In an age when everything gets a ".1" after its name to indicate some new, exciting innovation to a previous existing version, it was probably only a matter of time until this same principle was applied to music as well. In the case of this Albany Records album, we have Tchaikovsky 6 and, of course, Tchaikovsky 6.1, the latter being composed by
Peter Boyer. The short work begins much as Tchaikovsky's symphony ends, deep in the lowest registers of the orchestra. From there,
Boyer's instrumentation and harmonic language depart greatly from Tchaikovsky's, maintaining a link by using intervallic quotations and the "love" theme from the first movement. The question that listeners must answer for themselves is whether or not these sometimes subtle similarities are enough to truly tie
Boyer's work to Tchaikovsky's, or if Version 6.1 is little more than a curious afterthought. Performing on this album is the
Moravian Philharmonic, which does neither Tchaikovsky nor
Boyer any real favors. Its execution of the Tchaikovsky is mediocre at best, frequently plagued by sloppy rhythms and articulations in the strings, poor balance and tone blending in the brass, and an overall muddy sound out of the lower end of the orchestra. As
Boyer's 6.1 becomes more and more fanfare-like at its conclusion, the orchestra's sound becomes little more than bothersome noise.