ABSTRACT
A requiem to and from both believers and unbelievers, a universal expression of sorrow and compassion, the Finale addresses the audience in the direct emotional way. The 12-minute musical entity stages a giant House of Mourning, where people find themselves between life and death, and even an unbeliever might be ready to accept a believer's outstretched hand participating in the same un immense acte de spiritualit. The themes of both Bach and Tchaikovsky strongly allude to a procession, a slow and funereal procession. The mourning character of the Finale is enhanced especially by the consolatory sound of its second theme, in relative major, very much like middle sections of classical funeral march. The density and linear quality of dissonance in harmony of the Finale are close to Bach, but are enhanced by the possibilities of the modern symphonic orchestra and Tchaikovsky's super-expressive style of orchestration. Tchaikovsky consistently constructs arches with the first movement.
