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Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was one of the most loved of Russian composers. His music
is famous for its strong emotion, and his technical skill and strict work habits helped guarantee its
lasting appeal.

(1: Tchaikovsky; 2: bureau clerk; 3: law; 4: Rubinsteins; 5: Moscow; 6: Anton; 7: Swan

Lake; 8: music; 9: concerts; 10: Piano Concerto No. 1; 11: conservatory; 12: Franz Liszt; 13:
Nadezhda von Meck; 14: St. Petersburg; 15: Romeo and Juliet; 16: Moscow; 17: Violin
Concerto; 18: Fatum; 19: 5th Symphony; 20: 4th Symphony; 21: Hermit of Klin; 22: Eugene
Onegin; 23: Ballet; 24: The 6th Symphony; 25: Pathétique; 26: Sleeping Beauty; 27: Overture
1812; 28: 2nd Orchestral Suite; 29: 2nd Symphony; 30:Western; 31: whole tone scale; 32:
Queen of Spades; 33: United States)

Early years
Born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk in the Vyatka district of Russia, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was
the son of a successful engineer. Peter and his brothers and sister received a sound education from
their French governess. His parents sometimes took him to (1) concerts, and after one such
evening he complained that he could not fall asleep because of the music stuck in his head. He was
devoted to his mother, and at age four he and his sister composed a song for her. Her death when
he was fourteen was a huge blow to him.
Tchaikovsky attended (2) law school in St. Petersburg, Russia, and, while studying law and
government, he took (3) music lessons, including some composing, from Gabriel Lomakin.
Tchaikovsky graduated at the age of nineteen and took a job as a (4) bureau clerk. He worked
hard, but he hated the job; by this time, he was totally absorbed by music. He soon met the
Rubinstein brothers, Anton (1829–1894) and Nikolai (1835–1881), both of whom were
composers. Anton was a pianist second only to (5) Franz Liszt (1811–1886) in technical brilliance
and fame. In 1862 (6) Anton opened Russia's first conservatory (a school that focuses on teaching
the fine arts), under the sponsorship of the Imperial Russian Music Society (IRMS), in (7) St.
Petersburg. (8) Tchaikovsky was its first composition student.
Tchaikovsky's early works were well made but not memorable. Anton Rubinstein was demanding
and critical, and when Tchaikovsky graduated two years later he was still somewhat frightened by
Anton's harshness. In 1866 Nikolai Rubinstein invited Tchaikovsky to (9) Moscow, Russia, to live
with him and serve as professor of composition at the Moscow Conservatory, which he had just
established. Tchaikovsky's father was now in financial (money-related) trouble, and the composer
had to support himself on his meager earnings from the conservatory. The musical poems (10)
Fatum, and (11) Romeo and Juliet that he wrote in 1869 were the first works to show the style
he became famous for. Romeo and Juliet was redone with Mily Balakirev's (1837–1910) help in
1870 and again in 1879.
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During the 1870s and later, there was considerable communication between Tchaikovsky and the
(12) Rubinsteins on the one hand and the members of the "Mighty Five" Russian composers—
(Mily Balakirev, Aleksandr Borodin (1834–1887), Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881), Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov
(1844–1908), and César Cui)—on the other (in the 1860s they banded together in an attempt to create a
truly national school of Russian music, free of the stifling influence of Italian opera, German lieder, and other western
European forms).It was widely reported that the two groups did not get along, but this was not true.
Tchaikovsky worked as an all-around musician in the early 1870s, and, as was expected of a
representative of the IRMS, he taught, composed, wrote critical essays, and conducted (although
he was not a great conductor). In 1875 he composed what is perhaps his most universally known
and loved work, the (13) Piano Concerto No. 1. Anton Rubinstein mocked the piece, although he
himself often performed it years later as a concert pianist. Also popular was Tchaikovsky's
ballet (14) Swan Lake (1876). It is the most successful ballet ever written if measured in terms of
broad audience appeal.
In 1877 Tchaikovsky married the twenty-eight-year-old Antonina Miliukova, his student at the
conservatory. It has been suggested that she reminded him of Tatiana, a character in his
opera Eugene Onegin. His unfortunate wife, who became mentally ill and died in 1917, not only
suffered rejection by her husband but also the vicious criticism of his brother Modeste
Tchaikovsky. Modeste, like Peter, was a misogynist (one who hates women). Modeste attacked
Antonina in a biography he wrote about Peter. This was an attempt to shield Peter and mask his
weaknesses. Later biographers repeated and even exaggerated Modeste's claim that Antonina was
cheap and high-strung.
Tchaikovsky never stuck around to find out what she was like. Within a few weeks he had fled
(15) Moscow alone for an extended stay abroad. He made arrangements through his relatives to
never see his wife again. In his correspondence of this period—indeed through a large part of his
career—he was often morbid (gloomy) about his wife, money, his friends, even his music and
himself. He often spoke of suicide. This, too, has been reported widely by Tchaikovsky's many
biographers. Even during his life critics treated him unkindly because of his open, emotional
music. But he never sought to change his style, though he was dissatisfied at one time or another
with most of his works. He also never stopped composing.

Arrangement with Madame von Meck

Tchaikovsky became involved in another important relationship at about the same time as his
marriage. Through third parties an unusual but helpful arrangement with the immensely
wealthy (16) Nadezhda von Meck was made. She was attracted by his music and the possibility
of supporting his creative work, and he was interested in her money and what it could provide him.
For thirteen years she supported him at a base rate of six thousand rubles a year, plus whatever
"bonuses" he could manage to get out of her. He was free to quit the (17) conservatory, and he
began a series of travels and stays abroad.
Von Meck and Tchaikovsky purposely never met, except for one or two accidental encounters. In
their correspondence Tchaikovsky discusses his music thoughtfully; in letters to his family he
complains about her cheapness. He dedicated his (18) 4th Symphony (1877) to her. Tchaikovsky
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finished (19) Eugene Onegin in 1879. It is his only opera generally performed outside
the Soviet Union. Other works of this period are the (20) Violin Concerto (1881), the (21) 5th
Symphony (1888), and the ballet (23) Sleeping Beauty (1889).

Later years
Tchaikovsky's fame and his activity now extended to all of Europe and America. To rest from his
public appearances he chose a country retreat in Klin near Moscow. From this he became known
as the (23) "Hermit of Klin," although he was never a hermit. In 1890 he finished the opera (24)
Queen of Spades, based on a story by the Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837).
Tchaikovsky was happy when, despite the criticism of "experts," the opera was well received. In
late 1890 Von Meck cut him off. He had reached the point where he no longer depended on her
money, but he was still upset by her rejection. Even his brother Modeste expressed surprise at his
anger. Tchaikovsky had an immensely successful tour in the (25) United States in 1891.
(26) The 6th Symphony was first heard in October 1893, with the composer conducting. This
work, named at Modeste's suggestion (27) Pathétique, was poorly received—very likely because
of Tchaikovsky's conducting. Tchaikovsky never knew of its eventual astonishing success, for he
contracted cholera (a disease of the small intestine) and died, on November 6, 1893.

Compositional style
Tchaikovsky's melodies ranged "from Western style to folksong stylizations and occasionally
folksongs themselves. His use of repetitions within these melodies generally reflect
the sequential style of (28) Western practices, which he sometimes extended at immense length,
building "into an emotional experience of almost unbearable intensity." He experimented
occasionally with unusual meters, although more usually, as in his dance tunes, he employed a
firm, essentially regular meter that "sometimes becomes the main expressive agent in some
movements due to its vigorous use. Tchaikovsky also practiced a wide range of harmony, from the
Western harmonic and textural practices of his first two string quartets to the use of the (29) whole
tone scale in the center of the finale of the (30) 2nd Symphony; the latter was a practice more
typically used by The Five. Since Tchaikovsky wrote most of his music for the orchestra, his
musical textures became increasingly conditioned by the orchestral colors he employed, especially
after the (31) 2nd Orchestral Suite.
Among his most popular orchestral compositions are:
 Symphony No. 4 (1877), No. 5 (1888), No. 6 (Pathetique 1893).
 Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat Minor (1875).
 The Violin Concerto (1878).
 And the Overture-fantasy Romeo and Juliet.
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He wrote 3 of the best scores for ballet:

 Swan Lake (1876):
First performed in 1877, Swan Lake was Tchaikovsky’s first ballet score. Considering its
success today, it's hard to believe that it wasn’t an immediate hit – but the story of Odette,
a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse, was an initial box office failure.
 The Sleeping Beauty (1889):
The Sleeping Beauty', to which Tchaikovsky composed the music in 1889, is the second
of the composer's three ballets. Based on Charles Perrault’s tale of 'La belle au bois
dormant', it has become one of the famous ballets in classical repertoire.
 The Nutcraker (1892):
Tchaikovsky's exciting festive favorite, The Nutcracker, was first performed in 1892.
Despite being hugely popular today, critics weren't exactly complimentary after the
premiere, calling the Sugar Plum Fairy 'pudgy'! Luckily, Tchaikovsky's innovative score
was viewed slightly more favorably.

And the spirit of (32) Ballet permeates much of his music. He also wrote eight operas and the
orchestral show-pieces and (33) Overture 1812.