Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich

(born May 7, 1840, Votkinsk, Russia—died Nov. 6, 1893, St. Petersburg) Russian composer. Sensitive and interested in music from his early childhood, Tchaikovsky turned to serious composition at age 14. In 1862 he began studying at the new St. Petersburg Conservatory; from 1866 he taught at the Moscow Conservatory. His Piano Concerto No. 1 (1875) was premiered in Boston and became immensely popular. He wrote his first ballet, Swan Lake (first performed 1877), on commission from the Bolshoi Ballet. In 1877 he received a commission from the wealthy Nadezhda von Meck (1831–94), who became his patron and longtime correspondent. The opera Eugene Onegin (1878) soon followed. Though homosexual, he married briefly; after three disastrous months of marriage, he attempted suicide. His composition was overshadowed by his personal crisis for years. His second ballet, Sleeping Beauty (1889), was followed by the opera The Queen of Spades (1890) and the great ballet The Nutcracker (1892). The Pathétique Symphony (1893) premiered four days before his death from cholera; claims that he was forced to commit suicide by noblemen outraged by his sexual liaisons are unfounded. He revolutionized the ballet genre by transforming it from a grand decorative gesture into a staged musical drama. His music has always had great popular appeal because of its tuneful, poignant melodies, impressive harmonies, and colourful, picturesque orchestration.