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Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840 in Petrograd* Russia. His family had
no musical background, and was possessing only things such as epilepsy
and extreme emotional intensity. His initial career choice was to be a
lawyer. He began studies at the Ministry of Justice, in Saint Petersburg.
As the story goes, he was sitting alongside his cousin one day at a piano,
and was struck by the chord modulations and harmony. From this point on,
his interests in music became more prevalent. He enrolled in a five year
program at Petrograd Conservatory, and studied under Nikolai Rubenstein,
who
is credited for "creating" the musical genius in Tchaikovsky.
He excelled in his studies at the conservatory, and put enormous amounts
of extra effort into his work (one account states that he once wrote 200
variations on a single theme.) This enthusiasm resulted in his appointment
as professor of harmony at Moscow University. All of Tchaikovsky's early
compositions were operas, and all of them were poorly made. He persisted,
however, and at age thirty-four he wrote the Oprichnik (1872), which
was his first success. This success also brought with it the unsought affection
of Antonia Milyukova, who boldly proposed marriage to him. The problem
with this situation was that Tchaikovsky was a homosexual. In this time
period, especially in this country, homosexuality was not an acceptable
condition, and he may have faced death if anyone found out. So, he consented
and married Antonia in 1877. His marriage, which was unhappy from the start,
was officially ended when Tchaikovsky fled to Switzerland only 
weeks
after being married, vowing never to return.He did this partly to hide
his homosexuality, and partly with the thought that maybe it could be "cured."
He returned to teaching at the University of Moscow one year later. In
1876, Tchaikovsky had become acquainted with Madame Nadedja von Meck, who
adored his music. She agreed to pay him 600 pounds annually for him to
live on while he wrote his music. This time period was very productive
for Tchaikovsky, some of his best work was composed in the following fourteen
years. To this time belong the operas Eugene Onegin (1878), The
Maid of Orleans (1879), Mazeppa (1883), and The Sorceress
(1887); the ballets Swan Lake (1876) and The Sleeping Beauty
(1889); the Rococo Variations for Cello and Orchestra (1876) and the Violin
Concerto in D Major (1878); the orchestral works Marche Slave (1876),
Francesca da Rimini (1876), Symphony no. 4 in F Minor (1877), the
overture The Year 1812 (1880), Capriccio Italien (1880),
Serenade for string orchestra (1880), Manfred symphony (1885), Symphony
no. 5 in E Minor (1888), the fantasy overture Hamlet (1885); and
numerous songs. In 1890, Madame von Meck believed herself to be out of
money, and broke off her relations with Tchaikovsky. From 1887 to 1891
Tchaikovsky made several highly successful concert tours, conducting his
own works before large, enthusiastic audiences in the major cities of Europe
and the U.S. He composed one of his finest operas, The Queen of Spades,
in 1890. Early in 1893 the composer began work on his Symphony no. 6 in
B Minor, subsequently titled Pathetique by his brother Modeste.
The first performance of the work, given at St. Petersburg on Oct. 28,
1893, under the composer's direction, was indifferently received. Many
Tchaikovsky compositions--among them The Nutcracker (ballet and
suite, (1891-92), the Piano Concerto no. 2 in G Major (1880), the String
Quartet no. 3 in E-flat Minor (1876), and the Trio in A Minor for Violin,
Cello, and Piano (1882)--have remained popular with concertgoers. His most
popular works are char acterized by richly melodic passages in which sections
suggestive of profound melancholy frequently alternate with dancelike movements
derived from folk music. Like his contemporary, the Russian composer Nikolay
Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky was an exceptionally gifted orchestrator;
his ballet scores in particular contain many striking effects of orchestral
coloration. His symphonic works, popular for their melodic content, are
also strong (and often unappreciated) in their abstract thematic development.
In his best operas, such as Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades,
he used highly suggestive melodic passages to depict a dramatic situation
concisely and with poignant effect. His ballets, notably Swan Lake
and The Sleeping Beauty, have never been surpassed for their melodic
intensity and instrumental brilliance. Composed in close collaboration
with the choreographer Marius Petipa, they represent virtually the first
use of serious dramatic music for the dance since the operatic ballet of
the German composer Christoph Willibald Gluck. Tchaikovsky also extended
the range of the symphonic poem, and his works in this genre, including
Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, are notable for their richly
melodic evocation of the moods of the literary works on which they are
based. On November 6**, 1893 Tchaikovsky died of cholera, from drinking
unboiled water while an epidemic was raging in Moscow. It is not known
whether his death was intentional or not, for several times previous to
his death Tchaikovsky had made attempts on his life. Modern scholarship,
however, is inclined to credit the story that he committed suicide on the
orders of a group of former law school classmates, who feared scandal because
an aristocrat had complained to the czar about Tchaikovsky's homosexuality.
*Some occounts place his birth in Votkinsk
**Some occounts place his death on October 28
symphony no. 5
symphony no. 6
violin concerto
piano concerto
Back To Romantic Composers Index
Links To Other Tchaikovsky Sites
Midi files
another good descriptive history page with some .wav files
yet another good biography with some really good suggested recordings
