Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky {{Audio|Ru-Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.ogg|listen}} ({{lang-ru|???? ?????? ???????????}}, Pëtr Il'i? ?ajkovskij, sometimes transliterated as Piotr, Anglicised as Peter Ilich), (May 7, 1840 – November 6, 1893 (N.S.); April 25, 1840 – October 25, 1893 (O.S.)) was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. Although not a member of the group of nationalistic composers usually known in English-speaking countries 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. His works, however, were much more western than his Russian contemporaries as he effectively used both nationalistic folk melodies and international elements.

Biography

Tchaikovsky was born in Kamsko-Votkinsk, Russia,

Related Topics:
Kamsko-Votkinsk - Russia

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to a Ukrainian mining engineer and his second wife, a woman of French ancestry. His last name derives from Tchaika (?????) which means gull. (The initial 'T' is traditional; modern transliteration schemes would generally omit it, as in 'Chaika' cars.) Musically precocious, he began piano lessons at the age of five. He obtained an excellent general education at the School of Jurisprudence and was a civil servant before entering the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1861 to 1865. In 1866, he was appointed professor of theory and harmony at the Moscow Conservatory, established that year. He held the post until approximately 1878.

Related Topics:
Ukrainian - French - Gull - Chaika - Piano - St. Petersburg Conservatory - 1861 - 1865 - 1866 - Harmony - Moscow Conservatory - 1878

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During his puberty at the School of Jurisprudence, Tchaikovsky discovered his sexual attraction to other males. As a young man he fell in love with a (female) soprano, but she married another man. One of his conservatory students, Antonina Milyukova, began writing him passionate letters around the time that he had made up his mind to "marry whoever will have me." He didn't even remember her from his classes, but her letters were very persistent, and he hastily married her on July 18, 1877. Within days, while still on their honeymoon, he deeply regretted his decision. Two weeks after the wedding the composer attempted suicide by wading in a cold river. He later fled to Saint Petersburg a nervous wreck, and was separated from his wife after only six weeks. The couple never saw each other again, although they never divorced and Tchaikovsky died a married man. His widow died in an insane asylum 24 years later. (Greenberg)

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Antonina Milyukova - July 18 - 1877 - Saint Petersburg

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A far more influential woman in Tchaikovsky's life was a wealthy widow, Madame Nadezhda von Meck, with whom he exchanged 1,200 letters between 1877 and 1890. At her insistence they never met; they did encounter each other on two occasions, purely by chance, but did not converse. As well as financial support in the amount of 6,000 rubles a year, she expressed interest in his musical career and admiration for his music. However, after 14 years she ended the relationship unexpectedly, claiming bankruptcy. Her claim of financial ruin, however, is widely disregarded and it is believed that she ended her patronage of Tchaikovsky because she discovered the maveric composer's true sexual orientation. It is possible she was planning to marry off one of her daughters to Tchaikovsky, as she also tried unsuccessfully to marry one of them to Claude Debussy, who had lived in Russia for a time as music teacher to her family. Also, one of her sons, Nikolay Karlovich von Meck, was married to Anna Davydova, Tchaikovsky's niece, the daughter of one of his sisters. It was during this period that Tchaikovsky achieved success throughout Europe and (by his own account), in 1891, even greater accolades in the United States.

Related Topics:
Nadezhda von Meck - 1877 - 1890 - Ruble - Claude Debussy - 1891 - United States

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Just nine days after the first performance of his Sixth Symphony, Pathétique, in 1893, in Saint Petersburg, Tchaikovsky died.

Related Topics:
Sixth Symphony - 1893

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Details of his death have been a source of controversy for more than a century, and never more so than after 1980, when Aleksandra Orlova published a detailed theory explaining Tchaikovsky's death as a suicide. According to Orlova, Tchaikovsky committed suicide by consuming small doses of arsenic. His death took four days and was planned to be consistent with symptoms of cholera.

Related Topics:
Arsenic - Cholera

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The cover story was that he drank infected water, from which he acquired cholera. In reality, according to Orlova's theory, a former classmate from the School of Jurisprudence came into posession of a letter from a member of the Russian aristocracy addressed to the Tsar that complained of Tchaikovsky's affair with the aristocrat's nephew. The letter bearer gathered six other classmates living in St. Petersburg, and they confronted Tchaikovsky. They gave him the singular option of killing himself to avoid the publicity of the scandal, which would dishonor the school. According to the theory, Tchaikovsky's own brother, Modest, also a homosexual, helped conspire to keep the secret.

Related Topics:
Russian aristocracy - Tsar

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Tchaikovsky was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in Saint Petersburg.

Related Topics:
Tikhvin Cemetery - Alexander Nevsky Monastery

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His life, somewhat embroidered, is the subject of Ken Russell's

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motion picture The Music Lovers.

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