[Footnote 307: See the passage from his diary (quoted on page 504 of
the _Biography_ by his brother) in which he writes--"What touching
love and compassion for mankind lie in these words: 'Come unto me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden!' In comparison with these simple
words all the Psalms of David are as nothing."]

Each of Tchaikowsky's last three symphonies is a remarkable work. The
Fourth is most characteristically Russian and certainly the most
striking in its uncompromising directness of expression. The first
movement announces a recurrent, intensely subjective motto typical of
that impending Fate which would not allow Tchaikowsky happiness.[308]
The slow movement is based upon a Russian folk song of a melancholy
beauty, sung by the oboe, and another, already cited (see Chapter II,
p. 33), is incorporated in the Finale. The Scherzo is unique as an
orchestral _tour de force_; for, with the exception of a short middle
portion for wood-wind and brass, it is for the string orchestra
playing pizzicato throughout. The effect is extremely fantastic and
resembles that of ghosts flitting about in their stocking-feet or of
sleep-chasings, to use Whitman's expression.[309] The Finale is a riot
of natural, primitive joy, a picture--as the composer says--of a
popular festivity. "When you find no joy within you, go among the
people, see how fully they give themselves up to joyous feelings."
Fate sounds its warning, but in vain; nothing can repress the
exultation of the composer. "Enjoy the joy of others and--you still
can live." The work is sensational, even trivial in places; but it
reveals sincerity and elemental life. The composer lays himself bare
and we see a real man--not a masked hypocrite--with all his joys and
sorrows, caught, as Henley would say, "in the fell clutch of
circumstance," bludgeoned by Fate.

[Footnote 308: See the detailed program by the composer himself, cited
in Nieck's _Program Music_.]

[Footnote 309: For this simile I am indebted to Mr. Philip Hale.]

The Sixth Symphony, the Pathetic, is the most popular and, on the
whole, Tchaikowsky's most sustained work. It owes its hold upon public
esteem to the eloquent way in which it presents that "maladie du
siecle" which, in all modern art,[310] is such a prominent note. The
mood may be a morbid one but we cannot mistake the conviction with
which it is treated. The work is likewise significant because of the
novel grouping of movements. The firs