Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich

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[[Image:Der junge Tschaikowski.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Young Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1874)]]
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'''Pyotr (Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Пётр Ильич Чайкoвский, ''Pjotr Il’ič Čajkovskij''; {{Audio|Ru-Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.ogg|listen}} ({{OldStyleDate|7 May|1840|25 April}} – {{OldStyleDate|6 November|1893|25 October}}), also transliterated ''Piotr Ilitsch Tschaikowski'', ''Petr Ilich Tschaikowsky'', ''Piotr Illyich Tchaikovsky'', as well as many other versions, was a [[Russian people|Russian]] [[composer]] of the [[Romantic music|Romantic]] era. Although not a member of the group of nationalistic composers usually known in [[English language|English]]-speaking countries as '[[The Five]]', his music has come to be known and loved for its distinctly Russian character as well as for its rich harmonies and stirring melodies. His works, however, were much more western than those of his Russian contemporaries as he effectively used international elements in addition to national folk melodies.
 
  
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==Early life==
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{{Infobox musical artist
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Pyotr Tchaikovsky was born on [[April 25]], [[1840]] ([[Julian calendar]]) or [[May 7]] ([[Gregorian]] calendar) in [[Votkinsk]], a small town in present-day [[Udmurtia]] (at the time the [[Vyatka]] [[Guberniya]] under [[Imperial Russia]]), the son of a mining engineer in the government mines and the second of his three wives, Alexandra, a Russian woman of [[French people|French]] ancestry. He was the older brother (by some ten years) of the [[dramatist]], [[librettist]], and [[translator]] [[Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]. Musically precocious, Pyotr began [[piano]] lessons at the age of five, and in a few months he was already proficient at [[Friedrich Kalkbrenner]]'s composition ''Le Fou''. In [[1850]], his father was appointed director of the [[Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology|St Petersburg Technological Institute]]. There, the young Tchaikovsky obtained an excellent general education at the [[Saint Petersburg State University|School of Jurisprudence]], and furthered his instruction on the piano with the director of the music library. Also during this time, he made the acquaintance of the [[Italian people|Italian]] master [[Luigi Piccioli]], who influenced the young man away from [[German people|German]] music, and encouraged the love of [[Gioacchino Rossini|Rossini]], [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]], and [[Gaetano Donizetti|Donizetti]]. His father indulged Tchaikovsky's interest in music by funding studies with [[Rudolph Kündinger]], a well-known piano teacher from [[Nuremberg]]. Under Kündinger, Tchaikovsky's aversion to German music was overcome, and a lifelong affinity with the music of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] was seeded. When his mother died of [[cholera]] in [[1854]], the 14-year-old composed a [[waltz]] in her memory.
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|Name            = Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
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|Img            = Der junge Tschaikowski.jpg
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|Img_capt        =  
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|Img_size        = 250
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|Background      = non_performing_personnel
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|Birth_name      = Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
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|Alias          =
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|Born            = April 25, 1840, Votkinsk, Vyatka Guberniya, [[Russia]]
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|Died            = November 6, 1893
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|Instrument      =
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|Genre          =
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|Occupation      = [[Composer]], [[Piano|Pianist]]
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|Years_active    =
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|Label          =
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|Associated_acts =
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|URL            =
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|Notable_instruments = Orchestra<br/>Piano<br/>
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}}
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'''Pyotr (Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Пётр Ильич Чайкoвский, ''Pjotr Il’ič Čajkovskij''; (April 25, 1840—November 6, 1893 by the [[Julian calendar]] or May 7, 1840 — October 25, 1893 by the [[Gregorian calendar]]), was a [[Russian]] [[composer]] of the [[Romantic music|Romantic]] era. Tchaikovsky is one of the world's most renowned classical music composers, known for his distinctly Russian character as well as for his rich harmonies and stirring melodies.  
  
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Tchaikovsky left school in [[1858]] and received employment as an under-secretary in the Ministry of Justice, where he soon joined the Ministry's choral group. In [[1861]], he befriended a fellow civil servant who had studied with [[Nikolai Zaremba]], who urged him to resign his position and pursue his studies further. Not ready to give up employment, Tchaikovsky agreed to begin lessons in musical theory with Zaremba. The following year, when Zaremba joined the faculty of the new [[Saint Petersburg Conservatory|St Petersburg Conservatory]], Tchaikovsky followed his teacher and enrolled, but still did not give up his post at the ministry, until his father consented to support him. From [[1862]] to [[1865]], Tchaikovsky studied [[harmony]], [[counterpoint]] and the [[fugue]] with Zaremba, and instrumentation and composition under the director and founder of the Conservatory, [[Anton Rubinstein]], who was both impressed by and envious of Tchaikovsky's talent.
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His talent was perhaps too heterogeneous and his stylistic skills overly versatile, which spurred complaints that his music was either too Russian or too European, while it was effectively both; he integrated Russian folk melodies with Western European melodies. Tchaikovsky's name is most frequently associated with ''Swan Lake,'' ''Nutcracker,'' and ''Capriccio Italien.''
  
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==Musical career==
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His personal life was troubled. Tchaikovsky was evidently a homosexual, who consented to marry an ardent admirer and student largely to satisfy societal conventions; the [[marriage]] did not survive a month. The only woman he built a strong relationship with was his benefactress, Nadezhda von Meck, who admired and subsidized him for years, though the two never physically met.  
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After graduating, Tchaikovsky was approached by Anton Rubinstein's younger brother [[Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein|Nikolai]] to become professor of harmony, composition, and the [[history of music]]. Tchaikovsky gladly accepted the position, as his father had retired and lost his property. The next ten years were spent teaching and composing. Teaching proved taxing, and in [[1877]] he suffered a breakdown. After a year off, he attempted to return to teaching, but retired his post soon after. He spent some time in [[Italy]] and [[Switzerland]], but eventually took residence with his sister, who had an estate just outside [[Kiev]].
 
  
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Tchaikovsky took to orchestral [[conducting]] after filling in at a performance in [[Moscow]] of his [[opera]] ''[[The Enchantress]]'' ({{lang-ru|Чародейка}}) (1885-7). Overcoming a life-long [[glossophobia|stage fright]], his confidence gradually increased to the extent that he regularly took to conducting his pieces.
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The composer's lifestyle added to the turbulence and melancholia that was reflected in his works. Tchaikovsky was not simply tormented, but also deeply in touch with beauty and deep emotion. He gave himself to his art and placed it above the twists and turns of his own existence. By continually prompting his audiences to stretch their likings beyond the familiar and easily acceptable, he provided a glimpse of the stage that had not yet been opened—when individuals could go beyond their nationalistic tendencies to embrace the world. His musical rendering of this 'premature' vision was behind the composer's uniqueness and brilliance.
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Tchaikovsky died in 1893 during the cholera epidemic. His death has conventionally been attributed to cholera, although some recent theories suggest the possibly of suicide through arsenic poisoning. Though a brilliant composer, his life was riddled with sadness.
  
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Tchaikovsky visited [[United States|America]] in [[1891]] in a triumphant tour to conduct performances of his works. On [[May 5]], he conducted the [[New York Symphony Orchestra|New York Music Society's]] [[orchestra]] in a performance of ''[[Marche Solennelle]]'' on the opening night of [[New York City|New York's]] [[Carnegie Hall]]. That evening was followed by subsequent performances of his ''Third Suite'' on [[May 7]], and the [[a cappella]] choruses ''[[Pater Noster]]'' and ''[[Legend]]'' on [[May 8]]. The US tour also included performances of his ''[[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)|First Piano Concerto]]'' and ''[[Serenade for Strings (Tchaikovsky)|Serenade for Strings]]''.
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==Life and Works==
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===Early Years===
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Pyotr Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, a small town in the Vyatka Guberniya, now Udmurtia (a sovereign republic within the Russian Federation) to a mining engineer in the government mines, who had the rank of major-general, and the second of his three wives, Alexandra, a Russian woman of [[France|French]] ancestry. He was some ten years senior of his [[dramatist]], [[librettist]], and [[translator]] brother Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The family name came from his Kazakh great-grandfather, who could imitate the call of a seagull (a “tchaika” - hence the name Tchaikovsky). However, the family origins may have been partly [[Poland|Polish]], as Tchaikovsky suggested in a letter to his benefactress Madame von Meck. The family enjoyed music and listened to [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], [[Gioacchino Rossini|Rossini]], [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]], and [[Gaetano Donizetti|Donizetti]] played by a large musical box called orchestrion. Tchaikovsky noted later that he was fortunate not to have been brought up in a very musical family that would spoil him with music imitating [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]. He received [[piano]] lessons from a freed [[serfdom|serf]], beginning at the age of five, and within a few months he was already proficient in Friedrich Kalkbrenner's composition ''Le Fou.''
  
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Just nine days after the first performance of his [[Symphony No. 6 (Tchaikovsky)|Sixth Symphony]], ''Pathétique'', in [[1893]], in St Petersburg, Tchaikovsky died (see section below).
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===Studies and Teaching===
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In 1850, Tchaikovsky's father was appointed director of the [[Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology|St Petersburg Technological Institute]]. There the young Tchaikovsky obtained an excellent general education at the [[Saint Petersburg State University|School of Jurisprudence]] and refined his piano skills under the guidance of the director of the music library. He made an acquaintance of the [[Italy|Italian]] master Luigi Piccioli, who influenced the young man away from [[Germany|German]] music and encouraged the love of Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti, whom he had listened to as a child. The father encouraged the son's interest in music by funding studies with Rudolph Kündinger, a well-known piano teacher from [[Nuremberg]], who helped spark the bond with German music in the composer as well as a lifelong affinity with [[Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus|Mozart]]. When his mother died of [[cholera]] in 1854, the 14-year-old composed a [[waltz]] in her memory.
  
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Some musicologists (e.g. Milton Cross, David Ewen) believe that he consciously wrote his Sixth Symphony as his own Requiem. In the development section of the first movement, the rapidly progressing evolution of the transformed first theme suddenly "shifts into neutral" in the strings, and a rather quiet, harmonized chorale emerges in the trombones. The trombone theme bears absolutely no relation to the music that preceded it, and none to the music which follows it. It appears to be a musical "non sequitur", an anomaly — but it is from the Russian Orthodox Mass for the Dead, in which it is sung to the words: "And may his soul rest with the souls of all the saints." Tchaikovsky was interred in [[Tikhvin Cemetery]] at the [[Alexander Nevsky Monastery]] in St Petersburg.
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Tchaikovsky left school in 1858 and received employment as an under-secretary at the Ministry of Justice at the time when the Ministry was drafting legislation for emancipation of the serfs and implementation of various reforms. The atmosphere was one of intellectual excitement, yet he wrote in a letter to his sister that he had hoped to obtain a different post with higher income and fewer duties. He soon joined the Ministry's choral group. The cultural and musical life of [[St. Petersburg]] was rich, and he found many friends there, among them the openly [[homosexuality|homosexual]] poet Alexei Apukhtin and a middle-aged singing teacher who dyed his hair and wore rouge.
  
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His music included some of the most renowned pieces of the romantic period. Many of his works were inspired by events in his life.
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In 1861, he befriended a fellow civil servant who had studied with Nikolai Zaremba, who urged him to resign his job and continue in the studies of music. Tchaikovsky was not prepared to give up secure income but he at least agreed to take lessons in musical theory with Zaremba. The following year, when Zaremba joined the faculty of the new [[Saint Petersburg Conservatory|St Petersburg Conservatory]], Tchaikovsky followed his teacher and enrolled but did not give up his post at the ministry before his father consented to finance his further studies. From 1862 to 1865, Tchaikovsky studied [[harmony]], [[counterpoint]] and the [[fugue]] with Zaremba, and instrumentation and composition under the director and founder of the Conservatory, [[Anton Rubinstein]]. However, neither Rubinstein nor [[Cesar Cui]] appreciated his graduation cantata ''Ode to Joy.''
  
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==Personal life==
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After graduation, Anton Rubinstein's younger brother Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein approached Tchaikovsky with an offer of the post of the professor of harmony, composition, and the history of music, which he gladly accepted, in part because his father had retired and gambled away his property. For the next ten years Tchaikovsky taught and composed, but the former turned out taxing and led to a nervous breakdown in 1877. After a yearlong sabbatical, he attempted to resume teaching but retired soon after. He spent some time in [[Italy]] and [[Switzerland]] until he eventually took residence with his sister, who had an estate just outside [[Kiev]], the [[Ukraine]].
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[[Image:Tchaikovsky.jpg|frame|Tchaikovsky in later life]]
 
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During his education at the School of Jurisprudence, he was infatuated with a soprano, but she married another man. One of his conservatory students, [[Antonina Miliukova]], began writing him passionate letters around the time that he had made up his mind to "marry whoever will have me." He did not 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 supposedly attempted suicide by putting himself into the freezing Moscow River. Once recovered from the effects of that, he fled to [[Saint Petersburg|St Petersburg]] his mind verging on a nervous breakdown.  He never returned to his wife after that but did send her a regular allowance through the years.  Though they never again cohabitated with each other, they remained legally married until his death.
 
  
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The composer's [[homosexuality]], as well as its importance to his life and music, has long been recognized, though any proof of it was suppressed during the Soviet era.<ref>http://www.glbtq.com/arts/tchaikovsky_pi.html</ref> Although some historians continue to view him as heterosexual, many others &mdash; such as [[Rictor Norton]] and Alexander Poznansky &mdash; accept that some of Tchaikovsky's closest relationships may have been homosexual, (citing his servant Aleksei Sofronov and perhaps even his nephew, Vladimir "Bob" Davydov.) Evidence that Tchaikovsky was homosexual is drawn from his letters and diaries, as well as the letters of his brother, Modest, who was also homosexual.
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Here Tchaikovsky took up orchestral [[conductor|conducting]] and worked on controlling his [[glossophobia|stage fright]] until he was able to conduct his works on a regular basis.
  
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A far more influential woman in Tchaikovsky's life was a wealthy widow, [[Nadezhda von Meck]], with whom he exchanged over 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 [[Russian ruble|ruble]]s a year, she expressed interest in his musical career and admiration for his music. However, after 13 years she ended the relationship unexpectedly, claiming bankruptcy. During this period, Tchaikovsky had already achieved success throughout Europe and by [[1891]], even greater accolades in the [[United States]]. In fact, he was the [[Conducting|conductor]], on [[May 5]]th, [[1891]], at the official opening night of [[Carnegie Hall]].
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===Silver Years and Death===
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[[Image:Nadezhda young01.jpg|thumb|200px|Tchaikovsky's benefactress, Nadezhda von Meck]]
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[[Image:Tchaikovsky.jpg|frame|left|Tchaikovsky in later life]]
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The year 1891 saw Tchaikovsky's tour of [[United States|America]], where he conducted performances of his compositions. On May 5, he conducted the [[New York Symphony Orchestra|New York Music Society's]] orchestra that was performing his ''Marche Solennelle'' on the opening night of [[New York City|New York's]] [[Carnegie Hall]]. That evening was followed by subsequent performances of his ''Third Suite'' on May 7, and the [[a cappella]] choruses ''Pater Noster'' and ''Legend'' on May 8. Also played were his ''Piano Concerto No. 1'' and ''Serenade for Strings.''
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Just nine days after the first performance of his ''Symphony No. 6,'' ''Pathétique,'' in 1893, in Saint Petersburg, Tchaikovsky died. Musicologists Milton Cross and David Ewen believe that he consciously wrote his Sixth Symphony as his own Requiem. In the first movement, the rapidly progressing evolution of the transformed first theme suddenly "shifts into neutral" in the strings, and a rather quiet, harmonized chorale emerges in the trombones. The trombone theme bears no resemblance to the theme that precedes or follows it. It appears to be a musical "non sequitur," an anomaly. In fact that is taken from the Russian [[Orthodox]] [[Mass]] for the Dead, in which it is sung to the words: "And may his soul rest with the souls of all the saints." He was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the [[Alexander Nevsky]] Monastery in Saint Petersburg.
  
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Meck's claim of financial ruin is disregarded by some who believe that she ended her patronage of Tchaikovsky because she supposedly discovered the composer's homosexuality. The two were related by marriage in their families— one of her sons, Nikolay, was married to Tchaikovsky's niece Anna Davydova.
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Until recently it had been assumed that Tchaikovsky died of [[cholera]] after drinking contaminated water in a restaurant, well aware of the risk of drinking unboiled water during a cholera epidemic. However, a speculative theory published in 1980 by Aleksandra Orlova deconstructs his death as a [[suicide]] by ingestion of small doses of [[arsenic]] driven by a blackmail scheme over his [[homosexuality]]. Both cholera and arsenic poisoning show similar symptoms; the arsenic was to have silenced the suicidal theories fed by allegations that his brother Modest, also a homosexual, helped conspire to keep the secret, that there were wrong dates on the death certificate, conflicting testimonies of Modest and the physician about the time of the composer's death, as well as evidence that the deathbed sheets were being burned. [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov|Rimsky-Korsakov]]'s autobiography speaks about people at Tchaikovsky's funeral kissing him on the face although he had died of a highly contagious disease. The Russian authorities deleted these passages from subsequent editions of the book.
  
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Tchaikovsky's life is the subject of [[Ken Russell]]'s poorly researched and highly  fictionalized motion picture ''[[The Music Lovers]]'' ([[1970]]). Two other motion pictures were based on his life - the low-budgeted, sanitized and also highly fictionalized [[Song of My Heart]], released in 1948, and the 1969 Russian-language "Tchaikovsky" , which was nominated for an [[Academy Award]] for [[Best Foreign Language Film]].  
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===Personal life===
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[[Image:Nadezhda young01.jpg|thumb|200px|Tchaikovsky's benefactress, Nadezhda von Meck]]
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Tchaikovsky was tall, distinguished and elegant, yet had a disastrous marriage, an irregular relationship with a patroness, an indulgence for alcohol, and fondness for young boys. His exhibitionism in music was regarded as vulgar in his lifetime, yet his popularity confounded experts' opinions and Tchaikovsky remains today one of the most popular composers in concert performance and on record.
  
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His last name derives from the word ''chaika'' (чайка), meaning [[seagull]] in a number of Slavic languages. His family origins may not have been entirely Russian. In an early letter to [[Nadezhda von Meck]], Tchaikovsky wrote that his name was [[Poland|Polish]] and his ancestors were "probably [[Poland|Polish]]." (In fact, the Polish equivalent of his name, Czajkowski, is a not uncommon Polish surname.)
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One of the two women with a profound impact on his life was his conservatory student Antonina Miliukova, a neurotic woman who fell on her knees in adoration during her first interview with the master. She flooded him with passionate letters just at that point in his life when he had made up his mind to marry whoever would desire him, and so the bizarre relationship culminated in a hasty marriage on July 18, 1877. He did not even remember her from his classes and confessed in a letter to his brother that there was no love between them but he did take advantage of Antonina's infatuation to quell the rumors that he was homosexual. The regrets began as immediately as the honeymoon and eventually drove him to immersing himself into the freezing Moscow River two weeks after the wedding. He then left Russia for a yearlong journey around Europe. Back at home, his internal torments intensified, bordering on lunacy. His wife never saw him again but she did receive a regular allowance, and the marriage was never officially dissolved.  
  
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== Tchaikovsky's death ==
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The one place Tchaikovsky found delightful and inspiring was a village in the Ukraine where his beloved sister Sasha lived with her husband. He would visit them in the summer and take in the beauty of the local woods and fields, pick violets and lily-of-the-valley, and visit the village fair. The early version of ''Swan Lake'' for the children was conceived in these surroundings.
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[[Image:DSC00133.JPG|thumb|200px|Tchaikovsky's tomb at the [[Alexander Nevsky Monastery]]]]
 
  
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Until recent years it had been generally assumed that Tchaikovsky died of [[cholera]] after drinking contaminated water. However, a controversial theory published in 1980 by Aleksandra Orlova and based only on oral history (''i.e.,'' without documentary evidence), explains Tchaikovsky's death as a suicide.
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A far more influential woman in his life was a wealthy widow and musical dilettante, Nadezhda von Meck, with whom he exchanged over 1,200 letters between 1877 and 1890. At her insistence they never met and did not converse when their paths crossed by chance. She was interested in his musical career and admired his music, a token of which was an annual sum of 6,000 [[Russian ruble|ruble]]s. The relationship evolved into love, and Tchaikovsky spoke to her freely about his innermost feelings and aspirations. However, after 13 years she ended the relationship abruptly, claiming bankruptcy. Some attribute this to the social gap between them and her love of her children, which she would not jeopardize by any means. Tchaikovsky sent her an anxious letter pleading for her continued friendship, assuring her that he was no longer in need of her finances; the letter went unanswered. He discovered that she had not suffered any reverse in fortune. The two were related by marriage in their families &mdash; one of her sons, Nikolay, was married to Tchaikovsky's niece Anna Davydova.
  
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In this account, Tchaikovsky committed suicide by consuming small doses of [[arsenic]] following an attempt to blackmail him over his homosexuality. His alleged death by cholera (whose symptoms have some similarity with arsenical poisoning) is supposed to have been a cover for this suicide. According to the theory, Tchaikovsky's own brother Modest Tchaikovsky, also homosexual, helped conspire to keep the secret. There are many circumstantial events that some say lend credence to the theory, such as wrong dates on the death certificate, conflicting testimony from Modest and the doctor about the timeline of his death, the fact that Tchaikovsky's funeral was open casket, and that the sheets from his deathbed were merely laundered instead of being burned. There are also passages in Rimsky-Korsakov's autobiography years later about how people at the funeral kissed Tchaikovsky on the face, even though he had died from cholera. These passages were deleted by Russian authorities from later editions of Rimsky-Korsakov's book.  
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==Style==
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Tchaikovsky's music, drawing on events in his life, forms part of the canon of the Romantic period. The early works were infused with [[Russia|Russian]] [[nationalism]], as is suggested by the titles of the compositions dating from this period, such as ''Little Russian,'' ''The Voyevoda,'' ''The Oprichnik,'' and ''Vakula the Smith,'' which adopted Russian [[folk songs]] and [[dance]]s. The national element is still palpable in the first act of ''Eugene Onegin''; afterward he began dissociating from folk sources toward a more cosmopolitan style and [[Germany|German]] [[Romanticism]]. With his horizon expanded, he set out to supplement the Russian music with the elements found in the Western world: elegance, sophistication, and good breeding. This naturally met with dogged resistance on the part of the die-hard nationalists, in whose eyes he negated the principles for which they stood. Paradoxically, it was Tchaikovsky who incited interest in Russian music in the Western world, and he embodies Russian music, including the national tendency toward brooding and [[melancholia]], which dominated his moods.  
  
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The suicide theory is hotly disputed by others, including Alexander Poznansky, who argues that Tchaikovsky could easily have drunk tainted water because his class regarded cholera as a disease that afflicted only poor people, or because restaurants would mix cool boiled water with unboiled; that the circumstances of his death are entirely consistent with cholera; and that homosexuality ("gentlemanly games") was widely tolerated among the upper classes of Tsarist Russia. To this day, no one knows how Tchaikovsky truly died.
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As a result of his stylistic evolution, an interesting phenomenon occurred: Russian contemporaries attacked him for being too [[Europe]]an, while Europeans criticized him as too Russian—his sentimentality that tends to slide towards [[bathos]]; [[pathos]] and [[pessimism]] that sometimes erupt into [[hysteria]], and melancholia bordering on self-pity. Although these are credible accusations to a degree, these ‘despicable’ tools enabled him to convey beauty in sadness. Richard Anthony Leonard characterized Tchaikovsky’s music as: “expressive and communicative in the highest degree. That it is also comparatively easy to absorb and appreciate should be accounted among its virtues instead of its faults." <ref>David Ewen, (Ed.) ''The Complete Book of Classical Music'' (London: Hale, 1966. ISBN 0709038658): 738 </ref> And for those who found his Russian spirit too intense, Tchaikovsky himself had a sharp answer: "As to the Russian element in my music generally, its melodic and harmonic relation to folk music&mdash;I grew up in a quiet place and was drenched from the earliest childhood with the wonderful beauty of Russian popular songs. I am, therefore, passionately devoted to every expression of the Russian spirit. In brief, I am a Russian, through and through."<ref>Ibid., 737</ref> 
  
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The English composer [[Michael Finnissy]] has composed a short opera, ''Shameful Vice'', about Tchaikovsky's last days and death.
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To the camp who found him lacking in the Russian element, [[Igor Stravinsky]] addressed the following: "Tchaikovsky's music, which does not appear Russian to everybody, is often more profoundly Russian than music which has long since been awarded the facile label of Muscovite picturesqueness. This music is quite as Russian as [[Alexander Pushkin|Pushkin]]'s verse or [[Mikhail Glinka|Glinka]]'s song. Whilst not specially cultivating in his art the 'soul of the Russian peasant,' Tchaikovsky drew unconsciously from the true, popular sources of our race." <ref>Ibid., 737-738 </ref>
  
 
==Musical works==
 
==Musical works==
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{{main|Compositions by Pyotr Tchaikovsky}}
 
 
===Ballets===
 
===Ballets===
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Tchaikovsky is well known for his [[ballet]]s, although it was only in his last years, with his last two ballets, that his contemporaries came to really appreciate his finer qualities as [[ballet (music)|ballet music]] composer.
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Although Tchaikovsky is well known for his [[ballet]]s, only the last two were appreciated by his contemporaries.
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* ([[1875]]&ndash;[[1876]]): ''[[Swan Lake]]'', Op. 20. Tchaikovsky's first ballet, it was first performed (with some omissions) at the [[Bolshoi Theatre]] in [[Moscow]] in [[1877]]. It was not until [[1895]], in a revival by [[Marius Petipa]] and [[Lev Ivanov]] that the ballet was presented in the definitive version it is still danced in today (the music for this revival was much revised by the composer [[Riccardo Drigo]] in a version still used by most ballet companies today).
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* ([[1888]]&ndash;[[1889]]): ''[[The Sleeping Beauty Ballet|Sleeping Beauty]]'', Op. 66. This work Tchaikovsky considered to be one of his best. Commissioned by the director of the Imperial Theatres, [[Ivan Vsevolozhsky]], its first performance was in January,[[1890]] at the [[Mariinsky Theatre]] in [[St Petersburg]].
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* (1875&ndash;1876): ''Swan Lake,'' Op. 20
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[[Image:Sleeping beauty cast.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Original cast of Tchaikovsky's ballet, The Sleeping Beauty, St Petersburg, 1890]]
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:His first ballet was first performed (with some omissions) at the [[Bolshoi Theatre]] in Moscow in 1877, with a fiasco, as he was forced to delete some passages that were then replaced with inferior ones. It was only in 1895, when the original deleted parts were restored in a revival by [[choreography|choreographers]] Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov that the ballet was recognized for its eminence.
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* ([[1891]]&ndash;[[1892]]): ''[[The Nutcracker]]'', Op. 71. Tchaikovsky himself was less satisfied with this, his last ballet. Though he accepted the commission (again granted by [[Ivan Vsevolozhsky]]), he did not particularly want to write it (though he did write to a friend while composing the ballet: "I am daily becoming more and more attuned to my task.") <!--quote needs citation—> This ballet premiered on a double-bill with his last opera, ''[[Iolanthe (Tchaikovsky)|Iolanta]]''. Among other things, the score of ''Nutcracker'' is noted for its use of the [[celesta]], an instrument that the composer had already employed in his much lesser known [[symphonic poem]] ''The Voyevoda'' (premiered [[1891]]).{{note|voy}} Although well-known in ''Nutcracker'' as the featured solo instrument in the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from Act II, it is employed elsewhere in the same act.
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**Note: This was the only ballet from which Tchaikovsky himself derived a [[suite]] (the "suites" from the other ballets were devised by other hands). ''The Nutcracker Suite'' is often mistaken by novice listeners as the ballet itself, but it consists of only eight selections from the [[Sheet music|score]] intended for concert performance.
+
* (1888&ndash;1889): ''The Sleeping Beauty,'' Op. 66
 +
:Tchaikovsky considered this one of his best works. It was commissioned by the director of the Imperial Theatres Ivan Vsevolozhsky and first performed in January 1890, at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg.
 +
[[Image:Sleeping beauty cast.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Original cast of Tchaikovsky's ballet, Saint Petersburg, 1890]]
 +
 
 +
* (1891&ndash;1892): ''The Nutcracker'' Op. 71
 +
:He was less satisfied with this, his last, ballet, likewise commissioned by Vsevolozhsky, and he worked on it reluctantly. It makes use of [[celesta]] as the solo instrument in the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" in Act II, an instrument also employed in ''The Voyevoda.'' This was the only ballet from which Tchaikovsky himself derived a [[suite]] (the suites that followed the other ballets were devised by other composers). ''The Nutcracker Suite'' is often mistaken for the ballet, but it consists of only eight selections from the [[Sheet music|score]] intended for concert performance.
  
 
===Operas===
 
===Operas===
−
Tchaikovsky completed ten [[opera]]s, although one of these is mostly lost and another exists in two significantly different versions. In the West his most famous are ''[[Eugene Onegin (opera)|Eugene Onegin]]'' and ''[[The Queen of Spades (opera)|The Queen of Spades]]''.
+
Tchaikovsky completed ten [[opera]]s, of which one has been largely mislaid and the other exists in two disparate versions. The Western audiences find most delight in ''Eugene Onegin'' and ''The Queen of Spades.''
  
−
* ''[[Voyevoda (opera)|Voyevoda]]'' (''Воевода  – The Voivode'', Op. 3,  [[1867]] – [[1868]])
+
* ''The Voyevoda'' ''(Воевода  – The Voivode),'' Op. 3 &ndash; 1867–1868
−
::Full score destroyed by composer, but posthumously reconstructed from sketches and orchestral parts
+
:Tchaikovsky destroyed the score, which was reconstructed from sketches and orchestral parts posthumously.
  
−
* ''[[Undina (Tchaikovsky)|Undina]]'' (''Ундина'' or ''Undine'', [[1869]])
+
* ''Undina'' (''Ундина'' or ''Undine'') &ndash; 1869
−
::Was not completed. Only a march sequence from this opera saw the light of day, as the second movement of his [[Symphony #2 in C Minor]] and a few other segments are occasionally heard as concert pieces. Interestingly, while Tchaikovsky revised the Second symphony twice in his lifetime, he did not alter the second movement (taken from the Undina material) during either revision. The rest of the score of Undina was destroyed by the composer.
+
:This was never completed. Tchaikovsky revised its Second Symphony twice but did not alter the second movement. Only a march sequence saw the light of day; the rest he destroyed.
  
−
* ''[[The Oprichnik (opera)|The Oprichnik]]'' (''Опричник''), [[1870]]–[[1872]]
+
* ''The Oprichnik]'' ''(Опричник)'' &ndash; 1870–1872
−
::Premiere [[April 24]] [OS April 12], [[1874]], [[Saint Petersburg|St Petersburg]]
+
:Premiered in April 1874 in Saint Petersburg|
  
−
* ''[[Vakula the Smith]]''  (''Кузнец Вакула – Kuznets Vakula''), Op. 14, [[1874]];
+
* ''Vakula the Smith''  ''(Кузнец Вакула – Kuznets Vakula),'' Op. 14 &ndash; 1874  
−
:: Revised later as ''Cherevichki'', premiere [[December 6]] [OS November 24], [[1876]], [[Saint Petersburg|St Petersburg]]
+
:Later revised as ''Cherevichki,'' premiered in December 1876 in Saint Petersburg
  
−
* ''[[Eugene Onegin (opera)|Eugene Onegin]]'' (''Евгений Онегин – Yevgeny Onegin''), Op. 24, [[1877]]–[[1878]]
+
* ''Eugene Onegin'' ''(Евгений Онегин – Yevgeny Onegin),'' Op. 24 &ndash; 1877–1878
−
::Premiere [[March 29]] [OS March 17] [[1879]] at the [[Moscow Conservatory]]
+
:Premiered in March 1879 at the Moscow Conservatory. Based on the novel in verse by [[Alexander Pushkin]], which satirizes Russia’s Europeanized [[aristocracy]] and is more of an introspection and psychological insight, drawing on the lyricism of the poem rather than theatrical effects an opera lends itself to. Tchaikovsky’s comment: “It is true that the work is deficient in theatrical opportunities; but the wealth of poetry, the humanity, and the simplicity of the story… will compensate for what is lacking in other respects.” <ref>Ibid., 752 </ref> This is why he made Tatiana, not Onegin, the principal character, as that allowed him to develop the romantic aspect of the poem. Initially belittled as monotonous, it is now recognized as his operatic masterwork.
  
−
* ''[[The Maid of Orleans]]'' (''Орлеанская дева – Orleanskaya deva''), [[1878]]–[[1879]]
+
* ''The Maid of Orleans'' ''(Орлеанская дева – Orleanskaya deva)'' &ndash; 1878–1879
−
::Premiere [[February 25]] [OS February 13], [[1881]], [[Saint Petersburg|St Petersburg]]
+
:Premiered in February 1881 in Saint Petersburg
  
−
* ''[[Mazeppa (opera)|Mazepa (or Mazeppa)]]'' (''Мазепа''), [[1881]]–[[1883]]
+
* ''Mazeppa'' ''(Мазепа)'' &ndash; 1881–1883
−
::Premiere [[February 15]] [OS February 3] [[1884]], [[Moscow]]
+
:Premiered in February 1884 in Moscow
  
−
* ''[[Cherevichki]]'' (''Черевички''; revision of ''Vakula the Smith'') [[1885]]
+
* ''Cherevichki'' (''Черевички''; revision of ''Vakula the Smith'') &ndash; 1885
−
::Premiere January 31 [OS January 19], [[1887]], [[Moscow]])
+
:Premiered in January 1887 in Moscow
  
−
* ''[[The Enchantress]]'' (or ''The Sorceress'', ''Чародейка – Charodeyka''), [[1885]]–[[1887]]
+
* ''The Enchantress'' (also ''The Sorceress'', ''Чародейка – Charodeyka'') &ndash; 1885–1887
−
::Premiere [[November 1]] [OS October 20] [[1887]], [[Saint Petersburg|St Petersburg]]
+
:Premiered in November 1887 in St Petersburg
  
−
* ''[[The Queen of Spades (opera)|The Queen of Spades]]'' (''Пиковая дама'' - ''Pikovaya dama''), Op. 68, [[1890]]
+
* ''The Queen of Spades'' (''Пиковая дама'' - ''Pikovaya dama''), Op. 68 &ndash; 1890
−
::Premiere December 19 [OS December 7] [[1890]], [[Saint Petersburg|St Petersburg]]
+
:Premiered in December 1890 in St Petersburg
 +
* ''Iolanthe'' (''Иоланта''  – ''Iolanthe''), Op. 69 &ndash; 1891
 +
: First performed in Saint Petersburg in 1892.
  
−
* ''[[Iolanthe (Tchaikovsky)|Iolanta]]'' (''Иоланта'' – ''Iolanthe''), Op. 69, [[1891]]
+
* Planned opera ''Mandragora'' ''(Мандрагора)'', of which only the "Chorus of Insects" was composed in 1870
−
:: First performance: [[Maryinsky Theatre]], [[Saint Petersburg|St Petersburg]], [[1892]]. Originally performed on a double-bill with ''[[The Nutcracker]]''
 
  
−
(Note: A "Chorus of Insects" was composed for the projected opera ''Mandragora'' [''Мандрагора''] of [[1870]]).
+
===Symphonies===
 +
Tchaikovsky's earlier [[symphony|symphonies]] are generally optimistic works of a
 +
[[nationalist]] character; the latter are more dramatic, particularly ''The Fourth,'' ''Fifth,'' and ''Sixth,'' recognized for the uniqueness of their format. He also left behind four orchestral suites originally intended as a "symphony" but was persuaded to alter the title.
  
−
===Symphonies===
+
* ''Symphony No. 1 in G Minor,'' Op. 13, ''Winter Daydreams'' &ndash; 1866
−
Tchaikovsky's earlier [[symphony|symphonies]] are generally optimistic works of
+
* ''Symphony No. 2 in C Minor,'' Op. 17, ''Little Russian'' &ndash; 1872
−
nationalistic character, while the later symphonies are more intensely dramatic, particularly in the Sixth, a clear declaration of despair. The last three of his numbered symphonies (the fourth, fifth and sixth) are recognised as highly original examples of symphonic form and are frequently performed.
+
* ''Symphony No. 3 in D Minor,'' Op. 29, ''Polish'' (for its use of [[polonaise]]) &ndash; 1875
−
* ([[1866]]): [[Symphony No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)|No. 1 in G minor]], Op. 13, ''Winter Daydreams''
 
−
* ([[1872]]): [[Symphony No. 2 (Tchaikovsky)|No. 2 in C minor]], Op. 17, ''Little Russian''
 
−
* ([[1875]]): [[Symphony No. 3 (Tchaikovsky)|No. 3 in D major]], Op. 29, ''Polish''
 
−
* ([[1877]]&ndash;[[1878]]): [[Symphony No. 4 (Tchaikovsky)|No. 4 in F minor]], Op. 36
 
−
* ([[1885]]): [[Manfred Symphony]], B minor, Op. 58. Inspired by [[Byron]]'s poem [[Manfred]]
 
−
* ([[1888]]): [[Symphony No. 5 (Tchaikovsky)|No. 5 in E minor]], Op. 64
 
−
* (Symphony No. 7: see [[#Concerti|below]], Piano Concerto No. 3)
 
−
* ([[1893]]): [[Symphony No. 6 (Tchaikovsky)|No. 6 in B minor]], Op. 74, ''Pathétique''
 
  
−
He also wrote four orchestral [[suite]]s in the ten years between the 4th and 5th symphonies. He originally intended to designate one or more of these as a "symphony" but was persuaded to alter the title. The four suites are nonetheless symphonic in character, and, compared to the last three symphonies, are undeservedly neglected.
+
* ''Symphony No. 4 in F Minor,'' Op. 36 &ndash; 1877&ndash;1878
 +
:Conceived after he fled his wife and began his friendship with von Meck. He dedicated it to von Meck, describing the symphony to her as “ours,” confessing “how much I thought of you with every bar.” <ref>Ibid., 751 </ref>
 +
* ''Manfred, Symphony in B Minor'', Op. 58 &ndash; 1885
 +
:Inspired by [[George Gordon Byron|Byron]]'s poem "Manfred"
 +
* ''Symphony No. 5 in E Minor,'' Op. 64 &ndash; 1888
 +
:Written while he was haunted by fears of the work’s failure, having lost confidence in his musical prowess. The Fifth is interpreted as a story of the Fate and labeled by critics as his most unified symphony in purpose and design.
 +
* ''Symphony No. 7'': see [[#Concerti|below]], ''Piano Concerto No. 3'')
 +
* ''Symphony No. 6 in B Minor,'' Op. 74, ''Pathétique'' &ndash; 1893
 +
:Composed amid the torment of depression; considered as the most pessimistic and dramatic of his pieces. He considered it the best and most sincere work he had written and was very satisfied and proud of it. Being the most tragic piece he ever wrote, originally it was to be entitled ''The Program Symphony,'' which was interpreted by some as an effort at his own requiem. He confessed that he repeatedly burst into tears when writing it. This is his greatest symphony and his most popular, as well as the most celebrated symphony in Russian music and possibly in Romantic music.
  
 
=== Concerti ===
 
=== Concerti ===
−
* ([[1874]]&ndash;[[1875]]): Of his three [[piano concerto|piano concerti]], it is [[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)|No.1]] in [[B-flat minor]], Op. 23, which is best known and most highly regarded, and one of the most popular piano concertos ever written. It was initially rejected by its dedicatee, the pianist [[Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein|Nikolai Rubinstein]], as poorly composed and unplayable, and subsequently premiered by [[Hans von Bülow]] (who was delighted to find such a piece to play) in [[Boston, Massachusetts]] on [[25 October]], [[1875]]. Rubinstein later admitted his error of judgement, and included the work in his own repertoire.
 
−
* ([[1878]]): His [[Violin Concerto (Tchaikovsky)|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 [[Leopold Auer]], the violinist to whom Tchaikovsky had intended to dedicate the work, refused to perform it: he stated that it was unplayable. Instead it was first performed by the relatively unknown Austrian violinist Adolf Brodsky, who received the work by chance. This violin concerto is one of the most popular concertos for the instrument and is frequently performed today.
 
−
* (1879): Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 44, is an eloquent, less extroverted piece with a violin and cello added as soloists in the second movement.
 
−
* ([[1892]]): The so-called "Piano Concerto No. 3" has a curious and complicated history. Commenced after the Symphony No. 5, it was intended initially to be the composer's next (i.e., sixth) symphony. However, after nearly finishing the sketches and some orchestration of the first movement, Tchaikovsky abandoned work on this score as a symphony. However, in 1893, after beginning work on what is now known as Symphony No. 6 (''Pathétique''), he reworked the sketches of the first movement and completed the instrumentation to create a piece for piano and orchestra known as ''Allegro de concert'' or ''Konzertstück'' (published posthumously as Op. 75). Tchaikovsky also produced a piano arrangement of the slow movement (Andante) and last movement (Finale) of the symphony. He turned the scherzo into another piano piece, the "Scherzo-fantasie" in E-flat minor, Op. 72, No. 10. After Tchaikovsky's death, the composer [[Sergei Taneyev]] completed and orchestrated the Andante and Finale,  published as Op. 79. A reconstruction of the original symphony from the sketches and various reworkings was accomplished during 1951–1955 by the Soviet composer [[Semyon Bogatyrev]], who brought the symphony into finished, fully orchestrated form and issued the score as Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 7 in E-flat major.<ref>Wiley, Roland. 'Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il′yich, §6(ii): Years of valediction, 1889–93: The last symphony'; Works: solo instrument and orchestra; Works: orchestral, Grove Music Online (Accessed [[07 February]] 2006), <http://www.grovemusic.com> (subscription required). Brown, David. ''Tchaikovsky: the Final Years (1885-1893).'' New York: W.W. Norton, 1991, pp. 388-391, 497.</ref>
 
  
−
===Other works===
+
* ''Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor,'' Op. 23 &ndash; 1874&ndash;1875
−
====For orchestra====
+
: One of the most popular piano concertos ever written, dedicated to the pianist Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein. When he played it for Rubinstein in an empty classroom in the Conservatory, Rubinstein was silent, and when the performance ended, he told Tchaikovsky that it was worthless and unplayable for its commonplace passages that were beyond improvement, for its triviality and vulgarity, and for borrowing from other composers and sources. Tchaikovsky's response was, "I shall not change a single note, and I shall publish the concerto as it is now. And this, indeed, I did." <ref>Ibid., 745 </ref> [[Hans von Bülow]] introduced it to the world in [[Boston, Massachusetts]] in 1875, with a phenomenal success. Rubinstein later admitted his error of judgment and included the work in his repertoire.
−
[[Image:1812 overture.jpg|thumb|250px|The 1812 overture complete with cannon fire was performed at the 2005 Classical Spectacular]]
+
* ''Violin Concerto in D Major,'' Op. 35 &ndash; 1878
−
*([[1869]] revised [[1870]], [[1880]]): [[Romeo and Juliet (Tchaikovsky)|''Romeo and Juliet'' Fantasy Overture]]. This piece contains one of the world's most famous melodies. The tremendously famous love theme in the middle of this long symphonic poem has been used countless times in commercials and movies, frequently as a spoof to traditional love scenes.
+
:This was composed in less than a month in 1878 but its first performance was delayed until 1881 because Leopold Auer, the violinist to whom Tchaikovsky had intended to dedicate it, refused to perform it for its technical difficulty. Austrian violinist Adolf Brodsky later played it to a public that was apathetic due to the violin’s out-of-fashion status. It is presently one of the most popular concertos for the violin.
−
*([[1873]]): [[The Tempest (Tchaikovsky)|''The Tempest'' Symphonic Fantasia After Shakespeare]], Op. 18
+
* ''Piano Concerto No. 2,'' Op. 44 &ndash; 1879
−
*([[1876]]): [[Slavonic March]]/''Marche Slave'', Op. 31. This piece is another well-known Tchaikovsky piece and is often played in conjunction with the [[1812 Overture]]. This work uses the Tsarist National Anthem. It is mostly in a [[minor key]] and is yet another very recognisable piece, commonly referenced in cartoons, commercials and the media. The piece is much in the style of a [[Capriccio (music)|capriccio]].
+
* ''Piano Concerto No. 3'' &ndash; 1892
−
*([[1876]]): ''[[Francesca da Rimini (Tchaikovsky)|Francesca da Rimini]]'', Op. 32. This piece has been described as "pure melodrama" similar to stretches of Verdi operas; [http://www.shepherd-express.com/3_2_06/review_concerts.htm] some passages are similar to sword-fight clashes in ''Romeo and Juliet''. When ''Francesca da Rimini'' was conducted by [[Leonard Bernstein]] in 1989, slowed from 20 minutes to 30, it was reviewed in the [[New York Times]] as a "masterpiece". [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE2D91339F93BA15753C1A96F948260]
+
: Commenced after the ''Symphony No. 5,'' this was intended to be the next numbered symphony but was set aside after nearly finishing the first movement. In 1893, after beginning work on ''Pathétique,'' he reworked the sketches of the first movement and completed the instrumentation to create a piece for piano and orchestra known as ''Allegro de concert'' or ''Konzertstück'' (published posthumously as Op. 75). Tchaikovsky also produced a piano arrangement of the slow movement (Andante) and last movement (Finale) of the symphony. He turned the scherzo into another piano piece, the ''Scherzo-fantasie in E-Flat Minor,'' Op. 72, No. 10. After his death, composer Sergei Taneyev completed and orchestrated the ''Andante and Finale,''  published as ''Op. 79.'' A reconstruction of the original symphony from the sketches and various revisions was accomplished during 1951–1955 by the Soviet composer Semyon Bogatyrev, who brought the symphony into finished, fully orchestrated form and issued the score as ''Symphony No 7 in E-flat major.'' <ref>Roland Wiley, "Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il′yich, §6(ii): Years of valediction, 1889–93: The last symphony"; Works: solo instrument and orchestra; Works: orchestral, Grove Music Online (Accessed 07 February 2006), [http://www.grovemusic.com] (subscription required).</ref> <ref>David Brown, ''Tchaikovsky: the Final Years (1885-1893).'' (New York: W. W. Norton, 1991): 388-391, 497. </ref>
−
*([[1880]]): ''[[Capriccio Italien]]'', Op. 45. This piece is a traditional caprice or [[Capriccio (music)|capriccio]] (in Italian) in an Italian style. Tchaikovsky stayed in [[Italy]] in the late [[1870s]] to early [[1880s]] and throughout the various festivals he heard many themes, some of which were played by trumpets, samples of which can be heard in this caprice. It has a lighter character than many of his works, even "bouncy" in places, and is often performed today in addition to the [[1812 Overture]].
+
 
−
::The title used in English-speaking countries is a linguistic hybrid: it contains an Italian word ("Capriccio") and a French word ("Italien"). A fully Italian version would be ''Capriccio Italiano''; a fully French version would be ''Caprice Italien''.
+
====For Orchestra====
−
*([[1880]]): ''[[Serenade in C for String Orchestra]]'', Op. 48. The first movement, ''In the form of a sonatina,'' was an homage to Mozart. The second movement is a ''Waltz,'' followed by an ''Elegy'' and a spirited Russian finale, ''Tema Russo.'' In his score, Tchaikovsky supposedly wrote, "The larger the string orchestra, the better will the composer's desires be fulfilled."
+
 
−
*([[1880]]): ''[[1812 Overture]]'', Op. 49. This piece was reluctantly written by Tchaikovsky to commemorate the Russian victory over [[Napoleon]] in the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. It is known for its traditional [[Music of Russia|Russian]] themes (such as the old Tsarist National Anthem) as well as its famously triumphant and bombastic coda at the end which uses 16 cannon shots and a chorus of church bells. Despite its popularity, Tchaikovsky wrote that he "did not have his heart in it".
+
[[Image:1812 overture.jpg|thumb|300px|The 1812 overture complete with cannon fire was performed at the 2005 Classical Spectacular]]
−
*([[1883]]): ''[[Coronation March]]'', Op. 50. The mayor of Moscow commissioned this piece for performance in May 1883 at the coronation of Aleksandr III. Tchaikovsky's arrangement for solo piano and [[E. L. Langer]]'s arrangement for piano duet were published in the same year.
+
* ''Romeo and Juliet'' ''Fantasy Overture'' &ndash; 1869, revised in 1870 and 1880
 +
:Written on suggestion from Balakirev. Balakirev was not satisfied with its first version and suggested numerous changes; after the revision, he declared that it was Tchaikovsky’s best work. Later Tchaikovsky revised it again, this is the version enjoyed by modern audiences. Its melodies are used in movies and commercials.
 +
* ''The Tempest'' "Symphonic Fantasia After Shakespeare,” Op. 18 &ndash; 1873
 +
* ''Slavonic March'' ''(Marche Slave)'', Op. 31 &ndash; 1876
 +
:Written for a benefit concert for [[Serbia|Serbian]] soldiers wounded in the war against [[Turkey]], it expresses his sympathies for the [[Slavs]] and predicts their ultimate victory. The melody borrows from an old Serbian song and the Russian National Anthem. Commonly referenced in cartoons, commercials, and the media.  
 +
* ''Francesca da Rimini,'' Op. 32 &ndash; 1876
 +
* ''Capriccio Italien,'' Op. 45 &ndash; 1880
 +
:A traditional caprice (capriccio) in Italian style. Tchaikovsky stayed in [[Italy]] from the late 1870s to early 1880s and during the various festivals he heard many themes featured in the piece. It has a lighter character than many of his works, even "bouncy" in places, and is often performed today in addition to the ''1812 Overture.'' The title is a linguistic hybrid: it contains an Italian word ("Capriccio") and a French word ("Italien"). A fully Italian version would be ''Capriccio Italiano''; a fully French version would be ''Caprice Italien.''
 +
* ''Serenade in C for String Orchestra,'' Op. 48 &ndash; 1880
 +
:The first movement, in the form of a [[sonatina]], was a homage to Mozart. The second movement is a [[waltz]], followed by an [[elegy]] and a spirited Russian finale, "Tema Russo."  
 +
* ''1812 Overture,'' Op. 49 &ndash; 1880
 +
: Written reluctantly to commemorate the Russian victory over [[Napoleon]] in the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. Known for its traditional [[Russian]] themes, such as the old Tsarist National Anthem, as well as its triumphant and bombastic coda at the end, which makes use of 16 cannon shots and a [[chorus]] of church bells.  
 +
* ''Coronation March,'' Op. 50 &ndash; 1883
 +
:The mayor of Moscow commissioned this piece for performance in May 1883 at the coronation of [[Aleksandr III of Russia|Alexander III]].  
 +
* ''Mozartiana,'' op. 61 &ndash; 1887
 +
:Devoted to the composer he admired above all ; adapts for orchestra some of Mozart’s less familiar compositions. He wished to revive the study of those “little masterworks, whose succinct form contains incomparable beauties.”<ref> Ewen, 759 </ref>
  
 
====For orchestra, choir and vocal soloists====
 
====For orchestra, choir and vocal soloists====
−
* ([[1873]]) ''[[Snegurochka|The Snow Maiden]]'' , [[incidental music]] for [[Alexander Ostrovsky]]'s play of the same name. Ostrovsky adapted and dramatized a popular Russian [[fairy tale]],  (http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/snow_maiden.html) and the score that Tchaikovsky wrote for it was always one of his own favorite works. It contains much [[vocal music]], but it is not a [[cantata]], nor an [[opera]].
+
* ''Snegurochka'' ''(The Snow Maiden)'' &ndash; 1873
 +
:Incidental music for [[Alexander Ostrovsky]]'s play of the same name.
 +
 
 +
====For orchestra, soprano, and baritone====
 +
* ''Hamlet'' &ndash; 1891
 +
:Incidental music for [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s play.
  
−
====For orchestra, [[soprano]], and [[baritone]]====
+
====For choir, songs, chamber music, and for solo piano and violin====
−
* ([[1891]]) ''[[Hamlet]]'' , [[incidental music]] for [[Shakespeare]]'s play. The score uses music borrowed from Tchaikovsky's overture of the same name, as well as from his Symphony No. 3, and from ''The Snow Maiden'', in addition to original music that he wrote specifically for a stage production of ''Hamlet''. The two vocal selections are a song that [[Ophelia]] sings in the throes of her madness, and a song for the First Gravedigger to sing as he goes about his work.
 
  
−
====For [[choir]], [[song]]s, [[chamber music]], and for solo [[piano]] and [[violin]] ====
+
* ''String Quartet No. 1 in D Major,'' Op. 11 &ndash; 1871
−
* ([[1871]]) [[String Quartet No. 1 in D major]], Op. 11
+
* ''Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra,'' Op. 33. &ndash; 1876
−
* ([[1876]]) [[Variations on a Rococo theme]] for cello and orchestra, Op. 33.
+
:Reflects his adoration of Mozart and [[Baroque]] music.
−
* ([[1876]]) Piano suite ''[[The Seasons (Tchaikovsky)|The Seasons]]'', Op. 37a
+
* Piano suite ''The Seasons,'' Op. 37a &ndash; 1876
−
* Three pieces: Meditation, Scherzo and Melody op. 42, for violin and piano
+
* ''Three pieces: Meditation, Scherzo and Melody,'' Op. 42, for violin and piano
−
* ([[1881]]) [[Russian Vesper Service]], Op. 52
+
* ''Russian Vesper Service,'' Op. 52 &ndash; 1881
−
* ([[1882]]) [[Piano Trio (Tchaikovsky)|Piano trio in A minor, Op. 50]]
+
* ''Piano Trio in A minor,'' Op. 50 &ndash; 1882
−
* ([[1886]]) ''[[Dumka (Tchaikovsky)|Dumka]]'', Russian rustic scene in C minor for piano, Op. 59
+
:Commissioned by Madame von Meck as a chamber music work for her household trio, including pianist [[Claude Debussy]]. At the same time, it is an elegy on the death of Nikolai Rubinstein.
−
* ([[1890]]) String sextet ''[[Souvenir de Florence]]'', Op. 70
+
* ''Dumka,'' Russian rustic scene in C minor for piano, Op. 59 &ndash; 1886
 +
* String sextet ''Souvenir de Florence,'' Op. 70 &ndash; 1890
 +
* "Again, as Before, Alone," Op. 73, No. 6
 +
* "Deception," Op. 65, No. 2
 +
* "Don Juan's Serenade," Op. 38, No. 1
 +
* "Gypsy's Song," Op. 60, No. 7
 +
* "I Bless You, Forests," Op. 47, No. 5
 +
* "If I had Only Known," Op. 47, No. 1
 +
* "In This Moonlight," Op. 73, No. 3
 +
* "It Was in Early Spring," Op. 38, No. 2
 +
* "A Legend" ("Christ in His Garden"), Op. 54, No. 5
 +
* "Lullaby," Op. 54, No. 1
 +
* "None But the Lonely Heart," Op. 6, No. 6
 +
* "Not a Word, O My Friend," Op. 6, No. 2
 +
* "Only Thou," Op. 57, No. 6
 +
* "Pimpinella," Op. 38, No. 6
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* "Tears," Op. 65, No. 5
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* "Was I Not a Little Blade of Grass," Op. 47, No. 7
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* "We Sat Together," Op. 73, No. 1
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* "Why?" Op. 6, No. 5
  
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For a complete list of works by opus number, see [http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/tchaikovsky_works.html]. For more detail on dates of composition, see [http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/5648/DCalend.htm].
+
Tchaikovsky’s song-writing methods came under the ax of his fellow composers and contemporaries for altering the text of the songs to suit his melody, inadequacy of his musical [[declamation]], carelessness, and outdated techniques. "The Five"'s Cesar Cui was at the helm of these criticisms, and Tchaikovsky's dismissal was very insightful: "Absolute accuracy of musical declamation is a negative quality, and its importance should not be exaggerated. What does the repetition of words, even of whole sentences, matter? There are cases where such repetitions are completely natural and in harmony with reality. Under the influence of strong emotion a person repeats one and the same exclamation and sentence very often…. But even if that never happened in real life, I should feel no embarrassment in impudently turning my back on 'real' truth in favor of 'artistic' truth."<ref>Ibid., 741 </ref>
  
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==Media==
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Edwin Evans found his melodies a blend of two cultures: [[Teutonic]] and [[Slavic|Slavonic]], as his melodies are more emotional than those found in songs originating in Germany and express more of the physical than the intellectual beauty.<ref>Ibid., 742 </ref>  Tchaikovsky was an outstanding [[lyricism|lyricist]], well versed in a plethora of styles, moods, and atmosphere.
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{{multi-listen start}}
 
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{{multi-listen item|filename=Tschikovsky Op 40.ogg|title=Douze Morceaux|description=Opus 40, for piano|format=[[Ogg]]}}
 
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{{multi-listen end}}
 
  
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==See also==
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For a complete list of works by opus number, see <ref>Almut Haas.Classical Music Pages (1996) [http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/tchaikovsky_works.html].Retrieved October 7, 2007. </ref> For more detail on dates of composition, see <ref>Edward Garden. Comprehensive Calendar.
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* [[Nadezhda von Meck]]
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[http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/5648/DCalend.htm].Retrieved October 7, 2007. </ref>
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* [[Antonina Miliukova]] Tchaikovskaya
 
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* [[Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein]]
 
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* [[International Tchaikovsky Competition|Tchaikovsky International Competition]]
 
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* [[Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio]]
 
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* [[:Category:Compositions by Pyotr Tchaikovsky]]
 
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*''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]''
 
  
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==Citations==
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== Notes ==
 
<references />
 
<references />
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
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*Poznansky, Alexander & Langston, Brett ''The Tchaikovsky Handbook: A guide to the man and his music''. (Indiana University Press, 2002) Vol. 1. Thematic Catalogue of Works, Catalogue of Photographs, Autobiography. 636 pages. ISBN 0-253-33921-9. Vol. 2. Catalogue of Letters, Genealogy, Bibliography. 832 pages. ISBN 0-253-33947-2.
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* Ewen, David (Ed.) ''The Complete Book of Classical Music.'' London: Hale, 1966. ISBN 0709038658
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*Greenberg, Robert "[http://www.teach12.com/store/course.asp?id=753&d=Great+Masters%3A+Tchaikovsky%97His+Life+and+Music Great Masters: Tchaikovsky — His Life and Music]"
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*Poznansky, Alexander and Brett Langston, ''The Tchaikovsky Handbook: A guide to the man and his music.'' Indiana University Press, 2002. Vol. 1. ''Thematic Catalogue of Works, Catalogue of Photographs, Autobiography.'' ISBN 0253339219 Vol. 2. ''Catalogue of Letters, Genealogy, Bibliography.'' ISBN 0253339472
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*Holden, Anthony ''Tchaikovsky: : A Biography'' Random House; 1st U.S. ed edition ([[February 27]], [[1996]]) ISBN 0-679-42006-1
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*Holden, Anthony ''Tchaikovsky: A Biography'' Random House, 1st U.S. ed., 1996. ISBN 0679420061
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*Kamien, Roger. ''Music : An Appreciation''. Mcgraw-Hill College; 3rd edition ([[August 1]], [[1997]]) ISBN 0-07-036521-0
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*Kamien, Roger. ''Music: An Appreciation.'' Mcgraw-Hill College, 3rd ed., 1997. ISBN 0070365210
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*ed. John Knowles Paine, Theodore Thomas, and Karl Klauser (1891). ''Famous Composers and Their Works'', J.B. Millet Company.
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*Paine, John Knowles, Theodore Thomas and Karl Klauser (Eds.) ''Famous Composers and Their Works.'' J.B. Millet Company, 1891.
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*Meck Galina Von, Tchaikovsky Ilyich Piotr, Young Percy M. ''Tchaikovsky'' Cooper Square Publishers; 1st Cooper Square Press ed edition (October, 2000) ISBN 0-8154-1087-5
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*Meck Galina Von, Tchaikovsky Ilyich Piotr, Young Percy M. ''Tchaikovsky.'' Cooper Square Publishers, 1st ed., 2000. ISBN 0815410875
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*Meck, Nadezhda Von Tchaikovsky Peter Ilyich, ''To My Best Friend: Correspondence Between Tchaikovsky and Nadezhda Von Meck 1876-1878'' Oxford University Press ([[January 1]], [[1993]]) ISBN 0-19-816158-1
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*Meck, Nadezhda Von Tchaikovsky Peter Ilyich, ''To My Best Friend: Correspondence Between Tchaikovsky and Nadezhda Von Meck 1876-1878'' Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0198161581
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*Poznansky, Alexander, ''Tchaikovsky's Last Days'', Oxford University Press (1996), ISBN 0-19-816596-X
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*Poznansky, Alexander, ''Tchaikovsky's Last Days.'' Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 019816596X
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*Poznansky, Alexander ''Tchaikovsky: the Quest for the Inner Man'' Lime Tree (1993) ISBN 0-413-45721-4 (hb), ISBN 0-413-45731-1 (pb)
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*Poznansky, Alexander, ''Tchaikovsky: the Quest for the Inner Man.'' Lime Tree, 1993. ISBN 0413457214  ISBN 0413457311
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*Poznansky, Alexander. ''Tchaikovsky through others' eyes''. (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1999). ISBN 0-253-35545-0.
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*Poznansky, Alexander. ''Tchaikovsky through others' eyes.'' Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1999. ISBN 0253355450
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*Tchaikovsky, Modest ''The Life And Letters Of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky'' University Press of the Pacific (2004) ISBN 1-4102-1612-8
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*Tchaikovsky, Modest, ''The Life And Letters Of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky.'' University Press of the Pacific, 2004. ISBN 1410216128 ISBN 9781410216120
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*[http://www.panartist.com/valerypolyansky.htm Tchaikovsky's sacred works by Polyansky]
 
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*[http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showIndividual&entity_id=3651&source_type=C Biography of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky] at the [http://www.kennedy-center.org John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
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*[http://www.tchaikovsky-research.net/ Tchaikovsky research] (active site)
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All links retrieved November 23, 2022.
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*[http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/5648/Tchaikovsky.htm Tchaikovsky] (inactive site)
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*[http://www.tchaikovsky-research.net/ Tchaikovsky research] ''Tchaikovsky Research Website''
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*[http://www.tchaikovsky.host.sk Tchaikovsky page] (inactive site)
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*{{IMSLP | id = Tchaikovsky%2C_Pyotr_Ilyich | cname = Tchaikovsky}}
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*[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/education/tchaikovsky.html PBS Great Performances biography of Tchaikovsky]
 
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*[http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?query=+Tchaikovsky&queryType=%40attr+1%3D1 Tchaikovsky cylinder recordings], from the [[Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project]] at the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]] Library.
 
  
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'''Public Domain Sheet Music:'''
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{{Romanticism}}
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*{{IMSLP | id = Tchaikovsky%2C_Pyotr_Ilyich | cname = Tchaikovsky}}
 
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*[http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?Composer=TchaikovskyPI Mutopia Project] Tchaikovsky Sheet Music at Mutopia
 
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*[http://icking-music-archive.org/ByComposer/Tchaikovsky.html WIMA] Tchaikovsky Sheet Music at Werner Icking Music Archive
 
  
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{{Portal|Dance}}
 
  
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{{Romanticism}}
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[[Category:Musicians]]
  
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[[Category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]]
 
  
 
{{credit|81889352}}
 
{{credit|81889352}}

Latest revision as of 01:34, 24 November 2022

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Der junge Tschaikowski.jpg
Background information
Birth name Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Born April 25, 1840, Votkinsk, Vyatka Guberniya, Russia
Died November 6, 1893
Occupation(s) Composer, Pianist
Notable instrument(s)
Orchestra
Piano

Pyotr (Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильич Чайкoвский, Pjotr Il’ič Čajkovskij; (April 25, 1840—November 6, 1893 by the Julian calendar or May 7, 1840 — October 25, 1893 by the Gregorian calendar), was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. Tchaikovsky is one of the world's most renowned classical music composers, known for his distinctly Russian character as well as for his rich harmonies and stirring melodies.

His talent was perhaps too heterogeneous and his stylistic skills overly versatile, which spurred complaints that his music was either too Russian or too European, while it was effectively both; he integrated Russian folk melodies with Western European melodies. Tchaikovsky's name is most frequently associated with Swan Lake, Nutcracker, and Capriccio Italien.

His personal life was troubled. Tchaikovsky was evidently a homosexual, who consented to marry an ardent admirer and student largely to satisfy societal conventions; the marriage did not survive a month. The only woman he built a strong relationship with was his benefactress, Nadezhda von Meck, who admired and subsidized him for years, though the two never physically met.

The composer's lifestyle added to the turbulence and melancholia that was reflected in his works. Tchaikovsky was not simply tormented, but also deeply in touch with beauty and deep emotion. He gave himself to his art and placed it above the twists and turns of his own existence. By continually prompting his audiences to stretch their likings beyond the familiar and easily acceptable, he provided a glimpse of the stage that had not yet been opened—when individuals could go beyond their nationalistic tendencies to embrace the world. His musical rendering of this 'premature' vision was behind the composer's uniqueness and brilliance.

Tchaikovsky died in 1893 during the cholera epidemic. His death has conventionally been attributed to cholera, although some recent theories suggest the possibly of suicide through arsenic poisoning. Though a brilliant composer, his life was riddled with sadness.

Life and Works

Early Years

Pyotr Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, a small town in the Vyatka Guberniya, now Udmurtia (a sovereign republic within the Russian Federation) to a mining engineer in the government mines, who had the rank of major-general, and the second of his three wives, Alexandra, a Russian woman of French ancestry. He was some ten years senior of his dramatist, librettist, and translator brother Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The family name came from his Kazakh great-grandfather, who could imitate the call of a seagull (a “tchaika” - hence the name Tchaikovsky). However, the family origins may have been partly Polish, as Tchaikovsky suggested in a letter to his benefactress Madame von Meck. The family enjoyed music and listened to Mozart, Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti played by a large musical box called orchestrion. Tchaikovsky noted later that he was fortunate not to have been brought up in a very musical family that would spoil him with music imitating Beethoven. He received piano lessons from a freed serf, beginning at the age of five, and within a few months he was already proficient in Friedrich Kalkbrenner's composition Le Fou.

Studies and Teaching

In 1850, Tchaikovsky's father was appointed director of the St Petersburg Technological Institute. There the young Tchaikovsky obtained an excellent general education at the School of Jurisprudence and refined his piano skills under the guidance of the director of the music library. He made an acquaintance of the Italian master Luigi Piccioli, who influenced the young man away from German music and encouraged the love of Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti, whom he had listened to as a child. The father encouraged the son's interest in music by funding studies with Rudolph Kündinger, a well-known piano teacher from Nuremberg, who helped spark the bond with German music in the composer as well as a lifelong affinity with Mozart. When his mother died of cholera in 1854, the 14-year-old composed a waltz in her memory.

Tchaikovsky left school in 1858 and received employment as an under-secretary at the Ministry of Justice at the time when the Ministry was drafting legislation for emancipation of the serfs and implementation of various reforms. The atmosphere was one of intellectual excitement, yet he wrote in a letter to his sister that he had hoped to obtain a different post with higher income and fewer duties. He soon joined the Ministry's choral group. The cultural and musical life of St. Petersburg was rich, and he found many friends there, among them the openly homosexual poet Alexei Apukhtin and a middle-aged singing teacher who dyed his hair and wore rouge.

In 1861, he befriended a fellow civil servant who had studied with Nikolai Zaremba, who urged him to resign his job and continue in the studies of music. Tchaikovsky was not prepared to give up secure income but he at least agreed to take lessons in musical theory with Zaremba. The following year, when Zaremba joined the faculty of the new St Petersburg Conservatory, Tchaikovsky followed his teacher and enrolled but did not give up his post at the ministry before his father consented to finance his further studies. From 1862 to 1865, Tchaikovsky studied harmony, counterpoint and the fugue with Zaremba, and instrumentation and composition under the director and founder of the Conservatory, Anton Rubinstein. However, neither Rubinstein nor Cesar Cui appreciated his graduation cantata Ode to Joy.

After graduation, Anton Rubinstein's younger brother Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein approached Tchaikovsky with an offer of the post of the professor of harmony, composition, and the history of music, which he gladly accepted, in part because his father had retired and gambled away his property. For the next ten years Tchaikovsky taught and composed, but the former turned out taxing and led to a nervous breakdown in 1877. After a yearlong sabbatical, he attempted to resume teaching but retired soon after. He spent some time in Italy and Switzerland until he eventually took residence with his sister, who had an estate just outside Kiev, the Ukraine.

Here Tchaikovsky took up orchestral conducting and worked on controlling his stage fright until he was able to conduct his works on a regular basis.

Silver Years and Death

Tchaikovsky in later life

The year 1891 saw Tchaikovsky's tour of America, where he conducted performances of his compositions. On May 5, he conducted the New York Music Society's orchestra that was performing his Marche Solennelle on the opening night of New York's Carnegie Hall. That evening was followed by subsequent performances of his Third Suite on May 7, and the a cappella choruses Pater Noster and Legend on May 8. Also played were his Piano Concerto No. 1 and Serenade for Strings.

Just nine days after the first performance of his Symphony No. 6, Pathétique, in 1893, in Saint Petersburg, Tchaikovsky died. Musicologists Milton Cross and David Ewen believe that he consciously wrote his Sixth Symphony as his own Requiem. In the first movement, the rapidly progressing evolution of the transformed first theme suddenly "shifts into neutral" in the strings, and a rather quiet, harmonized chorale emerges in the trombones. The trombone theme bears no resemblance to the theme that precedes or follows it. It appears to be a musical "non sequitur," an anomaly. In fact that is taken from the Russian Orthodox Mass for the Dead, in which it is sung to the words: "And may his soul rest with the souls of all the saints." He was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in Saint Petersburg.

Until recently it had been assumed that Tchaikovsky died of cholera after drinking contaminated water in a restaurant, well aware of the risk of drinking unboiled water during a cholera epidemic. However, a speculative theory published in 1980 by Aleksandra Orlova deconstructs his death as a suicide by ingestion of small doses of arsenic driven by a blackmail scheme over his homosexuality. Both cholera and arsenic poisoning show similar symptoms; the arsenic was to have silenced the suicidal theories fed by allegations that his brother Modest, also a homosexual, helped conspire to keep the secret, that there were wrong dates on the death certificate, conflicting testimonies of Modest and the physician about the time of the composer's death, as well as evidence that the deathbed sheets were being burned. Rimsky-Korsakov's autobiography speaks about people at Tchaikovsky's funeral kissing him on the face although he had died of a highly contagious disease. The Russian authorities deleted these passages from subsequent editions of the book.

Personal life

Tchaikovsky's benefactress, Nadezhda von Meck

Tchaikovsky was tall, distinguished and elegant, yet had a disastrous marriage, an irregular relationship with a patroness, an indulgence for alcohol, and fondness for young boys. His exhibitionism in music was regarded as vulgar in his lifetime, yet his popularity confounded experts' opinions and Tchaikovsky remains today one of the most popular composers in concert performance and on record.

One of the two women with a profound impact on his life was his conservatory student Antonina Miliukova, a neurotic woman who fell on her knees in adoration during her first interview with the master. She flooded him with passionate letters just at that point in his life when he had made up his mind to marry whoever would desire him, and so the bizarre relationship culminated in a hasty marriage on July 18, 1877. He did not even remember her from his classes and confessed in a letter to his brother that there was no love between them but he did take advantage of Antonina's infatuation to quell the rumors that he was homosexual. The regrets began as immediately as the honeymoon and eventually drove him to immersing himself into the freezing Moscow River two weeks after the wedding. He then left Russia for a yearlong journey around Europe. Back at home, his internal torments intensified, bordering on lunacy. His wife never saw him again but she did receive a regular allowance, and the marriage was never officially dissolved.

The one place Tchaikovsky found delightful and inspiring was a village in the Ukraine where his beloved sister Sasha lived with her husband. He would visit them in the summer and take in the beauty of the local woods and fields, pick violets and lily-of-the-valley, and visit the village fair. The early version of Swan Lake for the children was conceived in these surroundings.

A far more influential woman in his life was a wealthy widow and musical dilettante, Nadezhda von Meck, with whom he exchanged over 1,200 letters between 1877 and 1890. At her insistence they never met and did not converse when their paths crossed by chance. She was interested in his musical career and admired his music, a token of which was an annual sum of 6,000 rubles. The relationship evolved into love, and Tchaikovsky spoke to her freely about his innermost feelings and aspirations. However, after 13 years she ended the relationship abruptly, claiming bankruptcy. Some attribute this to the social gap between them and her love of her children, which she would not jeopardize by any means. Tchaikovsky sent her an anxious letter pleading for her continued friendship, assuring her that he was no longer in need of her finances; the letter went unanswered. He discovered that she had not suffered any reverse in fortune. The two were related by marriage in their families — one of her sons, Nikolay, was married to Tchaikovsky's niece Anna Davydova.

Style

Tchaikovsky's music, drawing on events in his life, forms part of the canon of the Romantic period. The early works were infused with Russian nationalism, as is suggested by the titles of the compositions dating from this period, such as Little Russian, The Voyevoda, The Oprichnik, and Vakula the Smith, which adopted Russian folk songs and dances. The national element is still palpable in the first act of Eugene Onegin; afterward he began dissociating from folk sources toward a more cosmopolitan style and German Romanticism. With his horizon expanded, he set out to supplement the Russian music with the elements found in the Western world: elegance, sophistication, and good breeding. This naturally met with dogged resistance on the part of the die-hard nationalists, in whose eyes he negated the principles for which they stood. Paradoxically, it was Tchaikovsky who incited interest in Russian music in the Western world, and he embodies Russian music, including the national tendency toward brooding and melancholia, which dominated his moods.

As a result of his stylistic evolution, an interesting phenomenon occurred: Russian contemporaries attacked him for being too European, while Europeans criticized him as too Russian—his sentimentality that tends to slide towards bathos; pathos and pessimism that sometimes erupt into hysteria, and melancholia bordering on self-pity. Although these are credible accusations to a degree, these ‘despicable’ tools enabled him to convey beauty in sadness. Richard Anthony Leonard characterized Tchaikovsky’s music as: “expressive and communicative in the highest degree. That it is also comparatively easy to absorb and appreciate should be accounted among its virtues instead of its faults." [1] And for those who found his Russian spirit too intense, Tchaikovsky himself had a sharp answer: "As to the Russian element in my music generally, its melodic and harmonic relation to folk music—I grew up in a quiet place and was drenched from the earliest childhood with the wonderful beauty of Russian popular songs. I am, therefore, passionately devoted to every expression of the Russian spirit. In brief, I am a Russian, through and through."[2]

To the camp who found him lacking in the Russian element, Igor Stravinsky addressed the following: "Tchaikovsky's music, which does not appear Russian to everybody, is often more profoundly Russian than music which has long since been awarded the facile label of Muscovite picturesqueness. This music is quite as Russian as Pushkin's verse or Glinka's song. Whilst not specially cultivating in his art the 'soul of the Russian peasant,' Tchaikovsky drew unconsciously from the true, popular sources of our race." [3]

Musical works

Ballets

Although Tchaikovsky is well known for his ballets, only the last two were appreciated by his contemporaries.

  • (1875–1876): Swan Lake, Op. 20
His first ballet was first performed (with some omissions) at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1877, with a fiasco, as he was forced to delete some passages that were then replaced with inferior ones. It was only in 1895, when the original deleted parts were restored in a revival by choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov that the ballet was recognized for its eminence.
  • (1888–1889): The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66
Tchaikovsky considered this one of his best works. It was commissioned by the director of the Imperial Theatres Ivan Vsevolozhsky and first performed in January 1890, at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg.
Original cast of Tchaikovsky's ballet, Saint Petersburg, 1890
  • (1891–1892): The Nutcracker Op. 71
He was less satisfied with this, his last, ballet, likewise commissioned by Vsevolozhsky, and he worked on it reluctantly. It makes use of celesta as the solo instrument in the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" in Act II, an instrument also employed in The Voyevoda. This was the only ballet from which Tchaikovsky himself derived a suite (the suites that followed the other ballets were devised by other composers). The Nutcracker Suite is often mistaken for the ballet, but it consists of only eight selections from the score intended for concert performance.

Operas

Tchaikovsky completed ten operas, of which one has been largely mislaid and the other exists in two disparate versions. The Western audiences find most delight in Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades.

  • The Voyevoda (Воевода – The Voivode), Op. 3 – 1867–1868
Tchaikovsky destroyed the score, which was reconstructed from sketches and orchestral parts posthumously.
  • Undina (Ундина or Undine) – 1869
This was never completed. Tchaikovsky revised its Second Symphony twice but did not alter the second movement. Only a march sequence saw the light of day; the rest he destroyed.
  • The Oprichnik] (Опричник) – 1870–1872
Premiered in April 1874 in Saint Petersburg|
  • Vakula the Smith (Кузнец Вакула – Kuznets Vakula), Op. 14 – 1874
Later revised as Cherevichki, premiered in December 1876 in Saint Petersburg
  • Eugene Onegin (Евгений Онегин – Yevgeny Onegin), Op. 24 – 1877–1878
Premiered in March 1879 at the Moscow Conservatory. Based on the novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin, which satirizes Russia’s Europeanized aristocracy and is more of an introspection and psychological insight, drawing on the lyricism of the poem rather than theatrical effects an opera lends itself to. Tchaikovsky’s comment: “It is true that the work is deficient in theatrical opportunities; but the wealth of poetry, the humanity, and the simplicity of the story… will compensate for what is lacking in other respects.” [4] This is why he made Tatiana, not Onegin, the principal character, as that allowed him to develop the romantic aspect of the poem. Initially belittled as monotonous, it is now recognized as his operatic masterwork.
  • The Maid of Orleans (Орлеанская дева – Orleanskaya deva) – 1878–1879
Premiered in February 1881 in Saint Petersburg
  • Mazeppa (Мазепа) – 1881–1883
Premiered in February 1884 in Moscow
  • Cherevichki (Черевички; revision of Vakula the Smith) – 1885
Premiered in January 1887 in Moscow
  • The Enchantress (also The Sorceress, Чародейка – Charodeyka) – 1885–1887
Premiered in November 1887 in St Petersburg
  • The Queen of Spades (Пиковая дама - Pikovaya dama), Op. 68 – 1890
Premiered in December 1890 in St Petersburg
  • Iolanthe (Иоланта – Iolanthe), Op. 69 – 1891
First performed in Saint Petersburg in 1892.
  • Planned opera Mandragora (Мандрагора), of which only the "Chorus of Insects" was composed in 1870

Symphonies

Tchaikovsky's earlier symphonies are generally optimistic works of a nationalist character; the latter are more dramatic, particularly The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth, recognized for the uniqueness of their format. He also left behind four orchestral suites originally intended as a "symphony" but was persuaded to alter the title.

  • Symphony No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 13, Winter Daydreams – 1866
  • Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 17, Little Russian – 1872
  • Symphony No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 29, Polish (for its use of polonaise) – 1875
  • Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36 – 1877–1878
Conceived after he fled his wife and began his friendship with von Meck. He dedicated it to von Meck, describing the symphony to her as “ours,” confessing “how much I thought of you with every bar.” [5]
  • Manfred, Symphony in B Minor, Op. 58 – 1885
Inspired by Byron's poem "Manfred"
  • Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64 – 1888
Written while he was haunted by fears of the work’s failure, having lost confidence in his musical prowess. The Fifth is interpreted as a story of the Fate and labeled by critics as his most unified symphony in purpose and design.
  • Symphony No. 7: see below, Piano Concerto No. 3)
  • Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, Pathétique – 1893
Composed amid the torment of depression; considered as the most pessimistic and dramatic of his pieces. He considered it the best and most sincere work he had written and was very satisfied and proud of it. Being the most tragic piece he ever wrote, originally it was to be entitled The Program Symphony, which was interpreted by some as an effort at his own requiem. He confessed that he repeatedly burst into tears when writing it. This is his greatest symphony and his most popular, as well as the most celebrated symphony in Russian music and possibly in Romantic music.

Concerti

  • Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23 – 1874–1875
One of the most popular piano concertos ever written, dedicated to the pianist Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein. When he played it for Rubinstein in an empty classroom in the Conservatory, Rubinstein was silent, and when the performance ended, he told Tchaikovsky that it was worthless and unplayable for its commonplace passages that were beyond improvement, for its triviality and vulgarity, and for borrowing from other composers and sources. Tchaikovsky's response was, "I shall not change a single note, and I shall publish the concerto as it is now. And this, indeed, I did." [6] Hans von Bülow introduced it to the world in Boston, Massachusetts in 1875, with a phenomenal success. Rubinstein later admitted his error of judgment and included the work in his repertoire.
  • Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 – 1878
This was composed in less than a month in 1878 but its first performance was delayed until 1881 because Leopold Auer, the violinist to whom Tchaikovsky had intended to dedicate it, refused to perform it for its technical difficulty. Austrian violinist Adolf Brodsky later played it to a public that was apathetic due to the violin’s out-of-fashion status. It is presently one of the most popular concertos for the violin.
  • Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 44 – 1879
  • Piano Concerto No. 3 – 1892
Commenced after the Symphony No. 5, this was intended to be the next numbered symphony but was set aside after nearly finishing the first movement. In 1893, after beginning work on Pathétique, he reworked the sketches of the first movement and completed the instrumentation to create a piece for piano and orchestra known as Allegro de concert or Konzertstück (published posthumously as Op. 75). Tchaikovsky also produced a piano arrangement of the slow movement (Andante) and last movement (Finale) of the symphony. He turned the scherzo into another piano piece, the Scherzo-fantasie in E-Flat Minor, Op. 72, No. 10. After his death, composer Sergei Taneyev completed and orchestrated the Andante and Finale, published as Op. 79. A reconstruction of the original symphony from the sketches and various revisions was accomplished during 1951–1955 by the Soviet composer Semyon Bogatyrev, who brought the symphony into finished, fully orchestrated form and issued the score as Symphony No 7 in E-flat major. [7] [8]

For Orchestra

The 1812 overture complete with cannon fire was performed at the 2005 Classical Spectacular
  • Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture – 1869, revised in 1870 and 1880
Written on suggestion from Balakirev. Balakirev was not satisfied with its first version and suggested numerous changes; after the revision, he declared that it was Tchaikovsky’s best work. Later Tchaikovsky revised it again, this is the version enjoyed by modern audiences. Its melodies are used in movies and commercials.
  • The Tempest "Symphonic Fantasia After Shakespeare,” Op. 18 – 1873
  • Slavonic March (Marche Slave), Op. 31 – 1876
Written for a benefit concert for Serbian soldiers wounded in the war against Turkey, it expresses his sympathies for the Slavs and predicts their ultimate victory. The melody borrows from an old Serbian song and the Russian National Anthem. Commonly referenced in cartoons, commercials, and the media.
  • Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32 – 1876
  • Capriccio Italien, Op. 45 – 1880
A traditional caprice (capriccio) in Italian style. Tchaikovsky stayed in Italy from the late 1870s to early 1880s and during the various festivals he heard many themes featured in the piece. It has a lighter character than many of his works, even "bouncy" in places, and is often performed today in addition to the 1812 Overture. The title is a linguistic hybrid: it contains an Italian word ("Capriccio") and a French word ("Italien"). A fully Italian version would be Capriccio Italiano; a fully French version would be Caprice Italien.
  • Serenade in C for String Orchestra, Op. 48 – 1880
The first movement, in the form of a sonatina, was a homage to Mozart. The second movement is a waltz, followed by an elegy and a spirited Russian finale, "Tema Russo."
  • 1812 Overture, Op. 49 – 1880
Written reluctantly to commemorate the Russian victory over Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars. Known for its traditional Russian themes, such as the old Tsarist National Anthem, as well as its triumphant and bombastic coda at the end, which makes use of 16 cannon shots and a chorus of church bells.
  • Coronation March, Op. 50 – 1883
The mayor of Moscow commissioned this piece for performance in May 1883 at the coronation of Alexander III.
  • Mozartiana, op. 61 – 1887
Devoted to the composer he admired above all ; adapts for orchestra some of Mozart’s less familiar compositions. He wished to revive the study of those “little masterworks, whose succinct form contains incomparable beauties.”[9]

For orchestra, choir and vocal soloists

  • Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden) – 1873
Incidental music for Alexander Ostrovsky's play of the same name.

For orchestra, soprano, and baritone

  • Hamlet – 1891
Incidental music for Shakespeare's play.

For choir, songs, chamber music, and for solo piano and violin

  • String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11 – 1871
  • Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 33. – 1876
Reflects his adoration of Mozart and Baroque music.
  • Piano suite The Seasons, Op. 37a – 1876
  • Three pieces: Meditation, Scherzo and Melody, Op. 42, for violin and piano
  • Russian Vesper Service, Op. 52 – 1881
  • Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50 – 1882
Commissioned by Madame von Meck as a chamber music work for her household trio, including pianist Claude Debussy. At the same time, it is an elegy on the death of Nikolai Rubinstein.
  • Dumka, Russian rustic scene in C minor for piano, Op. 59 – 1886
  • String sextet Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70 – 1890
  • "Again, as Before, Alone," Op. 73, No. 6
  • "Deception," Op. 65, No. 2
  • "Don Juan's Serenade," Op. 38, No. 1
  • "Gypsy's Song," Op. 60, No. 7
  • "I Bless You, Forests," Op. 47, No. 5
  • "If I had Only Known," Op. 47, No. 1
  • "In This Moonlight," Op. 73, No. 3
  • "It Was in Early Spring," Op. 38, No. 2
  • "A Legend" ("Christ in His Garden"), Op. 54, No. 5
  • "Lullaby," Op. 54, No. 1
  • "None But the Lonely Heart," Op. 6, No. 6
  • "Not a Word, O My Friend," Op. 6, No. 2
  • "Only Thou," Op. 57, No. 6
  • "Pimpinella," Op. 38, No. 6
  • "Tears," Op. 65, No. 5
  • "Was I Not a Little Blade of Grass," Op. 47, No. 7
  • "We Sat Together," Op. 73, No. 1
  • "Why?" Op. 6, No. 5

Tchaikovsky’s song-writing methods came under the ax of his fellow composers and contemporaries for altering the text of the songs to suit his melody, inadequacy of his musical declamation, carelessness, and outdated techniques. "The Five"'s Cesar Cui was at the helm of these criticisms, and Tchaikovsky's dismissal was very insightful: "Absolute accuracy of musical declamation is a negative quality, and its importance should not be exaggerated. What does the repetition of words, even of whole sentences, matter? There are cases where such repetitions are completely natural and in harmony with reality. Under the influence of strong emotion a person repeats one and the same exclamation and sentence very often…. But even if that never happened in real life, I should feel no embarrassment in impudently turning my back on 'real' truth in favor of 'artistic' truth."[10]

Edwin Evans found his melodies a blend of two cultures: Teutonic and Slavonic, as his melodies are more emotional than those found in songs originating in Germany and express more of the physical than the intellectual beauty.[11] Tchaikovsky was an outstanding lyricist, well versed in a plethora of styles, moods, and atmosphere.

For a complete list of works by opus number, see [12] For more detail on dates of composition, see [13]

Notes

  1. ↑ David Ewen, (Ed.) The Complete Book of Classical Music (London: Hale, 1966. ISBN 0709038658): 738
  2. ↑ Ibid., 737
  3. ↑ Ibid., 737-738
  4. ↑ Ibid., 752
  5. ↑ Ibid., 751
  6. ↑ Ibid., 745
  7. ↑ Roland Wiley, "Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il′yich, §6(ii): Years of valediction, 1889–93: The last symphony"; Works: solo instrument and orchestra; Works: orchestral, Grove Music Online (Accessed 07 February 2006), [1] (subscription required).
  8. ↑ David Brown, Tchaikovsky: the Final Years (1885-1893). (New York: W. W. Norton, 1991): 388-391, 497.
  9. ↑ Ewen, 759
  10. ↑ Ibid., 741
  11. ↑ Ibid., 742
  12. ↑ Almut Haas.Classical Music Pages (1996) [2].Retrieved October 7, 2007.
  13. ↑ Edward Garden. Comprehensive Calendar. [3].Retrieved October 7, 2007.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Ewen, David (Ed.) The Complete Book of Classical Music. London: Hale, 1966. ISBN 0709038658
  • Poznansky, Alexander and Brett Langston, The Tchaikovsky Handbook: A guide to the man and his music. Indiana University Press, 2002. Vol. 1. Thematic Catalogue of Works, Catalogue of Photographs, Autobiography. ISBN 0253339219 Vol. 2. Catalogue of Letters, Genealogy, Bibliography. ISBN 0253339472
  • Holden, Anthony Tchaikovsky: A Biography Random House, 1st U.S. ed., 1996. ISBN 0679420061
  • Kamien, Roger. Music: An Appreciation. Mcgraw-Hill College, 3rd ed., 1997. ISBN 0070365210
  • Paine, John Knowles, Theodore Thomas and Karl Klauser (Eds.) Famous Composers and Their Works. J.B. Millet Company, 1891.
  • Meck Galina Von, Tchaikovsky Ilyich Piotr, Young Percy M. Tchaikovsky. Cooper Square Publishers, 1st ed., 2000. ISBN 0815410875
  • Meck, Nadezhda Von Tchaikovsky Peter Ilyich, To My Best Friend: Correspondence Between Tchaikovsky and Nadezhda Von Meck 1876-1878 Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0198161581
  • Poznansky, Alexander, Tchaikovsky's Last Days. Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 019816596X
  • Poznansky, Alexander, Tchaikovsky: the Quest for the Inner Man. Lime Tree, 1993. ISBN 0413457214 ISBN 0413457311
  • Poznansky, Alexander. Tchaikovsky through others' eyes. Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1999. ISBN 0253355450
  • Tchaikovsky, Modest, The Life And Letters Of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky. University Press of the Pacific, 2004. ISBN 1410216128 ISBN 9781410216120

External links

All links retrieved November 23, 2022.

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