Less than a week after he conducted the premiere of his Symphony No. 6 "Pathetique," Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky drank a glass of cholera infected water, ending the life of one of Russia's greatest composers. Many myths surround the sudden death of the knowingly troubled composer. The widely spread urban legend is that a colleague of Tchaikovsky convinced him to poison himself after he was caught sleeping with the nephew of a Duke, a sin punishable by death. It may never be known for fact if Tchaikovsky drank the infected water with the intention of suicide but there is more than enough evidence in his sixth symphony alone to lead one to such a conclusion.

He begins his final symphony with a low bassoon solo over gloomy strings, eventually working his way into B minor. The first movement maintains the somber character of the murky opening, although the tempo changes drastically. The principal theme of this opening movement, written so emotionally and developed perfectly, may be Tchaikovsky's greatest melody. The first movement clearly depicts the struggles that Tchaikovsky felt throughout his life, constantly being overcome with homosexual feelings and hating himself for it because his faith condemned it.

The second and third movements are, mostly by requirement of the genre, more relaxed. The second movement is a beautiful waltz, famously set in 5/4 time. The third movement is a glittering march, but with a touch of melancholy throughout. The finale opens with a sob of anguish in the strings, and although a warm and consoling theme eventually enters in the violins, the atmosphere continues to dim, finally becoming frightening in its intensity. The composer may have finally reached the point of no return. Tchaikovsky's deeply passionate final symphony crumbles and fades spending what seems like an eternity dying away with one final chord held in the strings decaying into nothing.

While the music itself is purely musical, Tchaikovsky himself stated in a letter to his brother Modest that there in fact was a program; however, Tchaikovsky told his brother that the program would forever remain a secret. Alas, it may never be known what Tchaikovsky was really writing about in his final symphony but many feel that he was depicting, quite vividly, the struggles he faced throughout his life and possibly his final struggle with the decision to end it.