Peter Il’ ich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7th 1840 in the Russian city of Votkinsk. Tchaikovsky was introduced to music at an early age, and began piano lessons when he was five years old. Tchaikovsky passed entrance exams into the Imperial School for Jurisprudence, where he studied law, and also sang in the school’s choir. While at school, he began composing and published his first work. After returning home from his first trip abroad in 1861, Tchaikovsky began to take lessons in harmony from Nikolai Zaremba in a class offered by the Russian Musical Society. When the Saint Petersburg Conservatory opened in 1862, Tchaikovsky became one of the first students, studying orchestration and composition with Anton Rubenstein.

During the next few years, Tchaikovsky’s career began to take shape. The younger Johann Strauss premiered the first public performance of the composer’s works, and Tchaikovsky himself made his conducting debut, directing the Conservatory orchestra in a performance of his Overture in F major. After graduation from the Conservatory, Tchaikovsky accepted a teaching position at the Moscow Conservatory. It was here that Tchaikovsky began work on his First Symphony, which premiered in February 1868.In the autumn of 1869, Tchaikovsky began work on the tone poem based on Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. This seemed to be an outlet for the composer to express his turbulent feelings toward love and relationships. The composition was to remain a favorite of Tchaikovsky’s until the end of his life. Encouraged by the positive reception of his Symphony No.2 in 1873, Tchaikovsky wrote incidental music for The Snow Maiden, and the symphonic Fantasia, The Tempest, which also received great aclaim in Moscow. In 1876, Tchaikovsky began corresponding with Nadezhda von Meck, who helped the composer financially, by commissioning several works.

In 1878, Tchaikovsky finished his popular children’s album, quit his teaching job at the conservatory, and began to travel extensively. In this period of time, he composed his second piano concerto, the Italian Capriccio, the Serenade for String Orchestra, and the 1812 Overture. The next few years were significant in that he composed his Fifth Symphony, the Sleeping Beauty ballet, and the opera The Queen of Spades. Satisfied with his own work, he accepted more commissions from the Imperial Theaters including The Nutcracker, which was an immediate success. Tchaikovsky also conducted his own works at the grand opening at Carnegie Hall in New York City and embarked upon an American tour. Throughout 1892, he continued to compose and conduct his own works in Russia and abroad. After a successful performance of his works in Khar’kov, he returned home to begin work on the Pathetique Symphony, about which Tchaikovsky wrote, “On my word of honor, I have never been so satisfied with myself, so proud, so happy to know I have done something so good.” Tchaikovsky passed away on November, 6th 1893, after being diagnosed with cholera. Tchaikovsky’s music is remembered for its mixture of Western and Russian elements as well as embodying the imperial and nationalistic styles.

Posted 3 December 2007