Discovering Tchaikovsky

The Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture was completed when Tchaikovsky was only 29.

Inspired by a love affair, which eventually ended in his partner's suicide, Tchaikovsky developed three strands of music, representing the young lovers, Friar Lawrence and the poisonous enmity between the two families. A workshop explores the alternative version of the score and ends with a full orchestral performance.

Tchaikovsky conducted the first performance of his 6th Symphony, the Pathetique, nine days before his death. Charles Hazlewood argues that this is one of the darkest creations in all music, and Tchaikovsky himself claimed to have put his whole soul into it. Charles and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra look at the relationship between the Pathetique and the Russian Requiem Litergy, and its implications for Tchaikovsky's beliefs. This second workshop examines the way in which Tchaikovsky redefined what constituted a symphony.