 
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893)Tchaikovsky is widely considered the most popular Russian composer in history. His work includes the 'The Sleeping Beauty', 'Swan Lake', and 'The Nutcracker'. His work was first publicly performed in 1865. He exhibited a gift for melody and orchestration; his music has been described as having impressive harmonies, and colourful, picturesque orchestration, evoking a profound emotional response. His body of his work includes 7 symphonies, 11 operas, 3 ballets, 5 suites, 3 piano concertos, a violin concerto, 11 overtures, 4 cantatas, 20 choral works, 3 string quartets, a string sextet, and more than 100 songs and piano pieces. As a young man Tchaikovsky spent nearly three years at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, studying harmony and counterpoint with Nikolay Zaremba and composition and instrumentation with Anton Rubinstein. Within five years Tchaikovsky had produced his first symphony, Symphony No. 1 in G Minor ('Winter Daydreams'), and his first opera, The Voyevoda. Tchaikovsky resigned from the Moscow Conservatory in 1878 to focus his efforts entirely on composing. He spent the remainder of his career composing more prolifically than ever.  The growing popularity of Tchaikovsky's music both within and outside of Russia inevitably resulted in public interest in him and his personal life. Although homosexuality was officially illegal in Russia, authorities tolerated it among the upper classes. Struggling to repress his homosexuality, in 1877 Tchaikovsky married a young music student named Antonina Milyukova. The marriage was a failure, with Tchaikovsky abandoning his wife within weeks of the wedding. During a nervous breakdown, he unsuccessfully attempted to commit suicide, and eventually fled abroad, where he continued to work. In the spring of 1891 Tchaikovsky was invited to visit the United States on the occasion of the inauguration of Carnegie Hall in New York City. He conducted before audiences in New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. His world stature was confirmed by European and American tours and his acceptance in June 1893 of an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge. Unlike other Russian composers such as Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky's work was inspired by Russian folk music. In the words of the Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky, “Tchaikovsky drew unconsciously from the true, popular sources of our race.” Read a complete biography of Tchaikovsky here: https://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Tchaikovsky:_A_Life Hear a small sample fom 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' (1m45s) |