The BBC presents Sir Henry Wood 's 49th season. Associate conductor, Sir Adrian Boult. BBC Symphony Orchestra (leader, Paul Beard )
From the Royal Albert Hall, London
Tchaikovsky himself called this symphony a programme-symphony. ' I have got hold he wrote, ' of the idea for a new symphony. This time a programme-symphony, but with a programme that shall remain an enigma for everyone-let them puzzle their heads over it '.
However, the enigma was solved a few years ago, when a paper outlining the plan of the symphony was found in Tchaikovsky's old home. Briefly, the line is : Active life—love—disappointment—death.