While returning to Klin from Warsaw a new scheme for a symphony came to Tchaikovsky. He had the idea to write a program symphony. A letter written to Bob Davydoff, his nephew and who the symphony is dedicated to, stated that:.
During my travels I had an idea for another symphony, this time a programme-symphony, but with a programme which shall remain a mystery for every one --let them guess away, but the symphony will be called merely A Programme Symphony (No. 6). The programme itself is subjective to the core . . . As regards from there will be in this symphony a great deal that is new, and among other things the finale will be, not a noisy Allegro but, on the contrary, a very leisurely Adagio. You can't conceive what bliss it is to be convinced that my time is not yet over and that I'm still able to work. .
The program behind the symphony was the idea of encompassing life'. The first movement would touch on the ideas of "impulsive passion, confidence, and thirst for activity."" The second movement focuses solely on the emotion of love. The third movement portrays the idea of disappointment. The last movement is perhaps the most emotional emotion to some people representing death. All four of these movements are short in length with the last one dying away representing a person dying and their breath leaving them. This idea or plan of the program for the symphony was Tchaikovsky's original idea. With some more thought he decided that not only structural modifications were needed but also the last movement "would be a long-drawn Adagio."" Tchaikovsky had the symphony fully sketched by April of 1893, but his last group of songs, Opus 73, and the final set of piano pieces, Opus 72, came in the middle of him sketching and scoring the symphony. These two piano pieces were merely composed for money and in Tchaikovsky's mind mediocre' pieces and had no desire whatsoever to compose them.