A marvel of orchestration, Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony employs the composer's characteristically beautiful and emotionally charged melodies to weave the tale of a Byronic hero. The theme of the romantic outsider, as personified by Manfred, was particularly popular with nineteenth-century Russian artists. Broad orchestrations, dark lyricism, and a profound sense of tragedy have made this work a Romantic favorite of orchestras and audiences worldwide.
Tchaikovsky provided a literary key to the work's four movements, which begin with the weary and heartsick Manfred's wanderings through the Alps. In the second movement, an alpine fairy emerges through the rainbow from the spray of the waterfall, and the third movement features a pastoral portrait of life among the mountain dwellers. The final movement brings a dramatic conclusion, set amid an underground bacchanalia, at which the specter of Manfred's lost love returns.
Tchaikovsky wrote the Manfred Symphony between his Fourth and his Fifth Symphony.
After its premiere in 1886, the composer declared it "the best of my symphonic works."