Tchaikovsky’s music is maligned by its own beauty. He remains the undisputed czar of that facet of music called melody, and it is his melodies, mutated into various forms, from movie soundtracks to pop ballads to Christmas morning accompaniment for present opening (The Nutcracker), that have so egregiously trivialized his stunning body of work in the ear of the culture at large, and even alienated a large number of high-brow concert buffs - philistines though they may be.
This would have made Tchaikovsky mad. But no matter, for the composer existed in a continuos state of simmering rage, and his works are simply a series of musical essays - some grand others petite - on anger. The ‘beautiful’ sections only frame and give mood and tempo juxtaposition to the blind, hectic storms of impotent rage that are at the heart of the master’s music...no his very being. Listen, for example, to the dissonant drum-roll finale of the concert overture, “Romeo and Juliet” - a completely bizarre ending for a work such as this (Shakespeare’s story notwithstanding) but Tchaikovsky couldn’t restrain himself - couldn’t refrain from the musical violence that so characterizes his work, yet goes so unnoticed by music novice and aficionado alike.
This is not to say that Tchiakovsky was a simple composer - quite the contrary, for this man had as much raw talent as Mozart and composed huge works of awesome complexity - but that, as the lord of High Romanticism, he wrote intensely emotional pieces, and that the overriding emotion expressed is almost always anger.
Perhaps it’s our era; perhaps the generation that will fully appreciate this master, who’s work (like Mahler’s and Mozart’s) is virtually bereft of second-rate material, has yet to be born. And maybe it’s a blessing that his works are carried along by the culture as tunes to be hummed in the shower or played as background for sex - an irony, considering the abysmal love-life of the composer himself - for if his amazing music were to fade from the symphonic repertoire, the loss would be staggering indeed.

- Greg Knepp, ClassicT-Shirt.com

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