|
Born: May 7, 1840 in Votkinsk, Russia
Died: November 6, 1893 in St Petersburg
Compositional Style/Era: Romantic
Important Compositions:
Piano: Album for the Young; The Seasons
Orchestra: Symphony No. 6 (Pathetique); 1812 Overture; Romeo and Juliet
Ballet: Swan Lake; The Sleeping Beauty; The Nutcracker Suite
Interesting Facts: In the Nutcracker's The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Tchaikovsky introduced the celesta into the orchestra since its invention in 1886 by Auguste Mustel.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Russia in 1840. Although he was interested in music from the age of 6, he did not start right away in a musical career. His father was an inspector of mines, and did not think his son would have a career in music, but his parents loved music and started young Tchaikovsky in some musical training with piano lessons when he was a boy. His parents encouraged him as a child musically, however he did not begin serious musical training until after he started his career in law.
He gave up his job as a government clerk in 1862 and enrolled at the Saint Petersburg conservatory for music, where he studied with Anton Rubinstein, the schoolís director. In 1866 he was hired by Antonís brother Nikolay as a professor of harmony at the new Moscow Conservatory that was founded in 1864. In Moscow, he met other Russian nationalist composers. Five great Russian nationalist composers, called "The Mighty Handful" or "The Mighty Five," were Mily Balakirev, Alexander Borodin, Cesar Cui, Modest Musorgsky, and Nicolay Rimsky-Korsakov. Because he did not write in their style, they criticized Tchaikovsky, but his music usually was well accepted by the public. While Tchaikovsky was influenced by these nationalist composers, he did not follow in that direction for his music, and relied on romantic melodies and musical form.
His first piano concerto was performed in Russia in 1875, and soon after he began a friendship with a wealthy widow, Nadezda von Meck, who supported him so that he could give all his time to composing. He gave up his job teaching in 1881 to compose with von Meck's support. While they wrote letters to each other, sometimes almost daily, she insisted they never meet each other. Although it was common to have a musical patron in their day, it was uncommon to never meet the person who was paying your salary! Tchaikovsky dedicated his Fourth Symphony to this mysterious and generous woman.
With his success in writing symphonies, became a great conductor, and in 1888 began his first international tour to Berlin, Paris, and London. In 1892 he also toured the United States and London in six cities where he was remarkably popular because of his great orchestration ability. He returned to Russia for further composing, which is when he wrote his famous Nutcracker Suite. He died shortly after drinking unboiled contaminated water in 1893.
Tchaikovsky is also known as being one of the greatest ballet writers, since he wrote three classical standards: Swan Lake (1876), The Sleeping Beauty (1889), and The Nutcracker Suite (1891-92). He also wrote 10 operas, and 6 symphonies, including his Symphony No. 6, his Pathetique (1893), which was played at his own funeral in his honor. Other popular works include his 1812 Overture (1882), and three piano concertos. Article Copyright © 1999 by Paul Nazzaro |
