The woodwinds begin the second movement with a poignant little phrase in thirds, like the rise and fall of a sigh. The other woodwinds echo this theme, then the solo violin takes up a deep-throated song of almost Tchaikovskian melancholy. The movement works up to a great climax of interweaving orchestral voices, then suddenly breaks off and dies away with a few nostalgic phrases. Allegro ma non tanto . But always and agin the solo part shoots up like a rocket in a more agile version of the same dance.
Violinistic fireworks abound.
The dance gathers momentum as it passes from one climax to another, and the end comes with a series of brilliant skyward sweeps of the violin, punctuated by sharp, decisive chords of the full orchestra. In 1868, true to form, Tchaikovsky took it hard when his fianc e, French opera singer Desir e Art t, jilted him to elope with a Spanish baritone. One day she was there, the next she was gone, leaving the emotionally frail composer with egg on his face and, more to the point, with a broken heart. While Art t's antics undoubtedly set the mood for Romeo and Juliet , it was fellow composer Balakireff who talked Tchaikovsky into writing the piece and coached him through the whole process. Balakireff outlined the idea to Tchaikovsky and described the dramatic and musical possibilities vividly enough to make the project seem almost irresistible.