Schicksal

It was not only Beethoven who wrote a ‘Fate’ symphony – his famous Fifth – but also Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Whilst in Beethoven’s work fate knocks at the door with those familiar opening beats, in Tchaikovsky’s Fourth a full brass fanfare immediately resounds. There seems to be no escape from these sounds. This fanfare looms even over the final movement, the musical depiction of a folk festival. The conclusion, however, is cheerful. ‘Rejoice in the joy of others – and life is bearable after all,’ wrote the composer, who had himself been battered by life. Truls Mørk, one of the very greatest cellists, is coming to Basel! He will perform Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1. Music that breathes a sigh of relief, heralding the new freedom the composer enjoyed following Stalin’s death in 1953. And music in which Dmitri Shostakovich immortalised himself with a musical motif based on the initial letters of his name: D E C H.