathétique . Tchaikovsky's symphony was first published in piano reduction by Jurgenson of Moscow in 1893, and by Robert Forberg of Leipzig in 1894. After completing his 5th Symphony in 1888, Tchaikovsky did not start thinking about his next symphony until April 1891, on his way to the United States. The first drafts of a new symphony were started in
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#17327879672711212-569: A rectangular grid of canals. The project was not completed but is evident in the layout of the streets. In 1716, Peter the Great appointed Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond as the chief architect of Saint Petersburg. The style of Petrine Baroque , developed by Trezzini and other architects and exemplified by such buildings as the Menshikov Palace , Kunstkamera , Peter and Paul Cathedral , Twelve Collegia , became prominent in
1313-530: A scene where the eponymous cat walks out into a blizzard. The third movement was featured during the 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony during the Sochi 2014 handover segment. The symphony plays a major role in E. M. Forster 's novel Maurice (written in 1913 and later, but unpublished until 1971), where it serves as a veiled reference to homosexuality . Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg , formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad ,
1414-411: A strong and repetitive four-note figure in the brass, which recalls the motif from the introduction. This explosion concludes in a powerful note in the trombones marked quadruple forte, a rare, extreme dynamic marking. This section ends with diminishing strains on the basses and brass, letting through the pathos and upcoming despair of the symphony. The movement concludes shortly after the recapitulation of
1515-407: A tonal closure. In the case of this movement, the essential closure is an imperfect authentic cadence (IAC), making it an example of sonata failure. The second movement, a D major dance in ternary form , is in 4 time ; it has been described as a "limping" waltz. The opening whirling, first presented as a cello section solo, contrasts with a darker B section in B minor, the tonic minor of
1616-525: Is D major (even though it begins in D minor) and that of his unfinished Symphony in E ♭ (unofficially "No. 7") is E ♭ major. It is also unusual for a slow movement to come at the end of a symphony. The despondent effect of the structural upheaval here has been the subject of much critical analysis. Had Tchaikovsky followed the standard four-movement structure, the movements would have been ordered like this: Tchaikovsky critic Richard Taruskin writes: Suicide theories were much stimulated by
1717-442: Is a "composite melody": at first, neither the first nor second violins play in full the upper line that is heard. A calmer B theme in D major builds up to a full orchestral palette, with driving brass and descending scales pushing to a Neapolitan C major caesura. The B theme is transformed in a dramatic return to B minor before the A theme returns. Similarly to the first movement, there is a turbulent climax with prominent trombones in
1818-498: Is combined with the city's Russian heritage. Another nickname of Saint Petersburg is "The City of the White Nights" because of a natural phenomenon which arises due to the closeness to the polar region and ensures that in summer the night skies of the city do not get completely dark for a month. The city is also often called the "Northern Palmyra ", due to its extravagant architecture. Swedish colonists built Nyenskans ,
1919-489: Is formed from repeated modules of its initial theme, presented by the bassoon, whose purpose seems to be to open a dominant chord, failing to do so. Violas appear with the first theme of the Allegro in B minor, a faster variant of the slow opening melody. This section introduces the motif of the full, octave-long downward scale, which recurs throughout the symphony; it eventually leads to a long medial caesura that gives way to
2020-460: Is going so intesely, so fast, that the first movement was ready in less than four days, and the others have taken shape in my head. Half of the third movement is also done. There will still be much that is new in the form of this work and the finale is not to be a loud allegro but the slowest adagio . And 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
2121-474: Is how the symphony became a transparent suicide note . Depression was the first diagnosis. 'Homosexual tragedy' came later. In the words of the critic Alexander Poznansky , "Since the arrival of the 'court of honour' theory in the West, performances of Tchaikovsky's last symphony are almost invariably accompanied by annotations treating it as a testimony of homosexual martyrdom." Yet critic David Brown describes
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#17327879672712222-604: Is interesting or sympathetic. It should be cast aside and forgotten. This determination on my part is admirable and irrevocable. This work was the Symphony in E ♭ , the first movement of which Tchaikovsky later converted into the one-movement 3rd Piano Concerto (his final composition), and the latter two movements of which Sergei Taneyev reworked after Tchaikovsky's death as the Andante and Finale . In February 1893, Tchaikovsky mentions an entirely new symphonic work in
2323-448: Is still named Leningrad . Having passed the role of capital to Petersburg, Moscow never relinquished the title of "capital", being called pervoprestolnaya ('first throned') for 200 years. An equivalent name for Petersburg, the "Northern Capital", has re-entered usage today since several federal institutions were recently moved from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. Solemn descriptive names like "the city of three revolutions" and "the cradle of
2424-795: Is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow . It is situated on the River Neva , at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea . The city had a population of 5,601,911 residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area . Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents. As
2525-407: Is the only appearance of the bass drum and cymbals. The movement ends with a deceptive finale, once again featuring downward scales. It is probably no coincidence that the movement, with its stormy character through restless strings, wind-like whistling woodwinds and thundering brass instruments, is reminiscent of the finale from Joachim Raff 's Symphony No. 3 "In the forest" : the symphony was one of
2626-601: Is Αγία Πετρούπολη, Agia Petroupoli ). Saint Petersburg has been traditionally called the "Window to Europe" and the "Window to the West" by the Russians. The city is the northernmost metropolis with more than 1 million people in the world, and is also often described as the " Venice of the North" or the "Russian Venice" due to its many water corridors, as the city is built on swamp and water. Furthermore, it has strongly Western European-inspired architecture and culture, which
2727-481: The Fourth and Fifth Symphonies , but also parallels a program suggested by Tchaikovsky for his unfinished Symphony in E ♭ . 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)." Simon Karlinsky,
2828-705: The Gold Star sign was installed in April 1985. In October 1946 some territories along the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland , which had been annexed into the USSR from Finland in 1940 under the peace treaty following the Winter War , were transferred from Leningrad Oblast to Leningrad and divided into Sestroretsky District and Kurortny District . These included the town of Terijoki (renamed Zelenogorsk in 1948). Leningrad and many of its suburbs were rebuilt over
2929-618: The Great Northern War , Peter the Great captured Nyenskans and soon replaced the fortress. On 27 May [ O.S. 16 May] 1703, closer to the estuary (5 km (3 mi) inland from the gulf ), on Zayachy (Hare) Island , he laid down the Peter and Paul Fortress , which became the first brick and stone building of the new city. The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia; in some years several Swedish prisoners of war were also involved under
3030-530: The Leningrad Affair (1949–1952), a notable event in the postwar political struggle in the USSR . It was a product of rivalry between Stalin's potential successors where one side was represented by the leaders of the city Communist Party organization – the second most significant one in the country after Moscow. The entire elite leadership of Leningrad was destroyed, including the former mayor Kuznetsov ,
3131-796: The Leningrad Military District of the Russian Armed Forces . The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage , one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center , the tallest skyscraper in Europe , and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020 . The name day of Peter I falls on 29 June, when
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3232-705: The Narva Triumphal Arch . In 1825, the suppressed Decembrist revolt against Nicholas I took place on the Senate Square in the city, a day after Nicholas assumed the throne. By the 1840s, neoclassical architecture had given way to various romanticist styles, which dominated until the 1890s, represented by such architects as Andrei Stackenschneider ( Mariinsky Palace , Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace , Nicholas Palace , New Michael Palace ) and Konstantin Thon ( Moskovsky railway station ). With
3333-556: The October Revolution , which led to the end of the social-democratic provisional government , the transfer of all political power to the Soviets , and the rise of the Communist Party . After that the city acquired a new descriptive name, "the city of three revolutions", referring to the three major developments in the political history of Russia of the early 20th century. In September and October 1917, German troops invaded
3434-530: The October revolution " used in the Soviet era are reminders of the pivotal events in national history that occurred here. Petropolis is a translation of a city name to Greek, and is also a kind of descriptive name: Πέτρ- is a Greek root for 'stone', so the "city from stone" emphasizes the material that had been forcibly made obligatory for construction from the first years of the city (a modern Greek translation
3535-553: The Russian Orthodox Church observes the memory of apostles Peter and Paul . The consecration of the small wooden church in their names (its construction began at the same time as the citadel) made them the heavenly patrons of the Peter and Paul Fortress , while Saint Peter at the same time became the eponym of the whole city. When in June 1703 Peter the Great renamed the site after Saint Peter, he did not issue
3636-587: The Second World War , the most lethal siege in history. In June 1991, only a few months before the Belovezha Accords and the dissolution of the USSR , voters supported restoring the city's original appellation in a city-wide referendum . As Russia's cultural centre, Saint Petersburg received over 15 million tourists in 2018. It is considered an important economic, scientific, and tourism centre of Russia and Europe. In modern times,
3737-619: The West Estonian archipelago and threatened Petrograd with bombardment and invasion. On 12 March 1918, Lenin transferred the government of Soviet Russia to Moscow, to keep it away from the state border. During the Russian Civil War , in mid-1919 Russian anti-communist forces with the help of Estonians attempted to capture the city, but Leon Trotsky mobilized the army and forced them to retreat back to Estonia . On 26 January 1924, five days after Lenin's death, Petrograd
3838-466: The emancipation of the serfs undertaken by Alexander II in 1861 and an Industrial Revolution , the influx of former peasants into the capital increased greatly. Poor boroughs spontaneously developed on the outskirts of the city. Saint Petersburg surpassed Moscow in population and industrial growth; it became one of the largest industrial cities in Europe, with a major naval base (in Kronstadt ),
3939-659: The 16th-century church of the Dormition cloister and the baroque Resurrection cathedral (1712). There is a large beer factory, which produces Klinskoye beer. The M10 highway connecting Moscow to St. Petersburg and the Moscow-Saint Petersburg Railway run through the town. It was home to the Klin air base during the Cold War . Local association football team Khimik plays in
4040-435: The 1920s and 1930s, the poor outskirts were reconstructed into regularly planned boroughs . Constructivist architecture flourished around that time. Housing became a government-provided amenity ; many "bourgeois" apartments were so large that numerous families were assigned to what were called "communal" apartments ( kommunalkas ). By the 1930s, 68% of the population lived in such housing under very poor conditions. In 1935,
4141-600: The Axis invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The siege lasted 872 days, or almost two and a half years, from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944. The Siege of Leningrad proved one of the longest, most destructive, and most lethal sieges of a major city in modern history . It isolated the city from food supplies except those provided through the Road of Life across Lake Ladoga , which could not make it through until
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4242-656: The German words Sankt and Burg . In March 1917, during the February Revolution Nicholas II abdicated for himself and on behalf of his son, ending the Russian monarchy and over three hundred years of Romanov dynastic rule . On 7 November [ O.S. 25 October] 1917, the Bolsheviks , led by Vladimir Lenin , stormed the Winter Palace in an event known thereafter as
4343-608: The Neva River, and a seaport on the Baltic. The names of Saints Peter and Paul , bestowed upon the original city's citadel and its cathedral (from 1725 – a burial vault of Russian emperors) coincidentally were the names of the first two assassinated Russian emperors, Peter III (1762, supposedly killed in a conspiracy led by his wife, Catherine the Great ) and Paul I (1801, Nikolay Alexandrovich Zubov and other conspirators who brought to power Alexander I ,
4444-568: The Sixth Symphony, which was first performed under the composer's baton only nine days before his demise, with its lugubrious finale (ending morendo , 'dying away'), its brief but conspicuous allusion to the Orthodox requiem liturgy in the first movement and above all its easily misread subtitle. ... When the symphony was done again a couple of weeks later, in memoriam and with subtitle in place, everyone listened hard for portents, and that
4545-665: The Soviet era, many historic architectural monuments of the previous centuries were destroyed by the new regime for ideological reasons. While that mainly concerned churches and cathedrals, some other buildings were also demolished. On 1 December 1934, Sergey Kirov , the Bolshevik leader of Leningrad, was assassinated under suspicious circumstances, which became the pretext for the Great Purge . In Leningrad, approximately 40,000 were executed during Stalin's purges. During World War II, German forces besieged Leningrad following
4646-642: The Soviet–Finnish border moved northwards. Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Square maintained the functions and the role of a city centre. In December 1931, Leningrad was administratively separated from Leningrad Oblast . At that time it included the Leningrad Suburban District, some parts of which were transferred back to Leningrad Oblast in 1936 and turned into Vsevolozhsky District , Krasnoselsky District , Pargolovsky District and Slutsky District (renamed Pavlovsky District in 1944). During
4747-601: The United Kingdom Ivan Maysky visited the town with more than twenty correspondents during Eden's first diplomatic mission to Moscow. Within the framework of administrative divisions , Klin serves as the administrative center of Klinsky District . As an administrative division, it is, together with sixty-one rural localities , incorporated within Klinsky District as the Town of Klin . As
4848-463: The Winter Palace and prohibited spacing between buildings. During the reign of Catherine the Great in the 1760s–1780s, the banks of the Neva were lined with granite embankments. However, it was not until 1850 that the first permanent bridge across the Neva, Annunciation Bridge , was allowed to open. Before that, only pontoon bridges were allowed. Obvodny Canal (dug in 1769–1833) became
4949-564: The acting mayor Pyotr Sergeevich Popkov, and all their deputies; overall 23 leaders were sentenced to the death penalty, 181 to prison or exile (rehabilitated in 1954). About 2,000 ranking officials across the USSR were expelled from the party and the Komsomol and removed from leadership positions. The Leningrad Metro underground rapid transit system , designed before the war, opened in 1955 with its first eight stations decorated with marble and bronze . However, after Stalin's death in 1953,
5050-468: The area. At the end of the 17th century, Peter the Great, who was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, wanted Russia to gain a seaport to trade with the rest of Europe. He needed a better seaport than the country's main one at the time, Arkhangelsk , which was on the White Sea in the far north and closed to shipping during the winter. On 12 May [ O.S. 1 May] 1703, during
5151-440: The author of the first nickname of Petersburg which he called Петри ( Petri ). It took some years until the known Russian spelling of this name finally settled. In 1740s Mikhail Lomonosov uses a derivative of Greek: Πετρόπολις (Петрополис, Petropolis ) in a Russified form Petropol ' (Петрополь). A combo Piterpol (Питерпол) also appears at this time. In any case, eventually the usage of prefix " Sankt- " ceased except for
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#17327879672715252-416: 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 written in a small house in Klin and completed by August 1893. Tchaikovsky left Klin on 19 October for
5353-689: The city architecture of the early 18th century. In 1724 the Academy of Sciences , University and Academic Gymnasium were established in Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great. In 1725, Peter died at age fifty-two. His endeavors to modernize Russia had been opposed by the Russian nobility . There were several attempts on his life and a treason case involving his son. In 1728, Peter II of Russia moved his seat back to Moscow. But four years later, in 1732, under Empress Anna of Russia , Saint Petersburg
5454-400: The city authorities arranged for the mayoral elections and a referendum upon the city's name, when the original name Saint Petersburg was restored. The turnout was 65%; 66.13% of the total count of votes went to Anatoly Sobchak , who became the first directly elected mayor of the city . Meanwhile, economic conditions started to deteriorate as the country tried to adapt to major changes. For
5555-496: The city authorities until December 2010, when after the statement of President Dmitry Medvedev , the city decided to find a more appropriate location for this project. In the same year, the new location for the project was relocated to Lakhta , a historical area northwest of the city centre, and the new project would be named Lakhta Center . Construction was approved by Gazprom and the city administration and commenced in 2012. The 462 m (1,516 ft) high Lakhta Center has become
5656-537: The city during the first sixty years, culminating in the Elizabethan Baroque, represented most notably by Italian Bartolomeo Rastrelli with such buildings as the Winter Palace . In the 1760s, Baroque architecture was succeeded by neoclassical architecture . Established in 1762, the Commission of Stone Buildings of Moscow and Saint Petersburg ruled that no structure in the city could be higher than
5757-932: The city has the nickname of being "the Northern Capital of Russia" and is home to notable federal government bodies such as the Constitutional Court of Russia and the Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation . It is also a seat for the National Library of Russia and a planned location for the Supreme Court of Russia , as well as the home to the headquarters of the Russian Navy , and
5858-470: The city was renamed Leningrad in January 1924. The referendum on restoring the historic name was held on 12 June 1991, with 55% of voters supporting " Saint Petersburg " and 43% supporting " Leningrad ". The turnout was 65% . Renaming the city Petrograd was not an option. This change officially took effect on 6 September 1991. Meanwhile, the oblast whose administrative center is also in Saint Petersburg
5959-572: The city's name in English was Saint Petersburgh . This spelling survives in the name of a street in the Bayswater district of London, near St Sophia's Cathedral , named after a visit by the Tsar to London in 1814. A 14 to 15-letter-long name, composed of the three roots , proved too cumbersome, and many shortened versions were used. The first General Governor of the city Menshikov is maybe also
6060-430: The development section (the C theme). This is followed by the most agitated restatement of the A theme (the start of the recapitulation), on an F ♯ bass pedal . The music fades into a single, unique strike of a tam-tam ; this quietly introduces a funereal chorale in the low brass which rounds off the dominant harmony. The return of the B section, originally a break in the clouds, is richly mournful, coinciding with
6161-429: The final resolution to B minor. The waves of descending muted string motifs carry on down into the lower strings and bassoons, finally dying away in total tragedy. Among Tchaikovsky's symphonies, this is the only one to end in a minor key . His first , second , fourth and fifth symphonies, plus the Manfred Symphony , are all minor-key symphonies that end in the tonic major, while the home key of his third symphony
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#17327879672716262-504: The first tallest skyscraper in Russia and Europe outside of Moscow. Klin, Klinsky District, Moscow Oblast Klin ( Russian : Клин , lit. a wedge ) is a town and the administrative center of Klinsky District in Moscow Oblast , Russia , located 85 kilometers (53 mi) northwest of Moscow . Population: 80,585 ( 2010 Census ) ; 83,178 ( 2002 Census ) ; 94,908 ( 1989 Soviet census ) ; 94,000 (1985 est.). It has been known since 1317. In 1482, it
6363-407: The first movement, which originates from Austro-Hungarian conductor Hans Richter . This substitution is because it is nearly impossible in practice for a bassoonist to execute the passage at the indicated dynamic of pppppp . The symphony is in four movements : The first movement, in sonata form , frequently alternates speeds, moods, and keys, with the main key being B minor. The introduction
6464-449: The first performance in Saint Petersburg, arriving "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
6565-400: The first time since the 1940s, food rationing was introduced, and the city received humanitarian food aid from abroad. This dramatic time was depicted in photographic series of Russian photographer Alexey Titarenko . Economic conditions began to improve only at the beginning of the 21st century. In 1995, a northern section of the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line of the Saint Petersburg Metro
6666-400: The formal official documents, where a three-letter abbreviation "СПб" ( SPb ) was very widely used as well. In the 1830s Alexander Pushkin translated the "foreign" city name of "Saint Petersburg" to the more Russian Petrograd (Russian: Петроград , IPA: [pʲɪtrɐˈgrat] ) in one of his poems. However, it was only on 31 August [ O.S. 18 August] 1914, after
6767-426: The former capital of Imperial Russia , and a historically strategic port , it is governed as a federal city . The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress , and was named after the apostle Saint Peter . In Russia , Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russia's entry into modern history as
6868-411: The head of the city administration . The title of the city head was changed from "mayor" to "governor". In 2000, Yakovlev won re-election. His second term expired in 2004; the long-awaited restoration of the broken subway connection was expected to finish by that time. But in 2003 Yakovlev suddenly resigned, leaving the governor's office to Valentina Matviyenko . The law on election of the City Governor
6969-403: The idea of the Sixth Symphony as some sort of suicide note as "patent nonsense". Other scholars, including Michael Paul Smith, believe that with or without the supposed 'court of honour' sentence, there is no way that Tchaikovsky could have known the time of his own death while composing his last masterpiece. There is also evidence that Tchaikovsky was unlikely to have been depressed while composing
7070-418: The jubilant E major secondary theme in full, first given quietly by unison clarinets with a continued string accompaniment . Between the exposition and the recapitulation, there is no development section – only 2 bars of fragmentary retransition. The opening theme reappears emboldened, and after flourishes of scales traded between the strings and woodwind, the secondary theme returns triumphantly in G major; this
7171-420: The lake froze. More than one million civilians were killed, mainly from starvation. There were incidents of cannibalism, with around 2,000 residents arrested for eating other people. Many others escaped or were evacuated, so the city became largely depopulated. On 1 May 1945 Joseph Stalin , in his Supreme Commander Order No. 20, named Leningrad, alongside Stalingrad , Sevastopol , and Odesa , hero cities of
7272-403: The most played of its time, and Tchaikovsky had already been inspired by Raff in his 5th Symphony with his famous horn solo. Back in B minor, although opened with striking half-diminished harmony, the fourth movement takes a slow six-part sonata rondo form (A-B-A-C-A-B). The opening A theme in the first and second violins appears frequently through the movement, varying in intensity. The theme
7373-416: The original name, Sankt-Peterburg , was returned by citywide referendum. Today, in English the city is known as Saint Petersburg . Local residents often refer to the city by its shortened nickname, Piter (Russian: Питер , IPA: [ˈpʲitʲɪr] ). After the October Revolution the name Red Petrograd (Красный Петроград, Krasny Petrograd ) was often used in newspapers and other prints until
7474-489: The perceived ornamental excesses of the Stalinist architecture were abandoned. From the 1960s to the 1980s many new residential boroughs were built on the outskirts; while the functionalist apartment blocks were nearly identical to each other, many families moved there from kommunalkas in the city centre to live in separate apartments. On 12 June 1991 , simultaneously with the first Russian SFSR presidential elections ,
7575-488: The post-war decades, partially according to pre-war plans. The 1948 general plan for Leningrad featured radial urban development in the north as well as in the south. In 1953, Pavlovsky District in Leningrad Oblast was abolished, and parts of its territory, including Pavlovsk, merged with Leningrad. In 1954, the settlements Levashovo , Pargolovo and Pesochny merged with Leningrad. Leningrad gave its name to
7676-600: The preservation of its historical and architectural environment became controversial. After 2005, the demolition of older buildings in the historical centre was permitted. In 2006, Gazprom announced an ambitious project to erect a 403 m (1,322 ft) skyscraper (the Okhta Center ) opposite to Smolny , which could result in the loss of the unique line of Petersburg landscape. Urgent protests by citizens and prominent public figures of Russia against this project were not considered by Governor Valentina Matviyenko and
7777-417: The second subject shown above, this time in the tonic major (B major) with a coda which is also in B major, finally ending very quietly. The terms "development" and "recapitulation" are used loosely when describing the form of this movement. The structure of the first movement is a Type 2 sonata , which involves a typical expositional rotation, and a second rotation which includes a developmental section and
7878-473: The secondary theme in D major. The energetic development section begins abruptly with an outburst from the full orchestra, with half-diminished harmony that leads uneasily to D minor. It runs seamlessly into the fortissimo recapitulation, a great contrast in atmosphere from its hesitant equivalent at the beginning of the Allegro. Tchaikovsky soon goes into something more nightmarish, which culminates in an explosion of despair and misery in B minor, accompanied by
7979-411: The secret programme of the symphony is about love between men: the search for it, from the beginning of the first movement; finding it, in the romantic andante theme (measure 89); and the attacks of a hostile world on it, in the agitated allegro vivo passage that follows (measure 161); and escape from that, in the return to the love theme ( andante come prima , measure 305). The last movement, Karlinsky
8080-603: The son of their victim). The third emperor's assassination took place in Saint Petersburg in 1881 when Alexander II was murdered by terrorists (see the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood ). The Revolution of 1905 began in Saint Petersburg and spread rapidly into the provinces. On 1 September 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, the Imperial government renamed the city Petrograd , meaning "Peter's City", to remove
8181-655: The southern limit of the city. The most prominent neoclassical and Empire-style architects in Saint Petersburg included: In 1810, Alexander I established the first engineering higher education , the Saint Petersburg Main military engineering School in Saint Petersburg. Many monuments commemorate the Russian victory over Napoleonic France in the Patriotic War of 1812 , including the Alexander Column by Montferrand, erected in 1834, and
8282-404: 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 Vladimir "Bob" Davydov : The symphony is only a work written by dint of sheer will on the part of the composer; it contains nothing that
8383-541: The supervision of Alexander Menshikov . Tens of thousands of serfs died while building the city. Later, the city became the centre of the Saint Petersburg Governorate . Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712, nine years before the Treaty of Nystad of 1721 ended the war. He referred to Saint Petersburg as the capital (or seat of government) as early as 1704. While the city
8484-499: The symphony can be heard in a number of films, including Victor Young 's theme for Howard Hughes ' 1943 American western The Outlaw , 1942's Now, Voyager , the 1997 version of Anna Karenina , as well as The Ruling Class , Minority Report , Sweet Bird of Youth , Soylent Green , Maurice , The Aviator , and The Death of Stalin . It has also been featured in The Ren & Stimpy Show episode " Son of Stimpy " in
8585-531: The symphony, with his brother noting of him after he had sent the manuscript for publishing, "I had not seen him so bright for a long time past." Tchaikovsky dedicated the Pathétique to his nephew, Vladimir "Bob" Davydov , whom he greatly admired. 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
8686-425: The symphony, Патетическая ( Pateticheskaya ), means "passionate" or "emotional", not "arousing pity," but it is a word reflective of a touch of concurrent suffering. Tchaikovsky considered calling it Программная ( Programmnaya or "Program Symphony") but realized that would encourage curiosity about the program, which he did not want to reveal. His brother Modest claims to have suggested the Патетическая title, which
8787-509: The symphony. There is an upward momentum to the major sections, a suggestion of reconciliatory inversion of the downward scale motif. A fragmented coda crosses the scales and becomes more wistful before leading to a calm, rippling close. The third movement starts with a scherzo , a playful, march-like weaving of 8 and 4 in a sonatina form. The strings establish a fast, light compound meter which later lies underneath more brusque wind fanfares in 4 . This leads to
8888-558: The war with Germany had begun, that Tsar Nicholas II renamed the city Petrograd in order to expunge the German words Sankt and Burg . Since the prefix "Saint" was omitted, this act also changed the eponym and the "patron" of the city from Saint Peter to Peter the Great, its founder. On 26 January 1924, shortly after the death of Vladimir Lenin , it was renamed to Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград , IPA: [lʲɪnʲɪnˈgrat] ), meaning 'Lenin City'. On 6 September 1991,
8989-715: The war. A law acknowledging the honorary title of "Hero City" passed on 8 May 1965 (the 20th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War), during the Brezhnev era . The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded Leningrad as a Hero City the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal "for the heroic resistance of the city and tenacity of the survivors of the Siege". The Hero-City Obelisk bearing
9090-546: The work in the exact form in which it is known today. The first performance in Moscow was on 16 December [ O.S. 4 December], conducted by Vasily Safonov . It was the last of Tchaikovsky's compositions premiered in his lifetime; his very last composition, the single-movement 3rd Piano Concerto , Op. 75, which was completed a short time before his death in October 1893, received a posthumous premiere. The Russian title of
9191-444: 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:
9292-600: Was again designated as the capital of the Russian Empire . It remained the seat of the Romanov dynasty and the Imperial Court of the Russian tsars , as well as the seat of the Russian government, for another 186 years until the communist revolution of 1917 . In 1736–1737 the city suffered from catastrophic fires. To rebuild the damaged boroughs, a committee under Burkhard Christoph von Münnich commissioned
9393-593: Was being built, Peter lived in a three-room log cabin with his wife Catherine and their children. During its first few years, the city developed around Trinity Square on the right bank of the Neva, near the Peter and Paul Fortress. However, Saint Petersburg soon started to be built out according to a plan. By 1716 the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini had elaborated a project whereby the city centre would be on Vasilyevsky Island and shaped by
9494-530: Was changed, breaking the tradition of democratic election by universal suffrage that started in 1991. In 2006, the city legislature re-approved Matviyenko as governor. Residential building had intensified again; real-estate prices inflated greatly, which caused many new problems for the preservation of the historical part of the city. Although the central part of the city has a UNESCO designation (there are about 8,000 architectural monuments in Petersburg),
9595-400: Was cut off by underground flooding, creating a major obstacle to the city development for almost ten years. On 13 June 1996, Saint Petersburg, alongside Leningrad Oblast and Tver Oblast , signed a power-sharing agreement with the federal government, granting it autonomy. This agreement was abolished on 4 April 2002. In 1996, Vladimir Yakovlev defeated Anatoly Sobchak in the elections for
9696-411: Was in reply to a suggestion from his close friend Grand Duke Konstantin that he write a requiem for their mutual friend the writer Aleksey Apukhtin , who had died in late August, just as Tchaikovsky was completing the Pathétique . 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
9797-722: Was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow with the rest of the Principality of Tver . Town status was granted in 1781. Klin was taken by the Germans briefly during the Battle of Moscow in 1941. The German occupation lasted from November 23 to December 15, 1941. A short time later, on December 19, the British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and the Soviet ambassador to
9898-469: 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." The symphony is scored for an orchestra with the following instruments: Although not called for in the score, a bass clarinet is commonly employed to replace the solo bassoon for the four notes immediately preceding the Allegro vivo section of
9999-486: Was renamed Leningrad . Later many streets and other toponyms were renamed accordingly, with names in honour of communist figures replacing historic names given centuries before. The city has over 230 places associated with the life and activities of Lenin. Some of them were turned into museums, including the cruiser Aurora – a symbol of the October Revolution and the oldest ship in the Russian Navy . In
10100-524: Was told, is an elegy for a dead lover. 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 . That theme also served as the melody of "Where" by Tony Williams and The Platters (a 1959 hit for them), "In Time" by Steve Lawrence (1961) and " John O'Dreams " by Bill Caddick (1976); however, all four songs have different lyrics. Excerpts from
10201-566: 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, Many English-speaking classical musicians had, by the early 20th century, adopted an English spelling and pronunciation for Tchaikovsky's symphony, dubbing it "The Pathetic", as shorthand to differentiate it from
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