Symphony No. 3 (Tchaikovsky) - Controversy Over The Nickname "Polish"

Controversy Over The Nickname "Polish"

Western critics and audiences began calling this symphony the Polish after Sir August Manns led the first British performance in 1889, with the finale seen as an expression by the Polish people for their liberation from Russian domination and the reinstatement of their independence. Since this was the way Chopin had treated the dance in his works and people had heard them in that light for at least a generation, their interpretation of the finale of the Third Symphony in a similar manner was completely understandable. Unfortunately, it was also completely wrong.

In Tsarist Russia, the polonaise was considered musical code for the Romanov dynasty and a symbol of Russian imperialism. In other words, Tchaikovsky's use of the polonaise was the diametric opposite to Chopin's. This context for the dance began with Osip Kozlovsky (1757–1831), a Pole who served in the Russian army and whose greatest successes as a composer were with his polonaises. To commemorate Russian victory over the Ottoman Empire in the Ukraine, Kozlovsky wrote a polonaise entitled "Thunder of Victory, Resound!" This set the standard for the polonaise as the preeminent genre for Russian ceremony.

One thing to keep in mind is that Tchaikovsky lived and worked in what was probably the last 18th-century feudal nation. This made his creative situation more akin to Mendelssohn or Mozart than to many of his European contemporaries. Because of this cultural mindset, Tchaikovsky saw no conflict in making his music accessible or palatable to his listeners, many of whom were among the Russian aristocracy and would eventually include Tsar Alexander III. He remained highly sensitive to their concerns and expectations and searched constantly for new ways to meet them. Part of meeting his listeners' expectations was using the polonaise, which he did in several of his works, including the Third Symphony. Using it in the finale of a work could assure its success with Russian listeners.