Passages by Tchaikovsky that repeat large blocks of material, often under transposition, are common targets for criticism. It is easy to categorically dismiss such music -- where one easily detects the "thread in the composer's seams" -- as inelegant. Rather than do that, this paper investigates the deeper structure and meaning of these repetitive structures, particularly in the context of Tchaikovsky's developmental technique.

In the Third Symphony's Allegro development, discussion will focus on the retransition to the recapitulation, mm. 294-307. These measures are remarkable for recycling a previous passage from the exposition almost note for note. Far from a compositional misstep, the mysterious return of material plays a key role in a long-range metric conflict between "weak-beat" and "strong-beat" states in the music. A different type of narrative will explain the unusual content and character of the development from the finale of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2. Block composition is carried to an extreme here, with four-measure fragments of the folk song, "The Crane" saturating the texture. Examination of the harmonic and melodic patterns of the development's subsections will lead to a unified, motivic explanation for the idiosyncratic repetitions.