In St. Petersburg on today's date in 1893, Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky conducted the first performance of his latest Symphony, his Sixth. From the beginning, this symphony has been commonly known by its French subtitle, the "Pathétique," a designation suggested by the composer's brother, Modest.

Now, in Russian, "Pathetique" translates into something like "passionate" or "emotional," with overtones of "pathos" and "suffering," but in plain old English, "pathétique" translates as "pathetic," a word with a whole slew of negative connotations. The French sounds MUCH better, thank you.

Tchaikovsky himself had originally intended to give his new work the generic title of "A Program Symphony" with, apparently, no intention of cluing anyone in on what that program might be. In any case, nine days after he conducted the premiere performance, Tchaikovsky was dead.

Was his death the result of a fatal glass of unboiled water recklessly drunk during the height of a cholera epidemic? Or was it a deliberate suicide to avoid the scandal of a homosexual affair becoming public? Did his "Pathétique" Symphony encode the answer? Was it Tchaikovsky's musical "Last Will and Testament?" Speculation has raged around Tchaikovsky's last symphony ever since, surrounding this last work with what one critic as called "voluptuous gloom."

Despite—or perhaps BECAUSE—of its "voluptuous gloom," Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" became one the most popular symphonies of all time.