1. Although Tchaikovsky took a more European approach to his compositions, a distinctly Russian element pervades his music. In his Symphony no. 4, he used a Russian folk melody, “The Birch Tree,” as a theme in the fourth movement. His second symphony is nicknamed the “Little Russian.” You should solicit responses from your students about what elements they hear that might contribute to this Russian flavor in his music, even though he wasn’t consciously part of the Russian national school.
2. The concert overture is a single-movement work for orchestra. The symphonic poem is also a single-movement work for orchestra. You should spend some time discussing whether, for the untrained listener, there is a clear distinction between these two genres. What separates the concert overture from the symphonic poem if the listener isn’t aware of the distinction? What should the listener take away from a performance of either?
3. Some overtures that were composed as introductions to operas or other extended works have come to be treated much like the concert overture and divorced from the original work. Mozart’s overture to his opera The Marriage of Figaro is sometimes performed as a concert work, as are Beethoven’s overtures to his only opera, Fidelio.