Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky:
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64, TH 29, ČW 26 (with Score)
Composed: 1888
Conductor: Evgeny Mravinsky
Orchestra: Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra
00:00 1. Andante—Allegro con anima (E minor)
14:37 2. Andante cantabile con alcuna licenza (D major)
26:32 3. Valse. Allegro moderato (A major)
31:57 4. Finale. Andante maestoso—Allegro vivace (E major)
The fifth symphony was composed in 1888, between the Manfred Symphony of 1885 and the sketches for a Symphony in E-flat, which were abandoned in 1892 (apart from recuperating material from its first movement for an Allegro Brillante for piano and orchestra a year later). As for the numbered symphonies, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 was composed between Symphony No. 4, which had been completed ten years earlier, and Symphony No. 6, composed 5 years later, in the year of the composer's death.
Like the Symphony No. 4, No. 5 is a cyclical symphony, with a recurring main theme. Unlike No. 4, however, the theme is heard in all four movements, a feature Tchaikovsky had first used in the Manfred Symphony, which was completed less than three years before No. 5.
