Talk:Symphony No. 4 (Tchaikovsky)

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The Fourth Symphony's first three movements were composed during an 1877 sojourn by Tchaikovsky in the Hotel Londra Palace, on the lagoon in Venice, just a few steps from Piazza San Marco. The reality of the location, with the Adriatic waves incessantly lapping the steps of the quai just outside the hotel clearly is depicted in the opening of the first movement's Moderato con anima, with the faintly "seasick" theme of the first violins set against bobbing rhythms below.The hotel has lion statuary, which to the composer suggested "two lions": the cities of London and Venice, also obvious in the roaring fanfare that permeates the work from the outset. The second movement canzona also abounds in Italian ambiance from the opening oboe solo. This is just one example of how works of music tke shape, sometimes very specifically, from particular locations. Michael Dumouchel

[edit] Instrumentation format

Can we please leave the instrumentation in the standard, compact style, as it is found in any reference work? The expanded version, promoted by a single editor, is unnecessary, wasteful of space, and idiosyncratic. If there is a good reason for doing it that way here (and elsewhere) I would be much obliged to see the arguments in favor. Thank you, Antandrus (talk) 03:32, 4 April 2007 (UTC)