Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony

OVERVIEW

Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony is the final masterpiece by a composer on the edge. And the work’s subtitle, “Pathétique” — suggested by his brother Modest — translates not as “pathetic,” but as full of emotion and suffering. But Tchaikovsky played it close to the vest, writing to his nephew that the program “will remain a mystery to everyone — let them guess.”