Having a Ball with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 6
II. Allegro con grazia
Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 ("Pathétique")
I'm Tchaikovsky, and I'm about to explain the II. Allegro con grazia, the graceful second movement of my Symphony No 6. You'll hear a gentle waltz in D major that counts to five instead of three, so it glides along with a charming limp, and that unusual lilt is a pleasure to discover. Because my fellow composers and I teach you on this site to recognize our pieces by sound, why not take a turn at the Trainer ?
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Where to Put Your Feet
Here's how I'd listen to this movement: don't try to analyze anything, just let yourself sway, because it's meant to be a dance. A waltz normally counts one-two-three, but mine is a modified waltz that counts to five, so your sway will feel pleasantly off balance, as if the floor were tilted a little. Follow the strings first, since they carry the main melody and lean into it whenever the music wants to sound tender. Then wait for the mood to turn wistful in the middle, and notice how welcome the opening tune feels when it comes back.Grace, With a Spelling Lesson
I mark this movement Allegro con grazia, which means quick and with grace, and the Italian z is how I wrote it in the score. Allegro means lively and con grazia means with grace, so I'm asking the players to be light and elegant rather than loud. After the weight of the first movement I wanted something that felt like a smile, even if a slightly crooked one because of those five beats. Grace doesn't mean simple cheer, though, and you'll hear a few sighs slip in among the smiles.Choosing a Shape Without a Tape Measure
Picking a form for this movement was an adventure, because I wasn't after anything strict, just a waltz that tells a small story. What I ended up with is a lyrical dance, a sighing contrast in the middle, and then a return to the opening, which gives us three sections. Think of it as leaving through the front door, wandering into a sadder room, and then coming home again. I'll take you through each section in the next paragraphs, so stay with me.Section 1: The Polite Dance That Can't Count
The movement begins in D major, a bright and open key, so after the first movement it feels like someone has opened a window. The tempo is Allegro, lively but never hurried, and the melody is lyrical, the kind of tune you could hum after hearing it twice. The five-beat pattern gives it a gentle sway with a little hitch in it, so it never settles into an ordinary waltz. Everything here is graceful and just a bit wistful, and that mood is the starting point for the whole story.Section 2: The Sigh in the Middle
Then the music turns to its contrast, a sighing section that sounds like a deep breath let out slowly. The lilt of the dance is still there, but the mood moves from graceful toward heavy-hearted, as if someone at the party suddenly remembered something sad. Listen for the way the melody keeps drooping and doesn't quite want to finish its thought. This is the emotional center of the movement, and it's the part I'd ask you to notice most.Section 3: The Waltz Comes Home
After the sighing, the opening dance returns, and the lively tempo and the brightness of D major come back with it. But now you've heard the sadness, so the grace sounds a little different, a bit more fragile than before. That's the story of the movement in a nutshell: elegance on the surface, worry just underneath, and a tune that carries on with its poise. Next comes the march of the third movement, which leaves all this politeness behind.Your Turn to Press Play
Now it's your turn to hear Allegro con grazia for yourself, so press play and let it carry you along. While it plays, keep in mind the five-beat sway, the sigh in the middle and the way the opening tune returns. You don't need to know anything about music to feel the shift from grace to sadness and back again. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it, lopsided little waltz and all.---
If you enjoyed this listen guide to the Allegro con grazia of my Symphony No 6, I hope it left you humming a lopsided little waltz of your own. Did you enjoy learning about this movement, and did the five beats start to feel natural by the end? Once a piece has danced its way into your head, it tends to stay there, and I find that is a rather nice thing to carry around. There is still a lot more to discover in Symphony No 6, from the story behind its title to the slow, quiet finale that follows this waltz. The other movements each have their own character, and hearing them side by side gives this graceful dance a new kind of meaning. I would be glad if you came back to the whole symphony with fresh ears, now that you know where the music sways and where it sighs. So please click on the links provided to keep exploring Symphony No 6, and take your time with it.