Autumn. The poor garden is covered with fallen leaves.

Yellowed leaves are dancing down in the wind……

The epigraph is from Aleksey Tolstoy's "Autumn. The poor garden is covered with fallen leaves" (1858).

The theme in D minor can be said to fully demonstrate Tchaikovsky's mastery as a melodist. Set against gentle harmonies, a melancholic melody is sung tenderly. The middle section is in F major, but it retains the subdued darkness of the main theme. The dynamics are primarily constructed around soft passages, demanding a delicate expression of these nuances. The culmination of this expressive demand is arguably found in the work's concluding section. Amidst the undulating upper voices sounding at pp, the music gradually fades, reaching pppp (!) at the very end of the morendo, and then vanishes.