Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowsky

Fatum op. 77

Fatum, Op. 77 was composed in 1868 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840--1893) as an early symphonic poem inspired by the Romantic idea of inescapable fate, a theme that would recur throughout his later music. Written during his formative years as a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, the work reflects the influence of Liszt's symphonic poems and the programmatic ambitions of mid-19th-century orchestral music, though Tchaikovsky later expressed dissatisfaction with the piece and revised it in 1870. FATUM received its first performances in Moscow around the time of its revision, but it failed to gain lasting success during the composer's lifetime and was published posthumously, receiving its opus number only after his death. Today FATUM occupies a peripheral but intriguing place in the repertoire, performed occasionally as a glimpse into Tchaikovsky's early stylistic development and his first sustained engagement with the symphonic treatment of psychological and philosophical themes that would later find more enduring expression in his mature works. Instrumentation: 2+1(Picc).2+1(EH).2.2: 4.3.3.1: Timp.Perc(4): Hp: Str (9.8.7.6.5 in set). Reprint edition.