Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Who is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky?

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in 1840 in Votkinsk, in the Russian Empire. He initially trained for a career in the civil service before enrolling at the newly founded Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied under Anton Rubinstein. He became one of the first Russian composers to achieve lasting international fame, blending Russian melodic idioms with Western European symphonic and operatic forms. His vast output includes the ballets 'Swan Lake,' 'The Sleeping Beauty' and 'The Nutcracker'; the operas 'Eugene Onegin' and 'The Queen of Spades'; six numbered symphonies; the '1812 Overture'; the First Piano Concerto; and the Violin Concerto in D major. For many years he was supported financially by the wealthy patron Nadezhda von Meck, with whom he corresponded extensively but never met. His music is celebrated for its emotional intensity, memorable melodies and brilliant orchestration. Tchaikovsky died in Saint Petersburg in 1893, days after conducting the premiere of his Sixth Symphony, the 'Pathétique.'

Sources: David Brown, Tchaikovsky: The Man and His Music (2007) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, entry 'Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky' · Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 'Pathétique' (1893)