Tchaikovsky

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) is probably most famous in the United States today for his wonderful ballet, "TheNutcracker Suite". He was born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, Russia. His father was in charge of the local mine, which was run by the state. Young Peter began his piano lessons when he was 7 years old, but he was not encouraged by his family to study music.

Instead, when he was 10 years old, his father enrolled him in a school in Leningrad (that city was called St. Petersburg during Tchaikovsky's time). This school taught general education studies, followed by studies in the law. Young Peter was learning how to be a lawyer. However, Tchaikovsky's mother died in 1854, when he was 14 years old. Peter took his mother's death very hard, and never really got over it. When he finished school, Tchaikovsky worked as a law clerk for the Russian Justice Department.

However, he never really forgot about music, and when he was 23 years old, he began his studies as a full-time student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1865, he became a harmony teacher at the Conservatory of Moscow. His teacher, another famous pianist/composer (Anton Rubenstein), helped him to get this position. Tchaikovsky remained at the Conservatory as a professor until 1878.

His early compositions were not received very well by the public. He wrote an opera, "The Voyevoda", in 1868. That same year he wrote "Romeo and Juliet". He had also written his first symphony by this time. Tchaikovsky was a very nervous person, and nearly suffered nervous breakdowns often during his early career. He was married for a short time while he was still teaching at the Moscow Conservatory, but the marriage soon broke apart.

In 1876, Tchaikovsky began a very successful relationship with a wealthy patron named Madame Nadejda von Meck. She was so impressed with his music that she gave him an annual salary, which allowed Tchaikovsky the time to compose. The 2 corresponded frequently by letter. Tchaikovsky finally had the time to devote himself to composition. In 1880, he wrote the "1812 Overture". In 1877, he completed the "Symphony No. 4 in f-minor". In 1890, his patron stopped supporting Tchaikovsky, but by this time, he was financially escure, because of the sales of his own compositions.

In 1887, Tchaikovsky began to touras the conductor, performing his own music. He conducted the debut of his 5th symphony in St. Petersburg in 1888. He toured in Britain and the United States. He was present at the dedication of Carnegie Hall, conducting some of his own pieces. He even received an honorary doctorate degree from Cambridge University (1893). He died on November 6, 1893. It is said that he died from drinking some contaminated water during a cholera outbreak in St. Petersburg during that time.

Tchaikovsky's Music

Although Tchaikovsky did not receive much acclaim for his early works, some people believe that he wrote his most popular works after about 1876 until his death. It was during this time that he wrote "Swan Lake" (1877), "The Sleeping Beauty" (1890), and "The Nutcracker" (1892). He also wrote the "1812 Overture" (1880) during this period. He debuted the 6th symphony, often called "The Pathetique", only 9 days before he died. It was not received well by the audience. Today we see that it contains a lot of insight into Tchaikovsky's own life.

Tchaikovsky's music is performed frequently in concert programs today. We recognize that it is very passionate music and very melodic as well. And, of course, not a Christmas season goes by without thousands of performances of the Nutcracker ballet throughout the United States.

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Technical assistance by Cheryl Lundgren Email: clundgre@amphi.com