Book excerpt: The enormous popular appeal of Tchaikovsky's orchestral music rests on themes of touching eloquence and emotional power, on endlessly inventive textures, and on a masterful control of sheer symphonic sound surely one of the best in all of the nineteenth-century literature. Then there is a thread that runs through his late work especially in the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Symphonies seeming to invite us, his audience, to share in depth the composer's most personal feelings. It is a potent recipe for success, nowhere more evident than in the extraordinarily popular Symphony No. 5, a favorite with concert-goers worldwide ever since its premiere, in St. Petersburg, in 1888. One of the finest examples of symphonic orchestration in the Romantic repertoire, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 appears here in full score, with bar-numbered movements and ample margins at the bottom of each score page for notes and analysis. Ideal for study in the classroom, at home, or in the concert hall, this affordable, high-quality, conveniently sized volume will be the edition of choice for music students and music lovers alike. "