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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вски&#1081, sometimes transliterated as Piotr, Anglicised as Peter Ilich, (April 25, 1840 (O.S.) (May 7, 1840 (N.S.)) - November 6, 1893) was a Russian composer of the

Romantic era. Although not a member of the group of nationalistic composers known as The Five, his music has come to be known and loved for its distinctly Russian character as well as its rich harmonies and stirring melodies.

Life

Tchaikovsky was born in Kamsko-Votkinsk, Russia, to a Ukrainian mining engineer and his second wife, a woman of French ancestry. Musically precocious, he began piano lessons at the age of five. He went on to study at the St Petersburg Conservatory from 1861 to 1865.

Tchaikovsky married a woman called Anatonina Milyukova, who had written to him declaring her love, on 18 July 1877. The marriage was hasty, and he quickly found he could not bear his wife. After an attempt at suicide, he fled to St Petersburg a nervous wreck, and was separated from his wife after only six weeks. This episode only served to confirm Tchaikovsky's homosexuality.

A far more influential woman in Tchaikovsky's life was a wealthy widow, Nadezhda von Meck, with whom he corresponded from 1877 to 1890, although they never met. As well as financial support of 6000 rubles a year, she expressed her interest in his musical career and admiration for his music.

Just nine days after the first performance of his Sixth Symphony in 1893, Tchaikovsky died. It is generally accepted that his death was by suicide, although the manner (commonly claimed to be from cholera brought about by deliberately drinking infected water, although arsenic poisoning is more likely) and circumstances are uncertain. One suggestion is that a group of his former classmates required him to commit suicide to avoid the scandal of an alleged affair with the nephew of a member of the Russian aristocracy. Tchaikovsky was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, St Petersburg.

His life, somewhat embroidered, is the subject of Ken Russell's motion picture The Music Lovers.

Ballets

Tchaikovsky is perhaps most well known for his ballets.

The first, Swan Lake (op. 20), was composed during 1875 and 1876, and first performed (with some omissions) at the [[Bolshoi Theatre|Bolshoi]] in Moscow in 1877.

The work which Tchaikovsky considered to be one of his best was the ballet Sleeping Beauty (op. 66). It was written some 13 years later in 1888 and 1889, with its first performance in 1890 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg.

Tchaikovsky was less satisified with his last ballet, The Nutcracker (op. 71), which was composed in 1891 and 1892.

Operas

Tchaikovsky wrote ten operas, including Eugene Onegin (1877 - 1888) and The Queen of Spades (op. 68, 1890).

Symphonies

Tchaikovsky's earlier symphonies are generally happy works of nationalistic character, while the later symphonies dwell on fate, turmoil and, particularly in the Sixth, despair.

• No. 1 in g minor, op. 13, Winter Daydreams
• No. 2 in c minor, op. 17, Little Russian
• No. 3 in d major, op. 29, Polish
• No. 4 in f minor, op. 36
• Manfred Symphony, b minor, op. 58
• No. 5 in e minor, op. 64
• No. 6 in b minor, op. 74, Pathétique

Concertos

Of his three concertos for piano, it is the First in b flat minor (op. 23. 1874 - 1875) which is best known and most highly regarded. It was initially rejected by pianist Nikolay Rubinstein as poorly composed and unplayable, and subsequently premiered by Hans von B&uumlaut;low in Boston in 1875.

His Violin Concerto in D major (op. 35) was composed in less than a month during March and April 1878, but its first performance was delayed until 1881 because the violinist to whom Tchaikovsky had intended to dedicate the work had refused to perform it.

Other works

Among Tchaikovsky's other works for orchestra are the immensely popular 1812 Overture (op. 49, 1880), the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture (1881), Capriccio Italien (op. 45, 1880) and Slavonic March (op. 31, 1876).

His many other compositions include works for choir as well as many sets of songs, chamber music and music for solo piano. Some of the better-known of these other works are:

• Opus 11 String Quartet No.1 in D major
• Opus 37a Piano suite, The Seasons
• Opus 59 Dumka, Russian rustic scene in c minor for piano
• Opus 70 String sextet, Souvenir de Florence

References

• Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
• Tchaikovsky
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Page