Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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The Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was composed between May and August 1888 and was first performed in Saint Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theatre on November 17 of that year with Tchaikovsky conducting. It is dedicated to Theodor Avé-Lallemant.
The fifth symphony was composed in 1888, between the Manfred Symphony of 1885 and the sketches for a Symphony in E♭, 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 five 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.
The symphony is in four movements:
1. Andante – Allegro con anima (E minor) – Molto più tranquillo (D major – E major)
2. Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza (B minor – D major)
3. Valse. Allegro moderato (A major) (Trio in F♯ minor)
4. Finale: Andante maestoso (E major) – Allegro vivace (E minor) – Meno mosso (E major)
The third movement is a waltz, with some unusual elements, for example, hemiola and unbalanced phrase structure at the outset of the movement. These elements take over the movement in the trio section, which is a scherzo. The scherzo theme initially played by the first violins can be seen as a superimposition of 4/4 over 3/4. Hemiola is used again as a transitional technique (mm. 97–105). The waltz returns, but with the texture from the scherzo.
The return of the motto theme in the third movement, preceded by a waltz in a major mode, recalls the opening of the symphony, but with a hemiola element:
The movement ends with the texture shrinking until only pianissimo strings play a repeated cadence, which then quickens into a hemiola rhythm before six sudden fortissimo chords played by the whole orchestra.
The piece of this video, "Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 (3º Mov., Valse. Allegro moderato)", is the third movement of the Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64.
Performers:
- NHK Symphony Orchestra
- Stanislaw Skrowaczewski (Conductor)
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Like and subscribe to our channel: youtube.com/channel/UCnecaf9_nSWT__lhfu4EYpg
The Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was composed between May and August 1888 and was first performed in Saint Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theatre on November 17 of that year with Tchaikovsky conducting. It is dedicated to Theodor Avé-Lallemant.
The fifth symphony was composed in 1888, between the Manfred Symphony of 1885 and the sketches for a Symphony in E♭, 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 five 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.
The symphony is in four movements:
1. Andante – Allegro con anima (E minor) – Molto più tranquillo (D major – E major)
2. Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza (B minor – D major)
3. Valse. Allegro moderato (A major) (Trio in F♯ minor)
4. Finale: Andante maestoso (E major) – Allegro vivace (E minor) – Meno mosso (E major)
The third movement is a waltz, with some unusual elements, for example, hemiola and unbalanced phrase structure at the outset of the movement. These elements take over the movement in the trio section, which is a scherzo. The scherzo theme initially played by the first violins can be seen as a superimposition of 4/4 over 3/4. Hemiola is used again as a transitional technique (mm. 97–105). The waltz returns, but with the texture from the scherzo.
The return of the motto theme in the third movement, preceded by a waltz in a major mode, recalls the opening of the symphony, but with a hemiola element:
The movement ends with the texture shrinking until only pianissimo strings play a repeated cadence, which then quickens into a hemiola rhythm before six sudden fortissimo chords played by the whole orchestra.
The piece of this video, "Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 (3º Mov., Valse. Allegro moderato)", is the third movement of the Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64.
Performers:
- NHK Symphony Orchestra
- Stanislaw Skrowaczewski (Conductor)
