1). Tchaikovsky stayed there four years despite the long journey to Western Europe and increasing involvement in music. In 1863 he entered the conservatory where he took private teachings and focused all his energy to his music and compositions. Three years later in 1866 he and his family had moved to Moscow with a professorship of harmony at a new conservatory. Even by this time very little of his music had pleased the conservative musical establishment or the more nationalist group. It was not until 1868 when his 1st Symphony had a good public reception when heard in Moscow.Not even a year later Tchaikovsky wrote his first opera the Voyevada. He later used this piece in his next opera the Oprichnik, which won some success at St. Petersburg in 1874. It was then that a critic named Balakirev requested that he write a work on Romeo and Juliet, which would later be known as the Fantasy Overture. This specific work was rewritten many times until it met the requirements of Balakirev. This romantic piece is a symphony where each theme stood for a character in the drama. It is these expressive themes that make his first works well defined.The symphony Romeo and Juliet is a love song in sonata form. It is a Fantasy Overture and not a symphonic poem, because Tchaikovsky makes no attempt to tell the story in order or in detail (Hanson 118). The piece opens with solemn thoughts of Friar Laurence. The main part of the work is a contrast between street-brawls, feuding families, and the emotional theme of the tragic love of Romeo and Juliet. It is very dramatic and uses harmony to resolve tension throughout the piece. In-between scenes and moods he uses vivid contrasts of pace. Tchaikovsky felt and understood Romeo and Juliet, creating it with a blend of passion and compassion.In Romeo and Juliet, Tchaikovsky uses a strong assortment of alerting horns and soft dramatic strings. This arrangement paints adventurous tones of great emot...
