Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5

Information

Year of arrangement:  2017

Composer:  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky​ (1840–1893)

Instrumentation:  1[/pic] 1 1 1 – 2 1 1 0 – tmp, str (min. 1 1 1 1 1)

Duration: 44mins

World Premiere: Rep Orchestra/George Morton, September 2017

Recording

Full recording available on request

Sample Score/Part

Score Demo
File Size: 175 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
Flute Part Demo
File Size: 59 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
Full perusal score available here

​Hire/License Information

Published by Universal Edition
Available to hire here

Work Introduction

[John Storgårds] chose to use an arrangement of the symphony by Sheffield-based George Morton, whose clever reduction of the score was revelatory from the very deliberate statement of the “fate” motif by first clarinet Maximiliano Martin in the opening bars.

Some way distant from how we expect to hear the work, the balance between single winds (bassoon, flute and eventually horn especially) and the 30 strings was always effective, faithful to the composer’s orchestration but in a leaner form. The rhythmic interplay between the string sections was more noticeable and Storgards brought very particular phrasing to the third movement waltz.
Keith Bruch, Scottish Herald Review [more here]

This chamber edition of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony was first performed in 2017, in a sold out performance of "Music in Miniature", a project with Rep Orchestra and Yellow Arch Studios.

Written for individual woodwinds, a small brass section, timpanist and a small string section, this new reduction enables chamber ensembles to explore Tchaikovsky's masterpiece. 

• Strings: this arrangement can be performed with a quintet up to a full chamber orchestra section.

Video
© George Morton 2024