Tchaikovsky?s Sixth Symphony is known for the mystery surrounding its hidden programme and for Tchaikovsky?s unexpected death nine days after its premiere. While the speculations about the composer?s possible planned suicide and the suggestion that the symphony was intended as his own requiem have long been discarded, the question of its programme remains. In this close analytical and historical study, Marina Ritzarev looks for the programme instead in the realm of European eighteenth- and nineteenth-century cultural values. Focusing on Tchaikovsky?s personal reading and social circle, she offers a startling new interpretation.